Welcome 2010!

Can you believe it's 2010 already? Where has the time gone. As I reflected back on 2009 I started to feel guilty because there were so many things that I hoped for and wanted to accomplish and it just didn't happen. We decided for 2010 we are not going to beat ourselves up on past failed resolutions. Instead of feeling guilty for the things we DIDN'T do.. we need to focus on the wonderful things that DID happen.

1. We survived our first full year in Florida on our own
2. We both got great jobs that we enjoy
3. We are healthy and happy

I think this year we are going to focus more on the things that we are blessed with daily. It's ok if we don't lose weight, or if we promised to save that extra $20 and instead spend it on a fun date night, or spend an entire day doing nothing productive except watching movies. Sometimes it's the small things that make for a great year.

Happy New Year Friends!

ICE Exhibit and Animal Kingdom

We had quite the busy weekend! We had family down and went to the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando where they had the ICE exhibit. You walk in to a chilling 9 degrees building where there is 6 million lbs of carved ice on display. We had to put on an extra parka just to be able to stand the cold! It was an awesome experience. Here are some pics of the scultpures and yes everything is ice. Except for the pic of hubby and me :)

This was a huge slide that you could go down. You had to make sure the parka was tucked under your rear nice or you would have frozen it right off :)

This weekend was Nate's b-day so he got to use his free bday ticket for Disney. We went to the Animal Kingdom. That park is awesome. They have an authentic safari tour where you go out in the wild and see animals, they have great rides, and a massive Tree of Life where they have animals individually carved out of the trunk. They also had two wonderful shows. The Lion King and Finding Nemo. We have now officially been to all 4 Disney parks!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Can I just say Christmas is my FAVORITE time of year!! I get so excited to put up all my decorations. I was really sad because when we moved here we had an old Christmas tree and a new teeny apartment and there was no place to store it so I had to get rid of it. Some of you may remember my post last year of our palm tree Christmas tree.. if you don't, let me remind you..

Not that there was anything wrong with it, I mean it was a cute tree but not a REAL tree to me. Christmas is a big deal. So.. Christmas came a little early for us this year in the form of my mom getting me the best gift ever! A brand new 7 1/2 ft pre-lit tree. Now here it is fully decorated.. THIS is a tree people..

We decided to go ahead and do the rest of the house.. so here are the results! I so enjoy this time of year and the chance to be reminded of all our blessings in the past year.

The upstairs loft

Front Porch

Scouts

For those of you who don't know, Nate was called as the Cub Scout Master in our church and the surrounding Orlando area and he loves it. He had his first pack meeting a couple weeks ago. In case you couldn't tell, the theme was Native Americans. He was Chief Walking Tall. Here are some pics of the 'Chief' giving out awards and playing with the kids. The boys really look up to him and we are so proud of him for doing such a GREAT job with the boyscouts!

Chelsea and Brent's Wedding

Chelsea and Brent got hitched this past weekend so it was a good excuse to go home and see some family! The wedding was so much fun and we were so happy to see them be married in the Columbia, SC temple. Here are some pics from their big day. Sorry they are so out of order! Blogspot is kinda weird about moving photos around. Enjoy!