Christmas 2012 & 2013 Goals

We just packed up our tree and moved our table back to where it goes in the dining room. We are in the Christmas aftermath - toys everywhere, tons of recycling to do, ect.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. For me, it's a magic time of year. Honestly I don't celebrate any religious beliefs during Christmas - it's the magic of childhood, the believing in magic, the hope for good, and for peace. That is Christmas for me.

For Christmas Eve we went to Uncle Pickle and Aunty Abra's house for an amazing feast. They gifted the kids with amazing presents. Kai got a dump truck with legos, Cruz got a fire station with a car and fire truck (that he sleeps with), and Ryenne got a rock dig. These are the overall favorite gifts of the holiday!

We also baked some homemade oatmeal cookies and left them out for Santa. Peter and I got to work on the last minute touches for the tree and everyone slept in until 8am (can you believe it?)

Just before I went to bed Christmas Eve

Christmas morning video:

Christmas morning took me right back to being a kid. Ryenne, like me, helped to hand out presents. I, like my mom, gathered all the wrapping paper in a big rubbish bag. Every gift was enjoyed before moving on to the next. It was really great. After the gifts were opened, the kids headed outside for their last gift - razor scooters!

Video:



The scooters have already gotten quite a bit of mileage on our tiny street. They are a huge hit!

Some other gifts that were huge hits are the garden shovels, the magnifying glasses (which are used mainly to check out roly poly's in the garden), and the warm jammies from Grandma and Papa.

Treasures Ry is finding in the rock dig kit

Cruz putting the shovel to good use

Ry and Daddy

 On Christmas Peter had to work in the afternoon, but me and the monkeys headed out to Napili to spend the rest of Christmas with Grandma, Papa, and the Dagupion side. It was so much fun. I even got a nap! The kids were spoiled with more presents. Christmas was a ton of fun.

It does feel nice to have my dining room back and now I can work on cleaning up and getting a little more organized. This is a goal for 2013.

Speaking of 2013, I can't believe that it's going to be a new year soon. 2012 was a great year for us. I do have goals for 2013...

2013 is going to be awesome. I’ve been thinking about my goals and what I want to achieve in all aspects of my life.

WORK LIFE -
2012 was my busiest year yet - and my 10th year in business. I want to launch my new website by February 1st. I’d like to exceed this years revenues by $15,000 next year. I will be investing more time in getting my work published and I hope to launch a fine art sight to sell Maui prints. On Peter's end, I'm really hoping that he'll be able to slide into a valet position at Mama's.

HOME LIFE -
I would really, really love to get my kids to help me clean more. They are getting to the age where I shouldn’t have to clean up every little thing. I'm tired of being a maid. I also want to give Ryenne a beautiful room of her own - she has asked not to room with her brothers anymore and I would love to create something lovely just for her. I would like to have the playroom transformed by March 1st (I need to save up for a mattress).

FINANCIAL LIFE -
I’d like to save money, but more importantly I want to pay down our debts as much as possible this year.  I want a vacation to Yellowstone with the family and Pops. I want to fly my mom out for Christmas vacation. Daily basis living will be extremely simple and frugal. I have a 3 year plan to be free of our credit card debt.

LOVE LIFE -
I want to go out on dates with Peter more often. Once every 3 - 4 months isn’t enough.

MY BODY -
Right now I’m hurt. Really hurt. I want to give myself time to heal in 2013. Fitness wise I would love to be able to do deadlifts again at some point. It would be great to rejoin my CrossFit family. But for now, I am concentrating on intermittent fasting, eating mostly paleo, and watching my calories.

MY MIND -
Read more, more, more. Make time to read. I love to read. And WRITE! I'm writing a book! I had some really awesome characters come to me in a dream so I'm writing about them. It's not a profound novel - more like really entertaining smut. Wouldn't it be neat if it ever got published?