a new year

Daniel and I survived the our first married holidays together! It got rough there for a few days, but once we got used to seeing lots and lots of people every day we were fine.

We kicked off the Christmas festivites by going to my grandparents' house on Saturday, the 20th. We only stayed for a few hours and then it was on to Mentone to spend Christmas with the Todd's (Daniel's dad's side). Jackson was able to come with us which was really nice. He was such a good boy! He played with all of the little kids...the ones at my grandparents' and at the cabin in Mentone. It made me feel good to know that Jackson can behave when taken to a "strange" house and stay with people he doesn't know.

After coming home from Mentone on Sunday, the 21st, we literally unpacked to wash clothes and repacked for Christmas at the beach. In the midst of unpacking and repacking, we had Christmas with the Cochrans and Stricklands (Daniel's mom's side) on Tuesday, the 23rd. Wednesday, the 24th we loaded the car up and headed to the beach. We stayed there until Sunday, the 28th. Trust me. It was GOOD to finally get home and sleep in our new sleep number bed.

Santa was really good to all of us this year....including Jackson. Santa brought him a lamb, duck, and a new chewy. I am pretty sure the duck is his favorite (too bad Daniel picked out the duck and not me.) Sometimes at night you can hear a duck quacking or a lamb baa-ing. so hilarious!

So with the new year came new resolutions. I have decided not to try to commit to lose weight or get in shape. Whenever I make that resolution, it never stays. If anything, I should commit to become a fattie and then watch the punds fall off. ha! Like that would EVER happen! Seriously I have made 2 resolutions: read and cook more. I am sure Daniel will (or maybe he won't) appreciate the latter. I feel bad because Daniel cooks all the time and he is a great cook too but I feel like it is my wifely duty to at least learn to cook a couple of meals....especially meals that don't come in a box. My other resolution is one that is time-consuming but something I have enjoyed a few years past. I really love reading Nicholas Sparks's books. He is definitely my favorite author. I have read 6 of his books thus far, and I bought his newest one this weekend, The Lucky One. I haven't started it yet. I want to make sure I have plenty of time to start it. Typically once I start reading it is really hard for me to stop. I think these resolutions will be beneficial ones and actually something that I can keep.