HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow, I can’t believe that it’s already 2012!  This last year was such a blast and we had so many highlights throughout the year.  Looking forward to the new year, I want to set some goals that I will easily be able to mark some progress by.   I heard from someone that instead of making a list of 20+ goals (that they would never reach anyway) they make just one for each category in their life they want to improve.  I thought that was a great idea!  After thinking about it, I’ve come up with my own catagories and goals I wanted to accomplish this year.   I figure if I post about them then I am more likey to keep ALL of them.  Here it goes:

Mentally:  Go back to school and finish my degree.  I am only 6 credits away from getting my associates degree in generals or 12 credits away from getting my associates with an Emphasis in Business.  I know now that I should have never stopped 10 years ago, it would have been so much easier to just finish out my last 2 semesters but I got caught up in working and life and thought I needed a break… 10 years later I think my break is over and that it’s time to go back and wrap things up!  This is my year!

Spiritually: Read the Book of Mormon.  Believe it or not I have never read this book all the way through, cover-to-cover, in a normal amount of time in my entire life.  I’m kind of embarrassed about this, but  that’s not the reason for my goal.  This year I have had a serious desire to know the scriptures more, to have a greater testimony, and to be able to recall the stories and meaning of the stories much faster then I do.  So this goal isn’t just about reading… it’s about learning, knowing, and gaining a testimony of the knowledge that can be had through just a little more effort on my part.  I think I am most excited about this goal!

Physically:  Run a Half Marathon.  It seems like everyone I know is a runner!  Ok, so maybe that’s not true, but it seems like I know a lot of people that have ran a half marathon and its time to add MY name to the list.  My friend Liz has ran 20+ half marathons and has convinced me to join her in training this winter.  I am a little nervous to train through the winter months but I think I can do it!  It also helps to know that for all of my runs (long and short) that I will have a friend to help push me past my own barriers and be there to celebrate with me with I do!  I have made this goal official by signing up for the Hurricane Half Marathon on April 28th.

Financially:  Buy a new house (for a steal of a deal).  This has recently been on our radar a lot more since Jason’s work is moving to the point of the mountain at the end of January.  With all of the road construction he is not looking forward to his commute.  Not only that, but since he is a computer engineering genius, it only makes scenes to move to the point of the mountain since it is turning into the software hub.  We really like the North-East Lehi area and are on the hunt for a home in the Traverse Mountain communities.  We like this area because it doesn’t feel like the “Lehi” (yeehaw!) that is old and ugly (that’s how I picture Lehi in my mind) yet it is still close to the freeway, and not far from many of our family and friends.  I think Jason is most excited about this goal!  🙂

Emotionally:  Grow our little family.  Yes this means getting pregnant!  I’ve wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember…. we have been trying for a while and hope that this fun adventure is right around the corner.

I’m very optimistic that I’ll be able to achieve each of these goals by the end of the year and this will help keep me accountable!

Happy Retirement Charlotte!  Jason’s mom finally got to retire after working for 30+ years as an IT Specialist for the USDA NRCS which stands for the United States Department of Agriculture And Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Whoa!  That’s a mouth full!

We were so excited for her to retire not only for the benefits to her health but also so that she could begin to enjoy doing the things she loves.   All of us wanted to help celebrate the big event so we went to dinner and then had everyone over for games and a good time.

 Dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory… One of Charlotte’s Favorites!

Did you know that the Old Spaghetti Factory now has gluten free pasta?  Pretty cool!

It’s finally here…Peace Out Corporate America!

The “cake”… it was really a Christmas box with Happy Retirement candles poked down in it.  The best part about a box cake is that you can relight the candles as many times as you want…

yea we did that!

Now that’s some good volume!

The Evan’s family Christmas party was a huge hit this year… as always.  I can’t believe Jason’s Grandma still makes this little get together happen!  She is quite the little lady and still loves to have everyone over for a fun night of games and chatting.  I’m really glad she still does because this is an event we always look forward too and we love making memories with her.  One of my favorite memories from this night was when Jason and I were sitting on the couch next to Grandma taking pictures of ourselves with our iPhone.  Grandma could not figure out what the heck we were doing!  When we told her we were taking pictures and that the iPhone had a built in camera and she just couldn’t believe it!  It was super funny.   We love her.

The Babes capturing Christmas Eve #2 as a married couple.

Grandma Evans discovering the iPhone camera for the first time.

This picture says it all…  Where is it?!  It’s inside the phone?!

Aside from Grandma’s sheer amazement of the phone, other things this picture captures is how she still wears makeup and gets all dressed up.  I don’t think I have ever seen her (not even when we are camping at Bear Lake) without her eye brow makeup, lip stick on, and her hair done.   When I am her age I want to still be doing my makeup too!  I love this Grandma!

Lynn Gray, Grandma’s husband taking a nap in the chair at the party.  Getting old has got to be the best!

You’re tired and need a nap, no problem, you now have the magical ability to sleep anytime – anywhere and with any amount of chaos going on around you!

We didn’t have tons of pictures from the party this year, but Jason did take this cool panoramic picture, with his iPhone which shows everyone just hanging out having a good Christmas Eve together.

After the party was over, Jason and I and Tyson and Aimee all went over to Charlotte’s house to have a sleep over!  We spent the night playing the game SORRY which I don’t recommend.  Who knew that game could get so intense?!  I swear every time you’re about to win someone sends you home and says…. SORRY!  Which you know they’re not…. HAHA!  Good times!  Eventually we all went to bed and woke up the next morning to the smell of Charlotte’s famous Christmas casserole.  Ahhh, life is good.  Merry Christmas!