Shrouded in Mystery

In December, I received a surprise in my mailbox. A copy of Martha Stewart Living came in the mail. Addressed to me! My first response was laughter. Seriously, I am no Martha. Not even close. I thought one of two things must have happened:

1. Someone was trying to give me a serious hint
2. Someone really doesn't know me

I thought for sure during the holidays I would find out who this mystery gift was from. Christmas came and went and I forgot about my new-found Martha subscription. That is, until the next one arrived.  I have no clue who got this subscription for me. And it makes me kind of laugh...probably nervous laughter, but you know.

So now I sit here all confused. I have no clue how or why these magazines are coming to me. But, I guess I will flip through them, stare at the pictures and think about what it would be like to be Martha...cause there isn't a way in the world I would actually get around to doing stuff Martha style!

Twelve Dates of Christmas {nine}

On the ninth date of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

A date night at home

Some of the best dates to me are ones spent at home. Its kind of like the best of both worlds. Spending time together and being in your pajamas! And since little miss is getting older every day, she is starting to give us our evenings back. Insert happy dance. Thus a date night at home. 

Given my total dork status, and the fact that I didn't consume any alcohol for 10 months, I asked for wine for Christmas. No joke. Ian and I got a case from his parents - score. And Ian gave me a bottle of port in my stocking. I love me some port!  We have been slowly* enjoying our spoils. Add cheese and crackers to that, and I had a wonderful little time with Ian at home.

* I am still breastfeeding, so I can't go crazy. Wait a second, I'm 30, maybe I have just learned to be reasonable and responsible and that's why I don't go crazy! 

Family Pictures

A couple weeks ago we had family pictures taken with Ian's family. There is something about family pictures that becomes stressful. There is trying to work around everyone's schedules.  Figuring out what to wear. Then dealing with nap times, which became a total failure on our part. Pictures were at 3pm, smack dab in the middle of Connor's nap time. We woke him up and he was crying. He was so tired. And when we got to pictures, he became full of energy and had NO interest in taking pictures. Seriously no interest. He refused to take any pictures with Isla and even family pictures were difficult. Oh well.

Now allow me to introduce you to Ian's family:

Like I said, Connor was rather uncooperative with pictures. You can especially tell with our family pictures. And me, I should have buttoned my vest. I had it buttoned, but decided to unbutton it at the last minute. A minor detail, but it is all I think about a distraction for me when I look at these pictures. I feel like I look shapeless and don't like it.

I think my favorite family picture is the one of Connor kissing Isla.

I think this next picture of Isla and my mother in law is rather adorable.

And we end with Ian and I. I think it is a really cute picture, though I am still distracted by the thought that I should have buttoned my vest. Oh well. Life goes on.

Challenge Accepted

The title is a little homage to How I Met Your Mother. If you don't get it, that's ok. It just means I watch way to much of that show.

I have this friend that has always challenged me to be a better person. Not in an annoying way. And not even in a way that I think she realizes she is doing it. She just always points out the right (and sometimes wrong) things in my life and always challenges me to be a better person without even realizing she is doing it. What a genius! 

I don't live by this friend anymore. In fact, I haven't for years. But, I get to see her about once or twice a year and every time that happens, I walk away feeling refreshed. She is a true friend. It doesn't feel awkward that we never actually talk except when we see each other. It doesn't even matter that we have lived apart for way more of our friendship than we lived by each other. She is a great friend to me. 

But back to my point.

We were having breakfast last week and I was talking about people who have impacted my life and how I would like to impact people's lives as well. She pointed out that most of the people who have impacted my life didn't do any big, grand gestures. They were just themselves and loved me. She also pointed out that I probably have already impacted people's lives for the better (who knows if this is true, but I would like to hope it is). All this talk inspired me...

For 2012 I would like to impact someone each month. I haven't quite decided how it is going to work. I don't know if it will be a different person each month or if it will be the same couple of people throughout the year. All I know is I want to make a difference in people's lives. I want to be a blessing. I want to be an encourager. So every month, I will pick a person and figure out how to bless and encourage them. It could be thru cupcakes (that hopefully turn out edible), a starbucks card, a homemade scarf and the list goes on. Anything to make them feel loved.

So there you have it. My challenge of 2012. It may not seem huge, but it really is the little things in life that matter.

Lately {in Photos}

1. Cutie

2. A before nap snack

3. Trying out sophie the giraffe

4. Smile

5. Carousel ride

6. little mr. practicing his photo skills

7. Cool afternoon shadows

8. Squeaky clean

9. After 8.5 years, we finally have our wedding pic hanging in our house!

10. Happy girl

Twelve Dates of Christmas {eight}

On the eighth date of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

A date planned by Ian

that seemed to take a random course throughout the night.

We were in LA last week for my family's Christmas party and Ian wanted us to slip out while the kids were sleeping for some "us" time.  His idea? Hit up a trendy coffee shop just up the street from my parent's house.

This wasn't our first time at this place, but it was our first time being there when it wasn't super busy.  Because of this, I was able to snoop around at some of the crazy coffee accessories they sell. Really expensive machines and stuff from other countries. Coffee dorks like me think looking at that kind of stuff is fun. 

While sitting there talking (our coffee had been quickly gulped up) I couldn't help but think about food. Instantly my mind went to a taco truck that my parents introduced us to a while back. I suggested it to Ian and away we went. 

We ordered our tacos and sat down on milk crates (fun, right?!?) to wait for our food. Just then (at 10:45pm) Ian's phone rang. There was drama with someone claiming our tenants (we own a townhouse in Pasadena) were having a party. Because we were nearby and we wanted to see about this "party" ourselves, we ate our tacos, jumped in the car and headed to Pasadena. 

 

When we got there, there was no party to be had. Kind of what I expected. I personally think our HOA picks on our tenants, but that is a whole other story. So, we headed back to my parents. Our babies were sound asleep. Of course, one woke up as soon as we got home...she wanted her mama! 

 

It was a fun, albeit random, night. But that's just the way I like it.

Goodbye 2011. Welcome 2012.

As I was getting Isla ready for bed last night, I had a tinge of sadness that we were leaving the year of her birth. I feel like her infancy is flying by and I want it to slow down a bit. Oh well. Such is life. In honor of the last night of 2011, I had her wear her "born in 2011" onesie. I'm not bias or anything, but she rocked that onesie!

Connor wasn't quite as excited about an end of the year photo session, but I did manage to get one good decent shot of him. 

We tried and tried to get a good one of them together, but it did not happen. We even bribed Connor with chocolate. Nothing. The kid just did not want a picture of him and his sister together.

After the kids went to bed, we headed out to a new year's party. We left the kids at home alone with Ian's parents. And of course both kids were well behaved and slept. Why can't they be that way for us when we are home?!?

We rang in 2012 in style. This party had props and everything! We played some fun games, rang in the new year with champagne in plastic cups, then ran home to our little ones.

Goodbye 2011. You were a great and eventful year.

Hello 2012. I can't wait to see what you have in store for me!