Happy New Year- 2009!

Happy New Year, friends! As I sit here writing the last post of 2008, I can't help but think back on all that has occurred in the past year for us. What a difference a year makes! We've become parents, which has turned out to be every bit the big deal it was billed to be. We are SO thankful for our little boy and have really loved this new change to our lives and marriage. In fact, we are SO thankful for SO many things:

• A God who loves us, supports us, takes care of us, encourages us
• The opportunity to vacation this year- twice!- and without baby (not that we don't love him- it's just nice to have a break)
• Our family, and their willingness to help us out
• Excellent child care for Malachi
• A wonderful church where we both belong and can serve
• Jobs, even though we may not always be happy with them
• Holidays with family
• Unexpected stays out of town
• Sarah is thankful for snow
• John is thankful for sun
• Good friends
• Etc.

I really don't mean for this to turn into one of those corny posts, but I do think it is good for us to look back on the year and reflect on the things that have brought us happiness. A guest speaker at our church the weekend after Thanksgiving talked about living with a thankful attitude. That really struck a chord with me. Sometimes I don't think I take the time to be thankful- may I do a better job of that in 2009. For now, I am thankful for 2008 and ALL that happened, good or bad, as it either brought me joy or taught me something I was supposed to learn.

From one of my all-time favorite songs: "Thank you Lord... How could I ask for more?" - Cindy Morgan

The Timeshare Presentation

We have a timeshare in Cancun. Because of that, we often stay at timeshare resorts. We like them, even though we know that staying at them often means sitting through a timeshare presentation in which you are encouraged to buy or upgrade at the resort where you are staying. We feel the improved accomodations over a regular hotel make it worth it. We also know that for sitting through these presentations you often get some kind of gift.

We decided to sit through another one of these presentations today. I won't go into the boring details. However, I will say that in order to get our gift, we sat through a more than 3 hour ordeal, which overall wasn't too bad. It was the last 5 minutes that really got me fired up, though. Usually through these things I play the role of the passive wife (shocking to some of you, I know), who keeps looking at John as he says "no." In the last 5 minutes I gave up that role as we were passed off to a new salesman at the end under the guise of him taking a survey. The basic gist is he wouldn't take no from John so I jumped in and told him that we understood what he was offering, but were still going to say no, so we were done. He responded with dumbest phrase ever: "I guess saving money isn't for everyone." WHAT?!

I guess I won't say anything more- I didn't to him (although maybe I should've). I guess we just don't like to save money. Yup. That's what it is.

Belated Merry Christmas!

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and the New Year will soon be upon us. John and I left this morning for our vacation in Myrtle Beach, and so I have some time to update the blog! Yeah!

First, here is a picture of Malachi in his snowsuit. Everytime we put him in it we think of that scene from "A Christmas Story" where Randy gets in his snowsuit and says, "I can't put my arms down!" :) Hee, hee.

Now, here's a picture of Malachi meeting Santa. He immediately tried to yank on his beard; Santa wasn't too impressed with that.


We had a wonderful Christmas with family. We were able to spend Christmas Eve with John's family in Moose Lake. Then on Christmas Day we got together with my family in Rochester. Malachi got to see all of his cousins in two days (except for the ones in CO)! Here are some pictures from the merriment.

Grandpa Winston with all of his grandkids and great-grandkids.

Grandma & Grandpa Carlson with their two grandkids. Malachi with his cousin Liberty and Grandma Sands.
Grandma and Grandpa Sands with all the MN grandkids.

Malachi with Great Grammy!

Tagged Again!

OK- Ebby didn't learn her lesson. I've been tagged again! This one is short and sweet, though.

Here are the Rules: go to Your Pictures file go to the 5th folder open up the 5th picture and post it then tag 5 people when you are done.

I love that this is the picture that it turned out to be. I need some Aloha spirit this week. It's always tough at school right before a long break, and right now I REALLY need a break! I just have been trying to keep in mind that in a few short weeks we'll be in North Myrtle Beach for a little anniversary vacation!

This picture is from when we were in Oahu in 2006.

I am going to tag others this time. I tag Jen E., Laura W. (if you still read this), Heather S., Kristi E., and Missy E. This is no pressure and fun! :)

Facebook "Hater"

I like my blog. I get to write and have an outlet, and people get to keep updated on our lives. It works for me. But there are people out there that think it's not enough. "Come to Facebook," they say. "You should be on Facebook," is the mantra. Well, people, call me a "hater." I'm not really interested in Facebook (or the like). I only bring this up because in the last 24 hours John has decided to join, and has been instantly sucked into the vortex of the thing. He cannot stop looking at the site, saying "hi" to people, responding to those who have found him, etc.

To me this is just another reason not to be on Facebook. I'm a busy person. Do I really need one more thing sucking me in? As I've watched John, I see that my joining could be detrimental to our family. Meals would burn up on the stove, dishes would pile up, Malachi would stay up until all hours of the night, and other horrors would occur.

My stock answer for not being on Facebook has been the same for years. I'm a teacher, and I don't want my personal life out and easily accessible on the web. As it is, I'm sure I have families and students finding me on this blog, but somehow that seems less creepy. I just don't like the idea of being in some kind of database where I can be looked up. This, of course, was more of an issue when I taught Middle School.

