Just Say Julie

I used to follow Lance Armstrong on twitter back when he was preparing for his last Tour de France. I would get so frustrated for him when the anti-doping officials would come knocking on his door on a daily basis.  I felt like he had proven himself time and time again that he wasn't doping.  And maybe at that time he wasn't.  But apparently my faith in him was misplaced.  I told Chris on numerous occasions that I didn't believe the stories to be true. You can imagine my disappointment when I heard that he was going to confess. Now I don't know much about the cycling world.  I still don't understand the time trials and how you can win without being in the lead or the first one to cross the finish line.  I don't get it.  But I knew a little of Lance's story from his years in the spotlight and it was neat to me that he lived in the Austin area.  I also had a lot of respect for the Livestrong Foundation and what it was working for.  I felt lik...

I had an epiphany last week while talking to Chris about all of the upcoming events for our various family members. Sean had his first tae kwon do belt testing on Saturday. Chris tests for his black belt this weekend. Jackson and I are at Little Gym every weekend while Chris and Sean are at tae kwon do three times a week. It was during this conversation that I realized there was nothing I do just for me. I don't have an activity and that bothers me. I danced a lot growing up. I was in youth choir and band. But now I don't have time. Not for me. I have time to make sure the kids get where they need to go but not to set aside for myself. I realize that is part of being a mother. It is their turn now. I had my chance to be active and involved. But it makes me sad. I miss dancing. I miss having something I do that gives me an outlet away from work. I need that but I really have no idea how to make it work in our already crazy schedule. Maybe one day that will change but for now all...

Instead of resolutions this year, I decided to make a list of things I would like to accomplish this year.  I figure this is a more tangible way to be able to see how well I've done this year. Actually attend The Blathering this year. Take Jackson to his first football game Buy a new rug for the living room. Read The Great Gatsby before seeing the movie. Get another tattoo as a tribute to Jackson. Take a trip that doesn't include visiting my parents. Pay off another credit card. (Maybe even two!) Go on at least 1 date a month with Chris. Spend more time outdoors with the boys. Make more time for myself. Replace the fence. Repair the driveway. Get the exterior of the house painted. Increase our charitable giving. Read 24 books. Blog at least once a week. Spend an entire weekend kid free. See Alabama play in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Run a 5k. Visit Chris's Grandmother. Visit my brother's family in Houston. Setup Savings Accounts for the boys. Keep mo...

Back in January I created a list of goals for the year. I kind of forgot about them till all the "it's the end of the year" posts started showing up in my Google reader.  So I decided January 1st was a great time to take a look back and see where I stand on the goals I set for myself at the beginning of last year. Money:  It took the better portion of the year but I think I finally have a handle on our money situation that doesn't leave me sweating bullets between paychecks.  This was hard and took a major commitment on our part and some drastic measures.  We are loosely following the Dave Ramsey plan .  I don't agree with all of Dave's suggestions but he has some good ideas and I am making them work for us.  The best thing we have done is switch to using cash instead of our debit cards for daily purchases outside of our recurring bills.  This has really changed how we view our money because we can see where it is going and how much we have left....