How did I do? My 10 Goals for 10.10.10

In October I gave my self a list of goals to work on for the rest of the year. You may remember them, 10 Goals for 10.10.10 Well here is my end of the year report.

Now it is time for a recap!

~ Loose weight. While I haven't reached my specific goal {I knew I wouldn't do it in just a few months but that it would be an ongoing thing} I was more diligent in getting to the gym and I did loose some weight. I am pretty pleased with the progress.

~ Finish my projects. I finished my table runner and I LOVE how it turned out. It is made of yellows, oranges and browns. I don't have a picture of it right now on the computer so I'll have to try and get one up next week some time. The window treatments, are half done and now boxed up for the move. The picture collage turned out great. I love it and I think my Mother-in-law really liked it too {it's hanging in her front room}. Hand made Christmas gifts: well something had to give. I got a few of them done but not one for everyone so I'll get around to finishing those this month.

~ Read the Book of Mormon. Maybe this one will be a New Years resolution!

~ Clean the Fridge. It didn't happen until two days ago and mostly because we had to since we were moving, but I got it done and it looks GREAT!

~ Continue Attending the Temple. We set a goal for our Temple attendance earlier this year and have been able to make it and I want to continue with that. With everything going on this month it was hard to make the time to go. Since we knew this was going to happen we decided to go twice next month.

~ Sort through my closet. Again, this one was mostly due to the fact that we are moving on the last day of the month {year} and there is no reason to pack and move stuff I won't be using or needing. But it is done and I was able to get rid of a lot. YEA!!

~ Finish my Personal Progress. Oh I am so close. One of the things I need to finish is reading the Book of Mormon

~ DI and De-junk. I could not even count how many bags and boxes we dropped off to the DI. If moving is good for anything, it is a great chance to go though your stuff and get rid of what you don't want to pack and move around with you.

~ Meal Planning. This is one I still need to work on. Who knows if or when I will ever master this one.

~ Levi Quilt. I packed all the old pants and stuff I would need in one box and I think I have enough to get working on one for us. Before my mission I made one for a great friend of mine as a wedding present. I loved it and wanted one for myself, they are such great quilts to take and use at the park or camping, so nice and heavy. While we were packing I found the digital pattern I designed for her quilt, I knew I had it somewhere. Now that I found the pattern I can get started on my own.

It Has Been Foggy

About a week ago when Paul came home from work he told me to put a coat on and go with him for a little car ride. He works up at the Temple and with the fog that was hanging around he had to show it to me. It was almost too foggy to even see anything, but I must admit, it still looked pretty cool.

A Christmas to Remember

I got this poem on my mission from an Elder and loved to share it as our thought when ever we had dinner with the members around Christmas time. I still love it and so I wanted to share. It seems really long typed out like this but trust me, it's worth it.

A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER

Christmas usually makes us think

Of shopping in the snow,

Of caroling, loving, giving, sharing

And that special mistletoe.

It reminds most folks of Santa

And presents 'neath the tree,

And Christmas had always brought

Those same thoughts to me.

But something happened late one night

To change the way I feel,

An unexpected incident

That made the season real.

I had just come from talking

To a real close friend of mine,

We were pondering the season

In a voice much like a whine.

For complaining seems to be the norm

When Christmas gets this near,

'Just can't wait for it to get over'

Is all you ever hear.

Well, it was snowing really hard

I was miserable and cold,

And the packages I had

Were getting awfully hard to hold.

So I thought I'd just stop and sit

While I waited for my ride,

I found a bus stop shelter

I went and sat inside.

My Christmas spirit was not the best

As I shivered from the cold

And all the holly jolly stuff

Was really getting old.

I sat there with my attitude

When I noticed 'cross the street,

A Nativity no one cared for

It looked old and pretty beat.

The thought had crossed my mind,

'How sad, does no one really care

Now that Santa's the important one

To children everywhere.'

People passing, no one cared

The cradle had been tipped,

And the dress on Virgin Mary

Was looking worn and ripped.

I figured, well it's so commercialized

And now Santa is the one,

That children think and care about

'Cause he brings all the fun.

