A new year

2010 has been an exciting year for us here in Huxley and as we close the books on another great year it would make sense to take a moment to look back on some of the highlights. However, there's been so many noteworthy things I don't really have the time or space to write about them all.  So that leads me to Resolution #1 for 2011 - Blog more often! When I started this blog this summer I had hoped to regularly blog about events going on in our life. Unfortunately, I underestimated the amount of energy school would require this last semester and I completely failed these last few months. So in 2011 I hope to blog more regularly so that at this time next year I'll have a plethora of blogs to pull from for the highlights. Also I hope my writing improves. I would consider myself fairly proficient in technical writing but story-telling is not my forte. So with more blogging hopefully will come more ease with writing.

Resolution #2 is to work on the many projects we have for our home. We've got a laundry list of all sorts of things we'd like to do that we haven't tackled yet due to such a hectic fall. And with the completion of our home improvement projects, I'll have lots more things to post on the blog! Here's some of the things on our list:

• Repaint our bedroom
• Buy new furniture... maybe a sectional?!?!?
• Paint the main living space... light green?
• Install shelves to organize the garage
• Install engineered hardwood floors  
• Tile the bathrooms and kitchen floor
• New carpet for the rest of the floors
• Backsplash in the kitchen
• New cabinets in kitchen
• Paint floorboards white
• Remove wallpaper in guest bedroom, paint
• Paint wood paneling in basement

I would be floored if we were able to complete all of these projects in 2011 but I have a feeling that time and money will both be constraints. But we've got something to work at so that'll be fun.

Ok, let's see, Resolution #3 for 2011... vacations. I guess this really isn't a resolution but rather a hope for the upcoming year. We've talked about lots of trips we'd like to take in 2011 to places both near and far -- Mexico, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Sri Lanka, St. Louis, Canada, Okoboji, Colorado, Vegas. Some of these we had hoped to take in 2010 but due to my lack of a full-time job they didn't happen. (Luckily I was able to cash in some c.d.'s that my Grandpa gave to me so that I was able to go to Chile to visit Jackie - more on that amazing trip soon!) So this year I'll be working full-time and after we do some catch-up savings for our retirment accounts, I plan to budget our money carefully so that we're able to take a few of the trips on our list.

Last but definitley not least, Resolution #4  - Get involved. I haven't really figured out all the details for this one yet but I want to get back involved with doing some good. Back in Iowa City, there were plenty of opportunities to get involved. Then in Omaha, I volunteered at the Children's Hospital. When I moved back to Des Moines I became a Big for Big Brothers Big Sisters. But since getting married, going back to school, moving to Fort Dodge and then to Huxley, I haven't done much. Now that we're settled I don't have any excuse. I feel very blessed to be starting the new year with a home, my health and that of my family plus a job and I think that it's very important to give back.