We're Around Here Somewhere

Just wanted to let you all know that we are alive and (barely) kicking. "Winter" is kicking my butt this year. I have no energy and no motivation lately. I'm tired of the cold weather and looking forward to the 3 days of Spring that we normally get around mid March.

I haven't been feeling so well so I haven't crafted, or blogged or cooked or anything but lay around the house, mostly on the couch. I did find the energy to go unpack one of our old comforters and take it to the living room so Coco and I could be extra snuggly on the couch.

Hope all is well with everyone and that you're more productive than I have been! Stay warm,

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

*The lighting sucks, but can you see someone laying right next to her dad? Her little paw is hanging off the couch.*

Hibernating

There are a lot of things that I need to be doing, but I can't seem to find the motivation. I have a baby shower at my house in less than three weeks and I haven't started working on it at all. I mean, I've gotten ideas together and we've planned the menu but normally by now - I'd be just about done. That is totally not the case this time!

I have some craft projects that I want to do and some things that I need to do around the house (the light fixtures and framing the mirror, etc.) and I haven't started any of those things either.

It has recently gotten pretty cold around here and this week is supposed to be even colder. I hear it's going to get down into the 20s at least one night this week so all D and I have been doing is hibernating. We went to the grocery store yesterday and stocked up on stuff to make soup, but other than that - we've been staying at home and staying warm!

I hope the rest of you are far more productive than I have been!

Happy Winter!

Wordless Wednesday

Tell Me About It Tuesday - My Favorite Dressy Outfit

I'm totally a jeans girl, or a pants girl - I'm not big on dresses. I like dresses, I find cute dresses all the time - I just don't think that they look cute on me, so I tend to stay away from them. But year before last (Christmas of 2009), I decided to buy a dress for our company Christmas dinner.

I went to Dress Barn and tried on all kinds of dresses until I found one that I just absolutely loved.

I actually started not to try it on at all, because it's one of those tiered dresses that looks like it's going to make you look about 50 pounds heavier, but it was suprisingly flattering and wound up being the dress I took home.

When we went to California this year for a corporate Christmas party, I decided to wear it again, since none of the people going had seen it (or remembered it), and luckily it still fit, so it wound up being a win/win.

The first year I wore it and again last year (2010) - I got SO MANY compliments on it. I hate to wear it again this year, but I'll have to find some place to wear it. It's comfortable and dressy and I can wear a regular bra with it (score)!

It's a light goldish bronze color satin, topped with a soft black lace and has a tiered black bottom.

This is the only picture I have of myself in it. I was at the Christmas party in California.

What's your favorite dressy outfit?

A look back at 2010

In 2010, I gained a nephew, Clayton Robert Cockrell on December 1st. I lost some of my organizational skills somewhere late in the year. I stopped letting other people's negativity affect me, even though it took me half the year to do so! I started getting in touch with my crafty/creative side. I was hugely satisfied by my ability to re-create things I see online and in magazines, much cheaper than I could buy them. I am so embarrassed that I let a few people have such a negative impact on my life and on my health. Once again, my mouth said yes to too many things my mind really wanted to say no to. Once again, I am ending the year stronger than I started it. The biggest physical difference between me last December and this December is about 15 pounds. The biggest psychological difference between me last December and this December is I have to work at being optimistic, instead of it just coming naturally. I loved how much closer my husband and I became this year. Why did I spend even two minutes letting someone's selfishness hurt me? I should have spent more time spending quality time with my husband. I regret not leaving work on time so that I could spend more time with my husband, more often. I will never regret spending time with my friends and family. I worried way too much about things (and people) that I cannot change. I didn’t send out cards to my friends nearly as often as I should have. Losing two pregnancies nearly drove me crazy. The most relaxing place I went was just our bedroom, snuggled up next to my husband. Why did I not unpack and set up the house when we first moved in? The best thing I did for someone else was getting over my negative feelings and make a special event really special for her. The best thing I did for myself was let people help me, instead of trying to do everything on my own. The best thing someone did for me was being the rock I needed him to be. The one thing I’d like to do again, but do it better, is be a good wife. Happy New Year! (Fill-in-the-blank template from Mary Schmich at The Chicago Tribune)