New Years Resolutions

First, Happy New Years Eve! I hope you all end this year with or around your people celebrating a fresh start.


I thought I would share my resolutions on this little space of mine in hopes of actually following through with them since they're public.

1. Organize. We are notorious for having too much stuff. I just want to go through our house with no storage space and get rid of things. We did that recently and I just felt so much weight out of my life and that was good. I also want to manage my time better. No more coming home and taking a cat nap while Ryan's giving Dom a bath or whatever it is.


2. Parenting. I often feel mom guilt for many things...can you other moms relate? I just want to be more present, patient and say yes more than no. Our expectations of Dominick are set pretty high and even though he looks and most of the time acts older than 3 at the end of the day he's still THREE. I also just want to be more present. Put my phone down, my camera down and just be all in with him. Embrace who he is right now because he's a pretty awesome little person.
3. Marriage. One goal I have this year is to go on more dates, be more mindful as a wife and put my husband first more. I'm pulled in so many directions that giving Ryan 100% ALL the time is just not an option, but giving him 100% MORE is totally an option and working on our marriage is something that will definitely not hurt us.


4. Read. I LOVE to read. I don't do it often enough. I find myself watching tv or scrolling through my facebook and instagram feed. This year I want to make a point of reading more books. I think I might have read 4 books total last year and that's just not okay. So this year I'm hoping to read at least 1, but I'd like to make it 2 books a month.


5. Be Active & Get Healthy. This year for me was one of the hardest I've ever had. There was a lot of things going on in my life personally and it dragged me down. Two years ago I was the healthiest and most fit that I had been in many moons. This past year really was full of changes and hardship and while it wasn't ALL bad and I grew a lot as a person I let my health, workouts and good eating kind of get away. In a lot of ways I'm starting all over to where I was two years ago. I'm hoping to get back to that point where I not only feel better in my own skin, but I'm happy with my results.


6. Financial Freedom. Ryan and I aren't DROWNING in debt, but we do have some. I'd like to pay off a lot of that and just feel more financially free. We are totally capable of doing so and while we will have to make some changes to our lifestyle it won't be the end of the world. We have already discussed our budget and what we plan on doing so we are already starting before the new year.


I am feeling much better about going into 2016 than I was a year ago. Earlier I started 2015 was a tough year and I can't even say I'm sad to see it go. I'm glad for the growth and perseverance, the ability to work hard and to come out better than I went in. I'm hopeful for 2016 and am ready to close one chapter and start the next.

What's Up, What's Happenin

+We celebrated Thanksgiving in Michigan with my family. It was the first Thanksgiving we've all spent together in quite a few years so that was kind of a treat. While we were there my entire family had family pictures taken. It was SO cold, but everyone was troopers and they turned out pretty great.

+The first week of December I took Dominick to go see "THE" big guy in the red suit with a cherry nose. I left work a little early on a Wednesday in hopes of no line. We got there and there was NO line and he got a 15 minute visit. He has only said he wants "5 presents" and won't tell us what he wants inside. He told Santa he wanted a tow truck and trains...done!

+I took Dom to the movies to see The Good Dinosaur and he thought it was just okay. It was kind of a long movie and he kept asking if it was over, but he sat really well through it and said he did like it. While we were at the movies Ryan hung Christmas lights. When we got home Dominick was THRILLED to see them up.

+We baked Christmas cookies and Dominick decorated them. He did a great job and was VERY proud of his work. We sent a bunch of these ones to Ryan's work.

+One day at work we were able to go see a helo up close and personal and that was pretty cool. :)

+On the 14th I took Dominick in for a cold that was lingering and wasn't going away. They told me he had a sinus infection. When I dropped him off at school I saw a sign saying that Hand Foot and Mouth was going around...by the time Ryan picked Dom up that day he had two small spots around his face and was complaining of mouth pain. That night we watched him and when Ryan bathed him he didn't see any spots, but he kept complaining of pain. Tuesday we took him to school because we still didn't see any more spots, but by Tuesday afternoon I got a call saying he had spots all over his hands and mouth. I thankfully got him an appointment and they were able to confirm he had HFMD. I stayed home with him Wednesday and Thursday and Ryan stayed with him Friday. He's finally over that. When they confirmed HFMD they said to stop the sinus infection prescription, but as of yesterday he still had all the same symptoms from that so they put in a new prescription for the same medication for 14 days. FOURTEEN! This is his fourth sinus infection since September. We are going to keep watching him, but if it doesn't get better they're going to send him to an ENT.

+On Monday my office hosted a small Children's Holiday Party so of course I brought Dominick. He made this cute little thumbprint ornament and looked so adorable in his bow tie. I set his clothes out and Ryan brought him so he got him dressed. I asked if he brushed his hair and he said he tried to...child has the CRAZIEST hair.

+On Christmas Eve Papa and Gigi came to town and we were all pretty excited about that. Since Dominick was sick we weren’t able to partake in celebrating Christmas in Michigan so it was really nice having some visitors.

+Christmas Eve we set out milk, cookies and carrots for the reindeer on a plate. Dominick looked at the plate and then looked around and was a little confused. I told him they were for Santa and his reindeer and he said, "but where's my plate?" He wanted cookies too!



+It's been SO nice in Ohio this winter so on once my parents got here and got settled Ryan and I had to run to the store really quickly and my parents took Dominick for a walk to the playground. We met up with them afterwards. It's crazy that on the 24th of December we were running around outside and we weren't bundled up completely.

+Christmas day was so much fun. We finished Dominick's jeep and he was just so tickled to see it. He was DYING to get to ride it. He was so spoiled and was just loving life. We had our traditional breakfast and then our friends came over for dinner (Ham, brisket, funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, pear salad, glazed carrots and corn bread). The boys played outside on their power wheels and it was just a good day. Once they left we watched a movie and just hung out.

holy red eyes!!! HAHAHA!!!!

+The rest of the weekend was full of an amazing breakfast at a cute little cafe, left overs, Chinese food and grocery shopping (food, food and more food).

+We hope you and your families had the best Christmas and were able to spend it with ones you love.