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....

This might be a bit of a "Ba humbug" post but there are a few gripes that I have and I just need to get them off my chest.  So...here we go: My radio station has switched over to Christmas music for the season.  The first week or so it was great. I  was in the best mood listening to the sounds of Christmas in my car on the way to work everyday.  And then, it got old.  I think I have heard the same Christmas songs sung 5 different ways daily for the past month.  OK...I'm over the Christmas music now.  Which leads me to my next gripe... Can't they just sing the blasted song?!?  Why must every artist feel the need to "make the song their own?"  It's just wrong.  Don't mess with my Christmas classics.  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen to a pop beat...no...just no!  Stop the madness now and leave the Carols alone! Also, I hate that people feel the need to be PC at Christmas.  I get we all have different beliefs and celebrate di...

Christmas is just over a week away but you wouldn't know it by looking at my house.  The Christmas spirit is definitely lacking here which makes me sad.  There is always a delay on putting up the Christmas tree here because of it's location in the house but this year the toddler in the house has stopped me from putting up any decorations at all.  You see, the only location in my house that is (sort of) available for the Christmas tree is in front of the picture window in my kitchen that faces the street.  There is no other spot that doesn't contain furniture that can't easily be moved and stored in place of the tree for a couple of weeks.  Instead, I have to move the dog's bowls and mat from it's normal spot in front of the window to another less convenient location on the other side of the kitchen.  Plus the tree blocks access to the pantry which makes life all kinds of difficult. Throw the toddler into the mix and it's just a recipe for disast...

1. I put Jackson in overalls and a turtle neck this morning. If I thought I could get away with it, I would dress him like this every day because he looked so adorable. 2. I laugh every day when I turn onto the street my office is on and see the "End of Sidewalk" sign they never took down after pouring the sidewalk in front of the building across from our's 2 years ago. 3. I smile every time I see the little Christmas tree in my cubicle because its so festive and makes me happy. 4. I'm dreading putting up decorations at my own house because I just know Jackson is going to try to pull everything down. 5.  Why is it still November?  This early Thanksgiving is throwing me off.  I am ready for it to be December so it can completely feel like Christmas. 6.  Now that we know the F1 Race and a UT home game are scheduled for the same weekend next year, we are debating a vacation at that time.  I started researching Disney and now all I want to do is take that...