I Made It!

I'm officially living back in my gorgeous home state.  It feels SO good to be back home!  I am overwhelmed with the love & support of my family & friends here.  I truly am blessed to be surrounded by such great people. 

Hubs & I picked up the truck on Wednesday evening, and I spent most of the day loading it up Thursday.  When he got home from work, he helped load up the big stuff, and then I was off to pick up my brother from the airport.  After dropping him off at his hotel, I headed back home for my last night in our home.  It was sad, we both cried saying goodbye, but I really felt a lot of peace with my decision.  I know that there are great things in my future, and I wish him nothing but the best as well. 

We hit the road bright & early Friday morning, and made it to Jackpot, NV.  Where it was FREEZING, by the way!  Silly me, wearing shorts & flip flops in 40 degree weather.  Good times.  Saturday morning was another early start, but we made it to Seattle just shortly after 5pm.  Overall, we made pretty good time.  And I lucked out at not having to drive the truck at all!  :)  It's the little things, really.

Here are a few photos taken along the way...  Keep in mind these were taken from a moving vehicle, without even rolling down the window most of the time.  So don't expect much!

Somewhere in Arizona :)

My fearless driver.  I <3 my brother!

Twin Falls, ID

Welcome to Washington!! We've made it!

Snow covered mountains through Snoqualamie Pass

My parents decided to get me a "Welcome Home" cake in celebration of my coming home.  So, Mom went to the local grocery store, and asked the girl working in the bakery to write "Welcome Home Shawna" on the cake.  Not too difficult, right?  Well, instead this is what we got:

Yup, I'm apparently now Shawa.  This was the 2nd attempt for the poor girl, and after hearing she'd just have to throw the cake away, Mom decided to just go with it.  We all had a bit of a laugh.  :)

This week, I'm hoping to get word on whether or not I'll be starting back at my old job.  I've put in the application, and have been in contact with the supervisor, so I'm crossing all crossables and hoping that I'll get a start date soon! :)

So things are definitely looking up in my world.  I'm feeling great.  I'm so incredibly happy to be back home.  I'm definitely hopeful for my future.  Life is good. 

Learn.  Live.  Hope.  Words to live by.  :)

Big Changes

I've mentioned my lack of blogging is due to a personal turmoil in a previous post.  I've also mentioned that I would have a couple big announcements to make.  It's no coincidence that these two statements are related. 

I'm moving back to Seattle.  Alone. 

It is official.  The Hubs and I are parting ways.  This was not an easy decision to make. But I do believe with every ounce of my being that it is the right one.  I won't go into the specifics of why we came to this decision.  Bottom line is that we want different things, and we're unable to give that to each other.  We will remain friends, and hope to make this a smooth transition. 

So, there ya have it.  The big news in my world...

Here's to new beginnings once again. 

2012 Goals

I wasn't planning on doing this... blogging about my 2012 goals, resolutions, hopes, changes... Whatever you want to call them. No matter the verbage, it is what it is. But then I thought, what better way to hold myself accountable than to have this to refer back to? So here I am, as January 2nd comes to an end, listing my goals for 2012.

Health

• Make healthier food choices, and adapt a healthier lifestyle  I know, it's cliche.  But, it's necessary.  It takes 21 days to form a habit.  We'll start with that...
• Exercise.  Simple enough, right? 
• I'd like to incorporate one new healthy recipe into our repitoire twice a month.  Since Hubs is pretty much the pickiest eater I've ever met, this one may be more of a challenge.

Wealth

• Be debt free by November 2012
• Begin an aggressive savings plan

Family

• Continue (I should probably say re-start) our family blog to keep friends and family updated on our lives.
• Make keeping in touch with my friends & family a priority.  I'm terrible at this, and it really is something I need to change.  I want to call a friend or family member at least once a week.  Call them.  Not text, not Facebook, not email.  Actually call.

Life

• Purge.  I kind of pride myself on not being one that likes "stuff".  However, at this time, my closets don't exactly reflect that.  I need a good purge, and reorganization
• Keep up on cleaning & laundry all throughout the week.  Not just on the weekends.  I hope to spend 15-20 minutes each day cleaning.  And I hope to avoid the hours that I usually spend on the weekend catching up on it.
• Find a hobby.  I'd like to learn to knit.  Or crochet.  I hope to find & take a class to learn how to do that.
• Have regular date nights with the Hubs.  After all, that's one of the bonuses for our decision to not have children.  We need to take advantage of that!
• Read 45 books in 2012.  I love to read.  Last year, according to my Nook Library, I read 32 books on my Nook, and an additional 5 regular books.  That's a total of 37 for the year.  So really, 45 isn't that much more!

 So there ya have it... My goals/wishes/hopes/resolutions for 2012.  Here's to a new year & new beginnings!

2012: New Beginnings



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Happy New Year!!

New year... new beginnings with a new blog.  Maybe I'll finally keep up with this one!  :)  That's my goal, at least.

2011 overall was a pretty good year.  The M household had some bumps, made a major life decision or two, hubs continued in his career under a new company, I got a promotion, we made some new friends, parted ways with others, and overall had a pretty darn good year. 

So what did we do to say goodbye to 2011?  After working a very long week, I was pretty exhausted.  We decided to go to dinner at Famous Dave's, and to a movie-Sherlock Holmes.  It was extremely low key, but perfect for the exhaustion that I was trying to power through.  :)

I'm looking forward to 2012, and all it will bring for us.  My bff will be moving here in February.  With her arrival, I anticipate lots of girl time, and laughs.  The Hubs and I are planning another trip to California/Disneyland for March, along with a trip to Las Vegas with some friends hopefully in June.  There's so much more that I know will be in store for the M's this year.  I'm excited for all that 2012 has to offer!

Bring it 2012, we're ready!