Happy New Year!

Wow - it's been a while since I've blogged. Probably because I've been super busy at work and using all of my free time getting ready for the holidays. I find that every holiday season is super stressful. I wish I could relax and enjoy it more, but it stresses me out. There are way too may things to do to get ready for it! This year we ordered most gifts off of Amazon. (Can I just tell you, I love Amazon Prime! Totally worth it!) I don't know what I would have done without Spencer. He helped order all of the gifts, helped come up with gift ideas, and really has been super amazing. I just opened the boxes and wrapped everything. I love wrapping gifts when I have the time, supplies, and don't feel stressed over it.

We both had a few vacation days to burn before the end of the year. I really don't understand why vacation hours at work are 'use it or lose it' for the year because it just causes everyone to want the same days off at the end of the year. We were both lucky enough to get the last week and a half of the year off :) It really helped lower the stress level around here.. hehe..

Due to a series of misfortunate events, and stress, we ended up staying home for New Years Eve. It was nice to hang out and relax at home. We watched movies, made the most wonderful Guyabitos Margaritas, and the doggie got a bone.

I also brought around our neighbor gifts for those that brought over Christmas gifts :) I decided I'm going to always do New Year's gifts because then I have time to plan for it after Christmas! I hope they liked the Martinelli's, I think they turned out cute :)

Schoko loves her new toys she got for Christmas! Her aunt Becca gave her a new tire biter, and she loves it! She also loves the gift her puppy pals (Tika, Bane, and Mia) gave her - also pictured below. I hope she'll learn to tug with the other dogs because she always wants to tug with me and she's way too strong! My cousin-in-law Alli made her a cute toy out of the scraps from the blankets we made at the Mitton family party. She loves it! Who knew you could make a cute toy with scraps like that?! Thank you Alli! :)

I'm not a fan of creating new years resolutions because I feel that goals should be made when they're needed/wanted - not just at the new year. I also find I do better when I create short term attainable goals that I can accomplish before I forget about it :) ...hehe... However, I do like having an occasional yearlong goal so I think this next year I'm going to try to find ways to relax and try to not stress over work so much. This is a goal I know will take a year or more to accomplish because I always stress. Suggestions on how to relax and enjoy each moment are welcome because I have no clue how to do this! ;) I'm thinking I will need to create month to month goals for this. So, this first month I will be doing a bit of homework to determine what I can try to do to relax when I'm home. I'm a bit nervous to put this out to the world because I'm not sure it's possible :) but at least I am going to try...

I hope 2013 will be as fun as 2012 proved to be :)