New Year, New Blog, New ME!

Happy 2010 everyone! Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and is off to a raring start in the new year and new decade!

We had just about the most amazing holiday season I can remember in our young marriage....kind of interesting because money was REALLY tight this year and we spent less money than we have spent the entire time we have been together. Put it into perspective for me what it was really all about....a good lesson to be learned and remembered.

We had a white Christmas this year which was pretty amazing, I don't believe it had ever happened before since I have lived in Texas. It was coming down so hard on Christmas Eve, we kept joking we were in a "blizzard". Then, unexpectedly, the roads froze solid while we were at Shannon's house celebrating that night, and it took us over 30 minutes to drive the less than 3 miles from her house to ours to get home safely. I couldn't believe it!

We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary this past NYE and it was an amazing day and amazing evening. We ate dinner at the Melting Pot and they went over and above my wildest dreams for excellent service to celebrate our special night. It was a night we will remember for a very long time!

I made some pretty heavy duty resolutions this year....and I am very committed to seeing them through to reality. It is not going to be easy...and I can use all the help and support I can get. SO- if you see me doing something I am not supposed to- CALL ME OUT on it! Make me hold myself accountable. I need to be stronger in my spirit to take care of ME and keep my priorities straight, I am WEAK when it comes to this. I know I am a strong person overall- so I know I have the capability, I just have to DO IT!

My first resolution was a shocker to many people- I am NOT going to work on the weekends in 2010. At all. I am not going to check email, not going to read cases, not going to staff cases with workers, not going to THINK about work. For some of you who might not be aware....this is a HUGE deal....I have been working at CPS for 11 years now and I do believe I can name the number of weekends I did NOT work on one hand....and by that I mean two fingers. I am a admitted workaholic and I am total obsessive compulsive control freak when it comes to my email and to my to do list. Those things are just going to have to sit there over the weekend and wait for me to view on Monday morning. It is going to be hard. Very hard. I am on the right track, I haven't signed on since 12/31. Today and yesterday were really hard. It is almost like I am FEENING to check my email! What the heck?! Craziness. There will always be some TRUE emergencies that warrant my attention and this doesn't mean I am going to neglect the very important tasks and responsibilities I am charged with. It just means I have got to have a LIFE with Rebecca and I really need that time to focus on my family as well. My husband has been sorely neglected over the last 11 years....and it is time to make up for a lot of that. It is long over due!

My second resolution was to be a better person by doing the following things: 1) Do not engage negativity or negative persons 2) Do not create negativity 3) Putting my priorities in the right order, which means God first, and Troy and I second. The rest falls below those two things and that is how I will be living my life from this point forward. 4) Not allow my emotions to be controlled by others. I alone am responsible for them.

I have found, particularly with #4, that it is falling into place quite nicely and it ties in directly with items #1 and #2. I refuse to allow myself to be controlled by others at this point in my life. It is LIBERATING to feel this way and to have actually put that into action has been freeing of great proportions.

My third, and final, resolution (Golly, I hope I have not set myself up because this list is long and filled with CHALLENGING THINGS!) is to get healthy in 2010. I am not going to say "lose weight, diet, exercise, etc., etc." because while those things ARE what I need to be doing, the real important part of all of that is the end result- health. I am hitting WW again with gusto this week and I DO hope to have this last 60 pounds off this year. Troy and I are committed to the journey together- and I do believe that makes all the difference.

Lastly, a little bit of surprise news for you blog followers. :-) A new addition will be joining our family next Friday. Maddox is a 15 week old Biewer Yorkshire Terrier and he is being shipped to us from Michigan. He is pretty much the most gorgeous thing I have ever laid eyes on and I cannot wait for him to join our family. He is a TINY fella and he will only be between 3 1/2 and 4 lbs when he is full grown. Exciting and scary rolled into one! I cannot wait to hold him for the first time and I just know that he and Blakers will quickly become best friends and they are going to have a rocking good time. Momma is going to be tired! But since I will have all that free time on the weekends now....I should have time to squeeze in a nap....or two. :-)

Oh, and by the way, I did change the name of my blog. I decided it was pretty fitting to name my blog after a fairy tale....because at this point, I feel like I am living in a dream and I want to savor every minute of this story! Yes, I am aware that I am spoiled rotten...but I must say....it feels good to be spoiled every once in a while with the stress I am under day in and day out in the harsh realities of my job. God Bless my husband for taking such good care of me....I couldn't do it without him....and, honestly, I wouldn't want to!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you are all healthy, happy, and blessed!

R