Changes

I have really done a lot of thinking lately about my 2010 goals. I know i have good ones set but there is more that i want to accomplish and bigger ones that i want to get to first. I was raised in a christian home and went to church regularly but for some reason it stopped and i never had the desire to go back. Ryan was raised in church as well by his grandparents and he stopped going after his aunt said something to him he didn't like when he was younger. I have done alot of thinking about how hard 2009 was for us. We started off the year with him being unemployed for 3 months after we had just gotten married 2 months before. We wound up living with his parents instead of moving out on our own and our only means of transportation went out. Now im not just focusing on the bad but i did have quite a few blessings for 2009 like me finally getting my learners permit and getting my license, Ryan finding a job in April, we got the altima in June so i can't say it was a completely bad year for us but there were some rock bottom times. I want 2010 to be better and i want to start off right. This year God blessed us with him keeping his job, we are getting alot of our bills paid down and ryan will start his CDL school soon. Although all that is great i still feel like im missing something and i really feel what im missing is church and God again.  Another one of my 2010 goals is i want to start going to church again and reconnect with God. This may sound bad but i may wind up going alone for a while and im hoping that Ryan will come around and maybe we can go together as a couple. I really think it would do our marriage some good as well as our lives.


Some of you know that my marriage has been really rocky these past few months and there were times i didn't think we were going to make it, but by a miracle we are still holding on. I have looked back at our life together and the past 2 1/2 years we have been together and it makes me really want that back. The happiness, the laughter, the talking and just loving each other. I'm not saying its completely gone from our relationship but its not always there like it should be. So my other 2010 goal is to be a better wife and really put in the effort to try to fix things and i think I'm off to a pretty good start. I recently came across a blog called Women's Marriage Ministry and i really did like the first couple post i read and they really touched my heart, it was almost like they were speaking to me. Also i fount some very useful tips and books on there as well. Starting next week im going to be doing the Love & Respect 14 Day Challenge and reading "Love & Respect" and "Strengthening Your Marriage". As well as going to a church sermon with his grandparents at his childhood church, I'm going to mention it to him and see if he even seems interested in going but if not i wont press the issue.

Im really hoping this can help me start on the right road and maybe help someone else out there in my situation. Im really focused on my goals for 2010 and i hope to be able to achieve them all. Also when i start my 14 day challenge i will be updating here to let you all know how it goes! Until then take care and God Bless!

Looking Back....

On 2009 there was so much i accomplished. Well it was big things in my opinion but im still proud of myself : )

Here is my short list of accomplishments in 2009:

1.) I got my learners permit-January 20, 2009
2.) I celebrated my 1 year marriage anniversary with Ryan November 1, 2009
3.) I got my license back November 7, 2009

Although that may not seem like alot it is alot for me and its huge accomplishments for me.

This year is going to be full of new ones that i cant wait to get started on working towards!

1.) Start Shopping a lot smarter. I already bargain shop for most things but now im going to be cutting coupons and actually using them and trying to buy a lot of things on sale.

2.) Get my GED and start college.

3.) Reduce a lot of our debt (or try to at least)

4.) Start blogging at least twice a week

5.) Work on becoming better organized and stop being such a pack rat!

these are just some of my goals for 2010 but im sure ill have more to update about soon!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Past Christmas Post!

The past week has been so busy for me! I had to do all my running and finishing some last minute shopping and well let me just say i will never do that again! The lines were so long and people were so rude and pushy! But i managed and we had a really good christmas. Our christmas started out on christmas eve with my nanny mac and she had bbq for dinner. It wasn't your traditional christmas eve dinner but it was still good. After that of course we socialized and opened gifts. Ryan got a mini air compresser and christmas money and i got a light pink velour jump suit with christmas money has well. The best presents we got were the pictures. I got one of my cousin skylee and her big sister blake and i got one of my cousins jacey and jamin. My little sister suprised us all and gave us a picture of her too! Now i need to get some frames so i can put up pictures of our family : )

Later that night we and ryan exchanged our gifts and he loved what i got him. He has been wanting for some time the other two books to the eragon series hes been wanting to read in hard back so i picked them up for him. Do you know how hard it is to keep that secret when everytime you go to borders your husband wants to buy them and you have to come up with an excuse why he cant? I also got a 52 piece screwdrive set where you can change out the bits. Although i secretly think he got my present for himself its the thought that counts and i love it. He got me a trimmer set for hair. Its really neat because it keeps me organized and now i can cut his hair whenever without having to borrow his brothers. Plus i plan on going to cosmetology school soon so this will come in handy : )


