Summer Wish List

The other day Hubby and I were talking about how our lives have changed so much in the last year. We miss the fun things we used to do while we waited and waited for our house to sell. Now our lives are so busy with the new house and it's a completely different lifestyle. We're so wrapped up in getting things done on the house that we forget to have fun!

Last summer we:

Went to the Lilac Fest and took lots of beautiful pictures...

PRAYED our house would finally sell after 18 months on the market during the recession. It finally did! So we packed up 5 years of stuff to move once...and then again 2 months later...

(Notice how Kitty loved the jungle gym we created for him!)
And we dined at a tiki restaurant to celebrate our anniversary in the middle of all the moving drama...

I'm really trying to work on ways to make my life less stressful and more fun, so we decided to come up with a list of must-do things for THIS summer. The only rule was that everything on the list could not be something for the house that would stress us out.

So far we have:

1. go for a bike ride

2. dine al fresco

3. have a cigar night in the backyard (kind of an inside joke b/c we did this at our old house on the balcony off our bedroom one day)

4. buy ice cream from the truck that drives around our neighborhood every night

5. run my first 5k race (as long as my body isn't broken)

6. do cartwheels in the grass like the neighborhood kids

7. feed ducks in the park (I'm supposed to do this alone because I was told I am too old for this)

8. go to a tapas restaurant

9. hit up my usual summer craft fairs

10. do something fun for our anniversary in August

Do you have any goals you'd like to accomplish this summer? Any activities that you must try?

Linking up to:

The Best of 2009

I know there's a lot of different year end blog challenges out there, so I'm just taking a few of them and combining them to make my own. It's been one crazy year with a lot of ups and downs!

Recipes: The yummiest cooking from the past year

My stomach is growling just thinking about it...

Pecan Pie

Spinach Stuffed Chicken ParmesanPulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
The Hubby's pick: Mini Corn Dogs

Project: What did you start this year that you're proud of?

I don't really have that much to show on the house yet, so I'll pick a few crafts. It's really hard to choose, but if I have to...

Baby Hangers

Ruffle Scarf (coming soon!)

Dreidel Blocks

Towel Rugs

Best Trip: What was your best trip in 2009?

Well, we only went on one and it was...ummm...memorable to say the least. Here's the two visual highlights to explain my trip.

Our awesome swim with the dolphins on my birthday

The horrible sun poisoning we both got that basically ruined the trip and kept us from doing much of anything. Scary!

Night Out: Did you have a night out with friends or a loved one that rocked your world? Who was there? What was the highlight of the night?

In the middle of all the house madness, we celebrated our second anniversary. So while it wasn't the most calm or exciting anniversary, we exchanged gifts and went out for dinner to Tiki Terrace in Des Plaines, IL. Since we honeymooned in Maui, I thought this tropical restaurant and show would be fun. We had an awesome night together and it was great to take a few hours for ourselves during all the stress.

Moment of Peace: An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind?

My favorite scent is lilacs and this year I finally had a chance to go to the Lilac Fest in Lisle, IL. I've never smelled anything so lovely in my life!

Challenge: Something that really made you grow this year. That made you go to your edge and then some. What made it the best challenge of the year for you?

This year has been more stressful than any other time in my life. The changes of selling our house, moving twice, and buying a house was a huge challenge to get through. While it was very tough and it's not over, it really made me grow as a person and learn how to deal with stress and anxiety better. It's also brought me a lot closer to my family as they were there with me through the whole thing.

The Best Place:

You know the answer! Our new house.

New Food:

It's not a new food I've never tasted before, but it's a new recipe. Last winter we went to a pizza cooking class and got some great recipes to try out at home. On Valentine's Day, we made 4 different kinds of pizza using the techniques we learned in class and were delighted by the tasty results. Since then, we've made them a few more times with different toppings and we plan to continue the experimenting in 2010.

Best Accomplishment:

This isn't something I talk about very often, but I might as well do it here. In the past year, I have worked really hard to make some changes at the gym. For the first time in my life, I can see the muscles tone in my arms and I'm closer than ever to 6-pack abs! I also lost about 10 pounds that were making me feel uncomfortable. I'm proud to say I did this all on my own by motivating myself. Once I started to see results, it made me work even harder. Working out has also given me a way to release a lot of stress and anxiety, so that's been great too.

New person/people:

I've had some ups and downs with friends this year and it's been really hard on me. I want to recognize some of my friends that I've gotten a lot closer to in the past year. You know who you are and I really appreciate our friendship!

Web Tool: It came into your work flow this year and now you couldn't live without it. It has simplified or improved your online experience.

Blogging, obviously! I've only been doing this for a few months and I love it. It's a great way to share ideas with others and express my feelings. Thank you to those who have helped me along the way! And thank you to my followers and those of you who have commented on my posts. It means SO much to me!

My goals for 2010:

• Finish the family room

• Work on ways to control my stress & anxiety better

• Continue to go to the gym on a regular basis

• Be more patient

Happy New Year!