New goal

I have decided I want to be a better blogger. And like a lot of my friends, turn it into my journal. I do a "decent" job keeping journals for my kids but I've really slacked at doing something for myself. And lets face it, my blog has been nothing but a photo album (and a sad one at that). With my new blogging goal, it will also force me to be a better photographer. I have been terrible at taking pictures and I don't want that regret when my children outgrow me (which I'm certain will never happen-but just in case). Whether anyone reads this or not doesn't matter. I'm sure someday my kids will and that is what matters. So let's get started!

I am one who is a big fan of even numbers and I despise odd ones. The volume, microwave, number of M & M's I eat, all must be an even number. Now, I don't go ballistic if it's not even which I why I don't consider it a sickness. We've all got our quirks. As 2010 approached, I of course was feeling very optimistic. I just KNEW it was going to be an amazing year. Now, I don't know if it's because it's an even year or because of my optimism, but so far that thought has lived true. It has been a great year! 1. We're expecting our 3rd child and 1st girl. Come on, now that's pretty darn exciting. 2. We moved into a new house. The reason that is so exciting is because we've felt every negative feeling about our situation in our other house. It was meant to be a starter home and an investment and it looked like it was turning into neither. We were out money on our home and it looked more like a 10 year plan than a 5 year one. BUT, we knew we couldn't leave it. We were both grateful to have our jobs and grateful to have a home we could afford. As sickening as the home prices had become, especially in Queen Creek, we wondered if there was a way we could honestly take advantage. So we mused the idea of possibly purchasing a new home and renting our old one for the same cost. Hmmmmm. Brilliant idea if I do say so myself, but was it possible even a little bit? The risk of finding renters, fixing up a fore-closed home-it was all a little much. We toyed with the idea for about a year and decided it was time to see if we could. We didn't want to someday regret not even trying. So Brian got it started and it just happened. We were blessed to find renters right away and blessed to find a home we love. I feel very much grown up after this experience and like many times in my life, felt the rewards of doing the right thing.

Basically, those two life changing events are what have made this year so memorable. Along with our health and other reasons not as dramatic, things have been great. Although, this has also been a sad year for death and sickness. Brian's Great Grandma Grace passed away earlier this year. She lived in Utah so I was as close as one could be to an out of town relative but I loved her dearly. She was in her 90's when she passed and she was one of the sweetest people I've met. I find myself remembering that I need to write to her and it hits me that I can't. Another one is Brian's grandfather. His passing was a shock to everyone. A heart attack took him very quickly from us. It was hard to see my husband grieve for his loss. We found out about a month ago that my grandpa has cancer. I was blessed with the opportunity to visit him in Arkansas with my mom last week. It was my first trip away from the kids. I had a great time with my mom and I was happy to see my grandpa. We found out today another one of Brian's great grandma's is very ill. I hope we don't lose anymore relatives this year and that everyone can keep their health.

Well, that is a VERY brief synopsis of my year so far. I am going to post over due pictures in the next post and I am going to work very hard at posting more often and recording my life. I just want to say I love my family and grateful for the blessings of this year!