My man

Saturday evening as we were heading back from our cabin, it was raining. The snow packed roads were becoming slushy and the conditions were pretty treacherous.
With a fully packed Suburban, every seat taken, we said a prayer, and started down. After only a few minutes of driving, we saw an SUV stuck on the side of the road. I knew instantly that we would be stopping to see what we could do. The driver looked very relieved as Jason jumped out of the Suburban and said, "I have a tow rope, let's see if I can pull you out."
The road we were on was a dirt road covered in several feet of snow, slush, and ice. There is no cell reception and it was getting dark and still raining. The driver of the SUV couldn't make it up the hill, so he was trying to back down when he slid off the road. He was alone with his 2 year old daughter.
We tried, unsuccessfully, many times from many different angles to pull his vehicle out. We were there for over an hour when it was clear there wasn't a way to get him out that night. But, our tow rope was too tight and our car wouldn't budge to loosen it up, so we couldn't get it off. I was in the car with the kids and they were all restless, impatient, and hungry. Honestly, I was feeling a bit that way too. Jason jumped in to try backing up, yet again, and the kids started complaining. "When are we leaving?" "I'm hungry!" "What's going on?" " I need to get home, I have things to do!"
Jason just calmly looked at them and said, "We help people."
After quite a while longer, two severed tow ropes, and extra helpers from down the road, the man and daughter were taken to safety of a nearby home to call for a ride until a tow truck could get to their car.
We arrived home safely about three hours later than we anticipated. But, I hope the lesson will remain with my kids forever. "We help people". I know it will remain with me.

Cabin weekend getaway

We took the Anderson's up to our cabin for a little weekend getaway. It was so much fun. We played games, ate lots of yummy food, went sledding/snowboarding/snowmobiling, and stayed up way too late. We all had a blast.

2013

Shortly before Christmas, I read "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.  I enjoyed reading about her experiences trying to increase her happiness.  So, this year, instead of setting resolutions, I decided that I would do my own version of a happiness project. 
I decided to think about some of the happiest times in my life and list characteristics of my life during those times.  Then I tried to find the common factors among those times.  It just so happens that there were 12 commonalities.  So, I decided to focus on one of these things each month.  Then, I broke down each one and set goals under them.  I'm excited for this project.
For the month of January, I am focusing on having a consistent exercise schedule of something I like doing.  I love to exercise for so many reasons.  It makes me feel better--happier, healthier, and more emotionally stable.  And my exercise of choice is jogging.  It has been a VERY long time since I have been able to fit regular running into my daily routine.  And I definitely miss it.  It has been so easy for me to make excuses.  When I was working nights, it was so hard to get any kind of regular exercise in.  It seemed too easy to choose sleep over exercise.  And then, I was pregnant.  Then, I had a small baby.  And now, Jason is gone a lot for work so it is hard to have any kind of schedule for "me time".  So, I have made a lot of excuses.  I decided that the best solution to all of these excuses was for me to get a gym pass where there is a day care so that I can go whether Jason is in town or not.  So, a couple of weeks ago, I got a membership to Gold's Gym.  It includes unlimited day care.  It has been really fun to be in the gym again.  I met with a personal trainer which is something completely out of my comfort zone.  But, it really helped to motivate me and set some goals and give me the confidence to work hard to achieve them.  I still haven't picked a consistent time to go, but I have been able to make it there 3-4 times a week.  And that is progress. 

I'm an artist

About 18 years ago, I made a list "25 things I want to do before I die". A couple years after that, I added to it, making it into a list of 100 things. This year, I'm trying to cross off at least one thing each month.
"Do a painting" was an item on my list and the one I chose to do for January. Well, today I completed it. It's very abstract and a lot different than my original vision, but I ended up with something I really like. It has a lot of texture to it that doesn't show up in the picture. I had a lot of fun creating and I hope to do many more paintings in the future.

Sundays

I love Sunday afternoons with my family. I love that we have 9:00 church now so we have the whole afternoon/evening to be together.
Last Sunday I watched Sound of Music (my favorite movie) with my girls while the guys watched football. Then, I had some coloring time with Britton and Haley. Such a fun, relaxing day.