Christmas and New Year

We had a wonderful Christmas in Idaho with the Sullivan family this year. We were able to spend 4 days just relaxing and enjoying the beauty of Idaho, not to mention Dad and Lisa's new house near Salmon. I have pictures of some of the festivities but they are on my camera and I can't find the contraption I use to download to my computer. They will likely be on facebook before they are here. We nearly had another fire again this year on Christmas day. Dad bought a prime rib to eat for dinner and wanted to cook it on the BBQ grill. Well if you know anything about prime rib you know there is A LOT of fat on them (gives the meat its wonderful flavor) well gas flames and beef fat are not a good combination and it took awhile to get everything set up so there wasn't a constant fire in the grill. The twine that the butcher used to tie the ribs to the roast part of the prime rib burned off quickly with all of that fire so being the genius family we are used wire to hold the meat together so it could still cook on the grill...can you say Griswold??!! When it was all said and done the prime rib was so good and perfectly cooked. I really wish we would have been recording the time it took to get it all set up.

I worked both New Years Eve day and New Years Day. J.D. and I don't stay up to ring in the New Year but we did make sure to have donuts in the house like grandma Sullivan always told us to do so we can have prosperity in the new year. We attempted to go out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse on New Year's Eve because I was canceled at work early but everyone else decided to go to dinner early too it appeared because when we showed up at 5 pm it was at least an hour wait to be seated. We ended up going to a Mi Ranchito for dinner and celebrated by having some friend ice cream for dessert. YUMMY!

I have been thinking for the past several weeks about New Year resolutions. I've never been the type that writes down these things that I feel like I need to work on or improve. This year I have a few things in mind...

- Read scriptures daily- at tithing settlement our bishop challenged us to read from the Book of Mormon everyday during 2011. He even put together a reading schedule and gave it to us.

- Follow the budget- I am the WORST at this. I am so lucky to be married to such a patient man that leads by example. We are blessed to both have jobs that provide well for us but who doesn't want to find an extra couple hundred in the budget each month. My solution is to quit being so selfish and start taking lunch to work and school with me rather than thinking I need to and can afford to buy lunch everyday. J.D. will go out with friends maybe twice a month for lunch and I am striving to do the same. We have also decided that we are going to limit how often we go out to dinner. Something I read on another blog last week was about the couple splitting a meal- not a bad idea since we are both trying to eat better and smaller portions and don't like to take home leftovers from a restaurant.

- Prepare myself for a baby. This is obviously an ongoing process for us right now. I need to take better care of my body and listen to the things the doctors tell me to do ALL the time not just when I feel like it. I have to admit I have been better about taking the thyroid medication I have been prescribed, now I just need to work on consistency with the metformin (for insulin resistance) and get some form of exercise in each day. However, I don't just need to prepare myself physically but mentally to have a baby. I don't think it is a surprise to anyone that I adore my nephews. They are 5 of the cutest boys on the planet but it is so true that I get to send them home at the end of the day.

-Study and focus- school is starting and I am applying to the LPN program at DATC in Layton to start in August. I need to be on my "A" game this semester. I am excited for the classes I'm taking- Anatomy, Physiology and Intro to Music. I am told that it typically takes three applications to get into the program but I'm crossing my fingers and toes that it doesn't take that long for me to get in. I have also been told that you get extra points the older you are...FINALLY it pays off to be an older student in college. I am excited about this program because once I'm done with the LPN program I can go right into the RN program at Weber State and be done in 18 months. I love having a light at the end of the tunnel.