Today (again)

• a rare morning when I get to send the kids off to school
• tell Gracie she has crazy bed-head hair
• peanut butter banana smoothie with coconut milk
• coffee, and more coffee
• morning devotional
• laundry, and more laundry
• a {VERY} rare day when I have a day off with my husband!
• carpet shopping
• hitting the gym {5th day straight!}
• buy bread {man this house goes through the bread!}
• pay bills
• schedule Dr. appointments
• buy treats for tonight's cub scout pack party
• hmmmm....what to make for dinner?
• homework with the kiddos
• sneak in last night's episode of Desperate Housewives (priorities!)
• only 15 hours until I can climb back into bed!

Today

• one last day to hang out with my old work buddies
• a jalapeno bagel for breakfast
• lots of hugs from my buddy Joe
• a cookie "incident" with Amanda
• neck rubs for two of my best buds at work (sounds weirder than it was)
• a bittersweet relationship
• smoothie-makin' with my new blender
• watching the kids make paper snowmen
• giving my husband a hard time about breaking the microwave only minutes after fixing our furnace
• glitter all over the carpet from snowman craft time 
• new "black orchid" lipstick
• missing Amanda and my "guys" already
• enjoying the feeling of having my 7 year old almost moved back out of our bedroom
• Brrrrr...it's cold outside!
• anxious to get back to my new job tomorrow...lots of plans 
• thinking its about time for a visit to the Brick House
• so happy that my husband cleaned out his "Dad" basket
• looking forward to another day of adventure tomorrow

Life changes

December was an eventful month to say the least. I am SO glad its over and we can get back to some sort of "normalcy". I feel like I am constantly in overdrive mode. If I'm not working, then there's always something around the house that needs attention, tons of unfinished projects, homework, bills, and so on. It's so hard for me to shut down and relax....I've never really been wired that way.

Speaking of working, I started a new job this past week. I had been asked a few times if I would be willing to transfer to a new location by that store manager (who is also a great friend), but I was never too interested because I was already working for someone I really looked up to. Long story short, things fell apart (not related to me) at my old job, and my new boss called me again and this time I agreed to transfer. I am really glad I did. It feels good to be in a new (and much nicer!) location!! The people are wonderful and It's fun to be able to come in and really shine at what I do. I really looked forward to getting to work every day last week. My new boss is AWESOME to work for, I love him. He's been a good friend of Paco's for years. As a bonus, I am much closer to home and don't have a giant scary hill to worry about in the winter. My commute has went from 30 minutes to 10 minutes.

We've been presented with several new challenges over the past few months, and I keep reminding myself that somewhere behind all the mess God has a plan at work. My mother in law gave me a great devotional book that I sit down with every morning with my coffee and a candle. It helps me quiet my mind and change my attitude for the day. One of my goals for the new year is to get our family back to church regularly...I can feel the void since we haven't been going regularly for the past few months.

The kids and I went to Yakima for New Year's. My sister and brother in law were here from Virginia and we had a fantastic New Year's eve celebration....to celebrate their wedding in October. SO. FUN. I'll post pictures later today.

On another note, Gracie has her first Upward basketball game this morning...she is very excited! Go Gracie!