Believe

I’ve tossed around a few ideas for my word for 2014 and I have landed on BELIEVE.

• I believe that I will be successful in 2014 
• I believe that I will be there as a friend and partner to Hilary 
• I believe that I will be the best parent I can be to Liam 
• I believe that I will continue to become a better runner 
• I believe that I will grow my Tae Kwon Do skills 
• I believe that I will achieve my health goals 

I believe in me

Leftovers

This year for Christmas dinner we had a 15 pound turkey for 3 adults and 2 kids (who don't really count based on what they ate!)

Hilary will be turning the turkey into both potpie and curry to have in the freezer for quick meals in the weeks to come.  Before she could do that though, I had to have my favorite turkey dinner leftover meal*.

What do you do with your holiday leftovers?


*This meal was in no way inspired by The Colonels Chicken bowls, which I have never, and will never eat.  My idea came first.

Kitchen Complete

Another room done!

And since the new tenant is painting the living room, Hilary and I are officially finished in the apartment!

Not just for Easter anymore

These just might become a new Christmas tradition!

I did DO

Last year at this time, I selected a word to aspire to for 2013.  My word was DO.  Looking back over 2013 I did DO many things that are important to me.


Things I did in Tae Kwon Do: 

1. Liam and I passed our Yellow Belt TKD tests
2. I won a Silver Medal 
3. We passed our next test for our Green Stripes

Things I learned to cook:

1. Cheese
2. Perogies
3. Yogurt
4. Meatballs
5. Gnocchi

 Things I did for me:

1. I treated myself to a French Manicure
2. I had my eyebrows waxed for the first (and probably last) time
3. I got a new tattoo
4. I learned to run and ran my first 5k race

Things I did for others:

1.  I shaved my head to raise money for Cancer Research
2. I ran in the Run for the Cure 5k race
3. I ran in the Food Run race to raise money and donations for Feed Nova Scotia
4. I started a running group

2013 was a pretty good year overall.  Now I need to come up with my word for 2014.  If you had to pick one word to aspire to for a whole year, what would it be? 

Merry Christmas

The presents are opened and being enjoyed.  The turkey is ready to go in the oven.  Everyone is safe, happy and loved.

Liam is having a very Whovian Christmas this year.  He is also VERY excited to have his own tablet!  We can't wait to hear him play his new ukulele too.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, merry Christmas!

Progress

Slowly, but steadily the apartment is coming along.  Having no electricity and it being dark out by 4:00 is a bit of a hindrance, but we are persevering.

The exciting news is that we have a tenant for January 1st!  So the push is on to get things finished.  The bedroom, den and most of the bathroom are complete (who knew it was so hard to hang a towel bar?)

Here are some before and after pictures of what we have finished.  We moved the washer and stove back into the kitchen today and the last cupboard doors will be put up tomorrow.  That just leaves the living room to paint.

I really hope we don't have to go through this level of cleaning/fixing/replacing again for a very long time!

20 years

Today is a very special day as Hilary and I celebrate our lives together. Today is our 20th anniversary. We have such a wonderful life together that I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years bring us.