So, again, call me a "hater." I'm just going to stick to this blog for now. I say everyone is going to have to just deal with it! So there! :P

Who does Malachi look like?

I was going through some old pictures we had scanned for our wedding, and thought it might be fun to share them here. So- who does Malachi look like? I don't know if these pictures all place us at about the same age, but I figure it's pretty close. Cast your vote by commenting. We look forward to hearing your thoughts! :)

Finally Dealing with being "Tagged"

OK people, I hope you have learned a valuable lesson here. It is no fun tagging Sarah because she is SOOOOO ridiculously slow at following up on it. My husband would claim it is because I am "not good with administration," but I disagree. It is just that I have so many other things occupying my time, such as cooking him dinner, that I don't always get to the things I'd like to. (I love you honey!) Anyhow, here goes...

• Attached or Single? Most definitely attached to John. It will be 5 years on Dec. 19th!
• Best Friend? I guess I'll take the cop-out answer: John
• Cake or Pie? Pie- that's what makes Thanksgiving so great! (j/k... sort of)
• Day of Choice? Saturdays
• Essential Item? Hmmm... chapstick- I always have some in my pocket. A close second is minty gum.
• Flavor of Ice Cream? Edy's Lite French Silk-- yum, Yum, YUM!
• Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms- there's something about biting off a cuddly bear's head that just isn't as fun.
• Hometown? Rochester, MN (there's a song I'm singing in my head right now that starts that way. It was written by a teacher from my Elementary School- ask me to sing it for you sometime!)
• Indulgences? Fancy coffee from Dunn Bros., Caribou, Starbucks, and the like. Now also from the Cafe at my church (YEAH!). I also love to read when I get a few minutes. Reading by the beach or inside on a snowy day are two of my favorite pastimes.
• January or July? July- I'm off from work :)
• Kids? 1- our sweetie Malachi (9 months)
• Last Movie I saw in a Theater? We saw an awful, awful movie that I DO NOT recommend to anyone. "Burn After Reading"- I felt like I needed to scrub my brain after watching it. It was the closest I have ever come to walking out of a movie.
• Middle Name? Nadine (I love my middle name! It's after my Grandma on my dad's side)
• Number of Siblings? 3 sisters, 3 brothers, 2 half-sister, 1 half-brother!
• Oranges or Apples? Oranges, except for in the fall. Then I just love a good crunchy apple!
• Phobia or Fear? I am afraid of heights- actually of falling from them. I'm also not a fan of bridges.
• Quote? "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13
• Reason to Smile? Some of these are so weird... I guess I'll say going on dates with John and playing with Malachi each make me smile. Oh! Especially when Malachi gets to giggling!
• Season? I love every season as it comes (my mother thinks I am nuts), but I do especially love Autumn. Plus, it definitely has the coolest name!
• Tag five more: I refuse! Ha, ha, ha!!!
• Unknown Fact About Me? See below...
• Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? I am an omnivore.
• Worst Habit? Oops! I just discovered I missed this one. Hee, hee. I guess that makes it a bad habit- not quite following through with things. :P
• Xrays or Ultrasounds? Ultrasounds- I'm really not sure who would disagree.
• Your favorite Food? Shrimp, but a good steak or cheeseburger isn't bad, either.
• Zodiac? How should I know? I honestly don't pay attention to those things, nor do I really care. ;)

OK, that was part one. Now for part two. For this tagging wonderment I am supposed to come up with "7 random and/or weird facts about myself." Here goes:

1. I LOVE peanut butter. I've been known to take a big spoonful of the stuff out of the jar and eat it straight. Occassionally I mix it up and add a sprinkling of chocolate chips. Don't judge me!
2. I have 3 half siblings who live in Colorado. We hardly get to see each other- they are from my dad's first marriage. I feel bad that we don't have the opportunity to see more of each other, but I suppose it is what it is...
3. I am related to Rutherford B. Hayes- the president. My grandma on my dad's side was a Hayes, and she was related to him somehow.
4. Also on my dad's side we are related to the inventor of Tide detergent!
5. I wanted to be an artist when I was in elementary and middle school. I loved to draw and paint, and I hoped one day I would be able to do that as my job. It didn't quite work out, but every now and again I get to flex my artistic and creative muscles. That's how the painting of Malachi's room came about!
6. We had about a half-dozen different dogs as pets over the years growing up. None of them lasted more than about 2 years each before we sold them or gave them away. My family was awful with pets. Hmm... which reminds me of gerbils... Aha! Which leads me to my final fact...
7. I got to keep one of my class' pet gerbils when I was in 5th grade. After we had one I think my family bought one more. At any rate, they multiplied, and at one point we had more than 20 gerbils (I'm pretty sure it was 27-- AT HOME). We had this elaborate set up of plastic cages and tunnels. It was actually pretty impressive, and we all enjoyed them. After a couple of years it got to be too much, and the pet stores weren't interested in taking more than one off of our hands at a time. We decided to take the gerbils down to a nearby forest and "set them free." We went down there, and my sister took the bucket they were in and threw them (as in flying through the air) into the woods. I was SO mad at her, and am still a little miffed about it today. Those poor little guys probably broke their legs when they landed!

Anyhow... I am finally freed from the tagging! AND I refuse to tag anyone else. Sorry, but I'm notorious for stopping chain letters, etc. Oh! That was an 8th interesting fact. I better stop while I am ahead! Until later...