That's all the time I spent on that

So I'm just as guilty too,

Until I saw the incident

That changed my point of view.

I saw a man dressed in a suit

A Santa Clause no less,

He was fixing up the manger scene

And cleaning up the mess.

As I sat there watching him

I didn't feel the cold,

I felt the love and warmth he had

For a birthday long ago.

He looked down at baby Jesus

Then he knelt down reverently

Took his hat from off his head

And laid it crossed his knee.

I heard the prayer he said that night

It's one I'll not forget,

He said, “Bless the children I've not seen

And all the ones I've met.

Please help the parents of these kids

To make them understand,

That You're the reason we are here

I'm just here to lend a hand.”

He Said, “I didn't mean to be important

I didn't mean to be the one,

That everybody thinks of first

When You're the chosen Son.”

He wiped his eyes from tears of love

As he continued on,

“I want the folks to realize

This way they think is wrong.

Please help me have the power

To teach these people true.

That the spirit of the holiday

Is not me but You.

I see in all the homes around

They decorate in me.

I was supposed to be for fun

It's You they need to see.

I'm sorry I'm complaining.”

He said still on one knee,

“I just wish I had the power

To help some of them see.

'For God so loved the world he gave

His only begotten Son'.

How can they compare my gifts

To this special Holy One.

He stopped talking for a moment

Just knelt in fervent prayer.

Beside the manger scene he fixed

With tender loving care.

He put his hat back on his head

Slowly rose up to his feet,

He zipped his coat, said good-bye

Then wandered down the street.

It wasn't 'til that moment

I noticed people everywhere,

They all had stopped to listen

And they had heard that Santa's prayer.

'Cross the way was an apartment

With windows that faced the street

And faces in every window

Probably people he'd never meet.

Will he ever know

The 'power' he received,

If I hadn't seen it for myself

I'm not sure that I'd believed.

But now I knew the 'power'

Is in each and everyone,

As we treat Christmas as a birthday

For an Only Begotten Son.

I know Christmas in our house

Will never be the same again,

It changed one night I heard Santa say,

“In Jesus name, Amen.”

Connie Walker

Christmas 1993

Change...

It's hard to believe it is all coming to an end. We have been married four years and four months and the only life we have known together has been up at school. Paul is graduating IN TWO WEEKS and then we'll be moving. The past four years seem like they have gone by so fast, yet not fast enough at the same time. Paul is really going to miss living here, he loves it, I think it's ok, but I am a city girl. Since I have graduated I have come to enjoy it more but am still ready for a change.

Who knows what the next chapter will hold? We are both looking for jobs in a wonderfully terrible economy and it seems that because I am not bilingual, I am of no use up here, so hopefully I will have better luck when we move. Paul has had the opportunity to meet some great people up here as well as in SL who are great contacts for work too. As a matter of fact, a teacher at a high school up here is having Paul come in as a guest teacher for the tech students in her theatre program. He could not be more excited, seeing as that is the whole reason he wants to do grad school, so he can teach.

He will also be applying to grad schools but they don't make their decisions until Feb-Mar so we have some more waiting to do. I'm hoping it takes us back east. We had a blast on our trip to Boston last March and would love a chance to live a chance to see the other side of the country.

DownTown Boston

Us and the Ocean. Paul loved the Down Town Street Market. He said it reminded him of Brazil.

Paul Revere house. Church.

Bunker Hill monument. USS Constitution.

How would you like a cemetery to look over in the mornings. Boston City Hall.

Salem! A monument to those who died in the Salem Witch Hunt.

More of Salem.

Boston Temple. We made the last session on our way to UMASS.

Christian Science Center. That was a long day of sitting at the airport.

Right now I have put the job search on a mini hold, I'm still looking but have to take time to pack as well. Our living room is a mess. I had the bright idea of pulling everything out of the closet so I could see what we had, what we could get rid of and hope that having it all out would help motivate me to get cracking. Nope, hasn't worked yet, and I am dreading having to deal with the spare {catch-all} room. The good thing about moving is that you get to de-junk all that stuff you have been holding onto for really no reason. I just need to get in the right mood then watch out. I'll just open the door and start throwing it all out.