The Nelson Narrative

I mentioned a few posts ago that I have decided to try and journal every single day in 2017.  Even if it's just a sentence or tow, or even just a word or phrase, but I'm going to try and write something every single day.  The main reason is just because I thought it would be fun to go back and reread at the end of the year (I'm weird that way), and also I am hoping that it might keep me motivated with things like weight loss and time management. I was hoping to find a journal that wasn't just a bunch of blank pages but maybe had some sayings/quotes or questions to think about, etc.  I also kind of wanted to go back to a paper planner and thought what I really wanted was a combination planner/journal.  I probably could find something like that online or even in a store if I looked hard enough, but I was at Michaels and found something close enough on sale so I went with it. First, a simple journal, with cheesy quotes:  Sorry some of these pics are...

I was re-reading last year's Year in Review post and I mentioned how most years I think about penning a Christmas letter but never do, and that I didn't even get around to sending cards last year.  It was funny because I once again almost wrote a Christmas letter this year but didn't, and again did not even send cards.  But I didn't realize this was two years in a row without sending cards.  Oops.  I thought I had managed to get some photo cards made at the last minute last year but apparently not.  So again, here is my would-have-been Christmas letter in blog and photo form. The girls turned 8 in February and in lieu of a party decided they wanted to go to Great Wolf Lodge with just one friend.  Another friend was already going to be there because they always go during the mid-winter break which is right around the same time, so it made for a nice little mini-party. Paul and I celebrated 10 years of marriage in May with a ...

Let's review the resolutions I made at the beginning of the year and see how I did, shall we?  Lose 20 pounds.  I want and need to lose more but a goal of 20 for the year is good.  I'm sure I lost more than 20 if you add up all the 3 and 4 pound losses, but my net loss for the year is right around 1, give or take.   Read 16 books.  I'm just not one of those people who can read 4 or 5 or 20 books in a month, and lately I hardly read at all so I'm just hoping to get back into reading somewhat regularly.  I read 16 1/2, plus a couple of kid books!  At one point I thought I would get to at least 18 but then I just got really busy and didn't read much for a few months. Train for another 5K.  I really want to get back into running but now that I'm working full-time and evenings are filled with kid stuff and next-day prep, it's SO hard to find time but I really hope to figure out how to squeeze it in.  I just need to commit to g...

So much for blogging every day, or even almost every day, for the rest of December.  Actually, I have blogged most days I just haven't finished any of my posts! Anyway, Paul has been off this whole week doing all kinds of fun things with the girls.  His sister is in town from Colorado (staying at their parents'place) so they went down there on Tuesday and stayed the night.  I was so excited to have the house to myself for a night so I could hopefully work on one of my projects that I never have time for, but I ended up spending the whole evening wrapping gifts and doing other pre-Christmas stuff.  Sigh.  Today they went skiing so I once again had some alone time this evening but I had to make a dessert and stuffing for Sunday, wrap a few more gifts, iron napkins and placemats, and work on getting the house in order.  I can't do any of it tomorrow because we will be gone all day.  It is our year to spend Christmas with my side, and they do Christma...

On Saturday our church had a free concert featuring former season 11 American Idol contestants Jessica Sanchez and Jeremy Rosado.  Since Paul and I were fans of the show and remembered Jessica (didn't remember Jeremy at first but did later) we thought it would be a fun family outing so we went.  They both were awesome and did a beautiful duet at the end. On Sunday, Paul's mom's singing group had a performance and the girls got to be in it.  They wore pajamas and pretended to be listening their grandma reading T'was the Night Before Christmas.  They had a real dog on stage, too, which the girls LOVED!     

I've been horrible about blogging lately.  Ever since school started.  But I've decided just for fun to try and blog every day for the rest of December.  I got the idea on the 2nd, started a post but didn't finish it, then a day or two later I had a vague memory of doing something similar last year so I checked and sure enough, I did.  Or rather, I meant to but didn't really keep up with it.  So anyway, I'm going to try again this year.  It could be anything.  A "normal" post or just something small and random. So here is my randomness for today to get caught up: I am probably about 80% done with my Christmas shopping which is an absolute miracle.  And, I even have a few things wrapped!  This sounded so much better a week ago, though, when it was only the 2nd/3rd.  I haven't made any progress since then.  I hope to wrap it up this weekend but probably won't happen. We had our first snowfall last Sunday and Monday and ag...