paint some pottery

last weekend i went to one of those paint your own pottery places. something i have wanted to do for many many many years but never did. well HighCountryMommies was having a get together there and thanks to alaska's heavy appetite for solid foods i was able to leave BOTH the kids at home with ben and venture out ON MY OWN and have some fun with the ladies. what a great time. this was my very first time going anywhere without children since alaska was born. (ok, well i have been to the grocery store several times, but i don't think that really counts). it was such a great feeling to be my own person and think only about myself for those few hours. and it was really really really FUN - i LOVED the pottery painting experience.

we went here and they had so many different items to choose from. not knowing quite how it worked or how my project would turn out i decided on something purposeful and not too pricey - a cereal bowl. there were many other great and purposeful items i had my eye on like a spoon rest, salt and pepper shakers, and some really cool travel mugs. but the cereal bowl seemed like a good first time option. and it was. let me tell you, this was so so so enjoyable. to be able to leave my house, be away from my kids, do something creative and new, make a mess and have someone else clean up after me, and then end up with a new kick-ass bowl. totally satisfying. i can't wait to go back.

of course i had to show off my project, i am quite proud of how it turned out.

a new kind of year

so.........happy 2009!

i made a list of resolutions. something i always do. most years i do not follow through. i would like to believe that this year WILL BE a following through year though. here goes:

1. re-establish a healthy lifestyle (ditch sweets, eat better, drink more water, exercise regularly)
2. declutter, simplify, and curb my impulse buying and tendency to over consume
3. bring more structure to my homelife (conquer housework, form some routines both for myself and the kids, plan meals, bake more)
4. work on improving our finances, pay down debts and increase savings
5. (which goes along with #1) get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and shape by alaska's first birthday

we've got some big things in store for us this year. we are buying our first home. we will be moving sometime around february/march. we will have a yard for the kids, be in walking distance to the park, library, farmers market, downtown area. granted this is a SMALL town, i think the population is under 1200 people. a little redneck, a little artsy fartsy, a little quaint, i'm excited.

this year our little boy will turn 1 and our little girl will turn 3. the 2s started out ok and have gotten progressively worse. i hear the 3s are not much better. i'm hoping having a yard to exert some energy in will help us all out with that. ben and i just celebrated our 3rd anniversary which also marked 5 years together in life for us. this spring we will also celebrate our 3rd anniversary owning coyote. maybe, just maybe, i will get a mini-van this year. thats pretty wishful thinking, but i'm just putting it out there. i will also become an aunt this summer, ben an uncle, and the kids will become cousins. i will be wishing more than ever that i were not so far away from my family (and ever more thankful and appreciative of skype and the internet in general). all in all i think 2009 is going to ROCK!

i am currently working on a new blog for my family and "a new kind of juggling" will start to be devoted solely to my creativity and crafts. hoping to unveil said new blog in the next couple of weeks. stay tuned.

life is good and getting gooder. cheers!