Auld Lang Syne...

I don't want this post to sound whiny, but it does. And I'm not looking for support or reassurance, I simply want to be able to reflect on this last year the way I do the first half of 2006...as a basis of comparison, and to remind myself of the low points and that things can only get better. You see, 2010 hasn't been good to us. In fact, 2010 has pretty much sucked. Looking back over the last year in blog posts, the few good things that happened can easily be seen in a negative light.

Like me getting a job and earning more money = hating my job, being tired and stressed all the time, and feeling guilty for the rest of my life that I was away from my kids so much for 9 long months.

Or like us getting the mini van = more car repairs than I care to think about.

Trip to LA = cost us a lot of money and didn't yield any results for jobs or even contacts for Zac.

Moving to Seattle and living with the Williams' = not having any friends or job offers and feeling like I'm in the way all the time.

See what I mean? I hate to be such a Debbie Downer about it all, but it's been rough. And that was the "good stuff" that happened. Forget all of the other crap that I don't want to go into detail about. Unemployment, deaths, fighting, unemployment, debt, computers breaking, did I mention unemployment? This year has pretty much been comparable to our first six months of marriage which were probably the worst six months of my life (not because of being married, mind you, but because of all of the other awful things that happened to me in those six months...deaths, unemployment, severe anemia, school issues, etc...all that other crap that I don't wish to think about).

So yeah. Here's to hoping for a better and brighter 2011.

And speaking of bright, here are some pictures of my beautiful kids in the bright sunshine. (These were taken a few weeks after moving to Seattle at our new favorite park that is right down the road.)





We'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Belated Christmas Post...

So I tried taking pictures of the kids in order to send out Christmas cards this ear...then Zac's card reader wasn't working so I couldn't upload the pictures. And I didn't get a single decent picture of the kids together anyways, so whatever. But, these are some cute ones that did turn out and deserve recognition somewhere.
The girl:







The silly boy:







Christmas was great. Do I have pictures? No, because we were too busy web chatting all day with my parents, Zac's parents, and Zac's brothers and I just didn't take any pictures. Fail. I know. However, I feel it is safe to say that the kids LOVED every one of their presents...from shoes to games to toys to clothes, they couldn't be happier. Among Logan's favorites: the full-sized Buzz Lightyear ("Butt Laser," as he pronounces it), a wooden train set from Ikea, his new sneakers from my parents, and his fire-breathing dragon from Zac's parents. Kaylee LOVES her pink sneakers from my parents (she tries to put them on every chance she gets), her Little People dolls which seem to make the bath WAY more fun, her baby doll and bottle she got from us, and the stuffed puppy from Ikea that she got from us. She says "puppy" like "Ba-boo" for some reason and she sleeps with that puppy all the time. Bedtime and naptime have gotten much calmer...as long as she has her Ba-boo, she just snuggles it, rolls over, and goes to sleep.

I scored some good stuff...I am really falling in love with my faux fur pom pom slippers from Old Navy from Zac's mom. They are adorable and toasty warm. I also love the earrings my parents got for Kaylee, even though they aren't my gift. There are 3 pairs of 14K gold earrings...pink CZ, butterflies, and gold balls. They have safety backs which twist on and are rounded caps so the earring post doesn't poke her. They are beautiful!

So, we had a good Christmas. Not a white one, but a good one.