Christmas day was so busy. Ryan and his older brother went to pick up his great grandmother from the nursing home so she could spend christmas with us. It was so heartwarming to see the family come together and see people we dont normally see. As far as presents we got a few gift cards and checks from the grandparents, my mother in law got me my tinkerbell floor mats for my car and an adorable purse and wallet i have been eyeing for a while and ryan got a new dvd player and a beard trimmer from her. As far as the brother in laws and sister in laws we did couples gifts and we got a comforter set and wireless keyboard and mouse. All around it was a great christmas and i got the most enjoyment out of seeing my neices and nephews open their gifts. Although this was their first christmas with us and nanny mac hadn't met them before she still made sure they had one present each and since my sisters husband couldn't afford christmas for them their church donated some and me nad my mom pulled together for them and they had a wonderful christmas. It really warms your heart when you do something good. im pretty sure i see that as one of my 2010 goals is to do more good. Hope you all had a good christmas!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Boy oh boy has it been a really busy weekend! We had two christmas parties in one day, one for my family and Ryans work christmas party. Although we were totally wiped out on sunday i can say we had a blast! Saturday afternoon we went to my Nanny Mulkeys house for her Christmas get together and seen alot of the family we hardly see which was great i really love seeing them all! My favorite part was seeing my cousin blake who is prego and is ready to pop, that and the baby kicked and i was able to feel it : )

Later that night we had to go to ryans work christmas party which was a blast as well. I met alot of the people i always here him and my father in law talking about. its nice to be able to match faces with names. While we were there they had a bunch of prizes such as a xbox, wii, dvd player, blue ray player etc. and they said they only way you could win one is the guys for Reliable had to sing karaoke to get the raffle tickets. I kept bugging ryan to go sing and get some tickets just to have a good time and see what prize he would win and finally he did. Him and a few of the other guys all started singing dont take the girl and his boss paid three of them (including ryan) with raffle tickets to stop singing haha. The best part of this story is when he handed out the bonuses he told all the guys that the blue raffle tickets they got for singing were no good and that the real raffle ticket to the prizes was in their bonuses! It was too funny. It was a long night they had excellent food, beverages, alcohol etc. The prize give away was fun to watch although me and my mother in law were praying my father in law didn't win one of the big screen t.v's (us kids bought his one for christmas) but instead he one a blue ray player and ryan won some kind of saw but it was still a fun night. I just wish i had pictures to share.

This week has been a busy week as well yesterday i spent the day with a girlfriend and her baby. It was some much needed girl time to just talk and relax. When i came home and checked the mail i fount a card in the mailbox from my dad and he sent me and ryan some gift cards to old navy, bass pro shop, and applebees which they will all go to good use of course : )

The rest of the week consists of finishing christmas shopping, im doing the rest of mine tomorrow with my mom and then thursday morning im going with my sis in law to finish hers because she hates shopping by herself and then later that night i get to go to my nanny macs for christmas eve dinner and back to my moms to do christmas with my nieces and nephews : )

Of course Christmas will be spent with ryans family as well on christmas day and after everyone is gone Ryan is taking me to see New Moon (which i have been dying to see) and then probably out to eat saturday night :)


What are your holiday plans so far? Are you guys done with your christmas shopping?

A Long Over Due Update!

I have been such a bad blogger these past few days but i have been so busy. I finally had time tonight to sit down and write and update for everyone. Things with my sister are going along. We still aren't sure what it is but the doctor reassured us if it is Hodgkins then it is treatable and doesn't mean she is going to die but he wants to make sure before he tells us a diagnoses. As for things on the home front we are preparing for christmas. I have gotten almost all of my Christmas shopping done. All i have left to do is order my brother and sister in laws gift tomorrow, and buy picture frames for our pictures to give to the grandmothers for christmas. After all my buying is done i have to wrap the remaining gifts and put them under the tree and then im done outside of mailing our Christmas cards : )

*as a note: i will never buy wrapping paper with glitter ever again! By the time i was done wrapping all the presents i had to wrap i was covered in gold glitter and it was all over the place! what a mess.


