I didn’t make any real “resolutions” for 2011, since I’m fairly certain that I was mostly just focused on surviving the second half of my pregnancy and the first 8 months of Evie’s life. It was an adventure, even without any specific resolutions.

Now that we’re in 2012, I feel that it’s time for me to get back to goals. I’ve accomplished a lot of what I had hoped for in my life, but not everything. In my high school yearbook (10 years ago…), I’m pretty sure I said I wanted to have a book published by now. While that hasn’t happened, I do think that’s mostly because I’m not a writer by profession like I thought I would be. That said, I still have it as a goal for “someday.” My “someday” list is getting long, but I’m okay with it. I may be turning 30 this year, but I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, done with “the best years of my life.”

So, here are my goals for 2012:

• Launch our new business website
  We first announced it last year, and then got caught up in the baby stuff. We’re plugging away in our “spare” time to get it done. I’m excited to get it launched!
• Take a business class
  I’ve been running a business for over 5 years now; I think it’s time to see what I can do better.
• Teach Evie to say or sign the names of all immediate family members
  Hearing my nephew say my name is such a blessing to me! I want to hear Evie say Momma, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Devon, Seth, Kirsten, Mom-Mom, Poppy, Kelley, Matt, Lincoln, and Nina (Caryn) by next Christmas… Doable? She’ll be 20 months old, so I hope so!
• Go snowboarding with Joel at least once
  Joel and I got each other snowboarding gear for Christmas in 2010, but I was pregnant last winter, so we couldn’t go. Now, I’m very unmotivated to relearn… But I love Joel, and I want to have stuff to do together, so snowboarding it is!
• Finish a writing project
  I have so many half-finished projects… and only a few finished ones. This is the year to have a project come to conclusion. I had been working pretty steadily on a novel in 2010, but then my compy crashed, I lost 2 hours of work, and I lost motivation to rewrite. Time to get back into it!
• Bike the 35- or 60-mile Bike:MS Cook Forest River Ride in September
  I’m giving myself both options for the River Ride, since I’ll have to see how bike riding goes with Evie. If she likes the bike trailer, I’ll aim for the 60-miler. If she hates it, I’ll be lucky to get to do the 35.
• Raise $5,000 toward our adoption fund
  As for the adoption fund, I know it’s ambitious to try to raise $5k, but it’s only a little over $450/month (since January is almost over and I haven’t raised anything yet). That’s going to be the hardest one, I think. It is going to take some creative thinking and the support of those around us, but I think we can do it. I feel called to adopt, so I know that it will happen if it’s the Lord’s will.

So, we’ll see how this goes…

It’s been an insanely busy summer and fall. And I am a blog slacker. So, I’ll do my best to update you with all the good stuff that you’ve missed while I was on hiatus!

1. Labor Day Camping @ Ohiopyle
   
   Over the Sunday-Monday of Labor Day weekend, Joel and I spontaneously decided to go on a little camping trip. I booked up the last available site at Ohiopyle State Park, which is about 2 hours from where we live, and we headed out. Sunday night was a flurry of unpacking and setting up, followed by some of my best pyromaniac impression. I have to tell you, I make a darn good campfire. Just ask Joel. No really, ask him. I am amazing with junk mail, a lighter, and a little bacon grease.On Monday, we spent most of the day biking along 13 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage. Joel got me a bike for my birthday last year, but we hadn’t really gone anywhere except around our local area until then. It was great! (Well, my bum was sore for a few days afterward, but it was totally worth it!)

   You can check out some pictures in the photo gallery.

2. Reggie and the $#@& Full Effect
   
   Because it’s Joel dream to turn me into a punk, hardcore chick, I conceded to his pleading and went to a Reggie and the Full Effect concert. Although it’s not really my taste in music, I can certainly appreciate musicians who refuse to take themselves too seriously. And, I have been listening to them a lot since that day in June that I said “for better or worse” (apparently that means “for your own taste in music or his”). In all seriousness, I had a great time because Joel had his happy face on all evening, which no one can resist.
3. Legacy Bike Ride
   
   This year marks the 250th Anniversary of the city of Pittsburgh, so there were all kinds of festivities throughout the fall. One such festivity was the Legacy bike ride, on October 6. We took our bikes downtown and met up with hundreds of other bikers at the Hot Metal Bridge (near the Southside Works). Because we signed up online, we each got a free red blinky light to attach to ourselves at night. Unfortunately, Joel’s was faulty and no longer blinks. Mine, on the other hand, is still blinkarific.
4. Flippin’ Out
   
   I saved up for a few months and bought myself a shiny new toy, my Flip Video Mino. It is a beautiful thing… It hurts Joel’s technical video eyes, but I think it is awesome. So get ready for all kinds of useless videos to be posted here. I have three already! (Adventures in Oakland, CuzCamping08, for the third… just you wait… It’s coming soon!)
5. CuzCamping 08
   October 17 – 20 @ Shawnee State Park. What a fun time! We had the same group of cousins as last year at the same state park in the same 2 cabins… but with an extra day of delight! But I will tell you that there was a lot of Frisbee throwing (Ed the invisible person was not very good at catching). We even had an hour of Frisbee in the dark with the glowing disc that Kelley got Joel for Christmas last year… And then there was a lot of a game that resembles croquet, but is actually not croquet at all. But we call it Ultimate Croquet, which somehow emerged as “Ultimate Crotch Itch” or “Ultimate Crochet” or “That Knitting Game” by the end of the weekend.

   For the full experience, you’ll need to watch the video. CuzCamping08: The Video »
   

6. Heroes:: Season 2
   Not since Veronica Mars has there been such anticipation of Netflix arrival… If you’ve already seen this season and/or are watching season 3, don’t tell us anything. Seriously. I’ll cry. Big, ugly, horrifying black tears that will kill you.
7. Norwin Field Hockey
   <– Joel & me holding the WPIAL AAA trophy

   Varsity record :: 16 – 4 – 0
   JV Record :: 13 – 0 – 2

   It was a long season. Very long. There were times when I felt completely useless, times when I felt unprepared, and times when I felt like a part of the team. I’d say on the whole, it was a good experience, but it’s very telling that I felt great relief with my sadness when we lost our bid into States. Nonetheless, check out the site that I made for the team… and watch for my next post, which will contain my video of some highlights from right after winning the championship game.

8. Back to Work
   Now that field hockey is over, I’m back to normal work days & weeks. It’s actually quite a relief to feel that things are actually accomplished during my day… Instead of incessantly driving on Rt 48 and Rt 30. Hit me with all your projects now! I’m ready!
   
9. New Blog Design
   Hooray for Joel!!! Our new design is up and running! What do you think of it and all the crazy AJAX-y features that he added?