This weekend is going to be really busy for us since we have 2 Christmas parties to attend in the same day! First we have the Christmas party and my Nanny Mulkey's house that afternoon and then that night we have Ryan's work christmas party. Luckily ill have some time inbetween to grab my sister and sneak off to the mall to finish Ryan's Christmas. The last thing on my list is the Very Sexy for him after shave at Victoria Secret : )

As a treat for you guys here is a sneak peak of our Christmas/family pictures!

Me & Ryan

 

 

Tyler & Alicia (sister and brother in law

Todd & Nikki (brother & sister in law)

Mike & Karen (Mother & Father In Law)

Father In Law With Daughter In Laws

Mother In Law With The Daughter In Laws

Dad With The Sons

Mom With The Sons (my brother in law is actually smiling!)

 The Sons & Their Wives

The Gladden Family

Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas Everyone!

Update On Crystal

Today was crystals dr. appointment to find out wether or not she has cancer. Im very sad to report that we still dont know. The doctor has scheduled a biopsy and ct scan to find out sometime next week. The only insight he could give us was it can either be something bacterial or Hotchkins Disease or something along those lines. Whatever it is he said it is very serious. Although i wasn't there with her today (i wish i was) when she told me this news my heart fell to the floor. I have never had such a feeling before in my life. I know i need to be strong for her but its so hard. Whatever it comes down to i know we will all come together as a family and fight it until the end. I just pray it doesn't take her away from us. She still has so much to live for. She still has to see her three wonderful children grow up and live their lives. We still have so much sister bonding to do and re connect with each other. These are the positive thoughts that i am holding on to. To get me through this the best i can.

Please keep us in your prayers. Im thinking i will start another blog and link it to this one on this journey. Its going to be a long rocky road but im ready for it. I just pray to God its not her time to go but if it is i wont fight him.

Next Christmas....

Our Apartment Will Look Like This (Kinda lol)

I cant wait to decorate our tree next year here are some ideas i love!

 

Praying For Crystal

Today i got a unsettling call from my mom. As some of you know a little over a month ago my mom fount my older sister. Well she got some unsettling news from the hospital yesterday. She has had this "knot" on the side of her neck and it was really bothering her and causing her a lot of pain. While she is down here my mom convinced her to go to the hospital yesterday. The "knot" is not that......its a tumor and she had another one on the other side of her neck that busted. I dont know everything that is going on my mom wouldn't tell me a whole lot but my mom was very upset and really stressed out so i know this can't be good. Crystal has a doctors appointment on Tuesday and i will know more then. Until then please keep us in your prayers. God Bless.

Over The Road Truck Drivers.

This is very hard for me to swallow and accept but Ryan has decided to go to school to get his CDL which isn't the problem. The problem is when he gets it he has to go over the road which means he is going to be gone all the time for the first year after that he can get a local position. I renamed my blog because this will probably be my main source of support while he is gone outside of friends and family. Its going to be really hard to adjust to him being gone all the time but im sure i will manage some how. Right now our plan is after he gets out of his training to start looking for a place to live so while he is gone we have our place that he can come home to and not his parents or my parents like it has been. I can see lots of slumber parties with my little sister and a lot of sleepovers on my older sisters parts. I've never actually been alone so this will be an interesting change. I will admit the thought of it makes me want to cry but i hold back the tears so Ryan doesn't see them. Writing this right now is making me tear up as well. Its hard always having someone there for 2 1/2 years almost everyday to seeing him maybe three days out of the month. This is all i can write for now before i start crying. I hope all is well with everyone else.

On My Christmas List This Year.....

This totally adorable bag from Avon.

Maybe Some Floor Mats To Match My Steering Wheel Cover?

I would LOVE one of these for the kitchen : )

Or Maybe Some Of This AMAZING Sent

I LOVE this time of year and i can't wait until me and ryan can put up a tree of our own next year : )

This christmas im setting a goal to go see christmas lights and get all of my christmas shopping done before christmas eve this year and actually have everything wrapped and under the tree. They are calling for snow on saturday and we are having family pictures made how cool would that be? I hope it does snow for mine and ryan's outside pictures! Whats on your christmas list? Any Christmas Traditions or Goals?

Happy Holidays Everyone!