2011 Goals

Screw resolutions, I'm going to try to make actual goals. Goals are measurable statements with a time frame. My time frame will be all of 2010, some shorter. Cause Lord knows that just saying "I'm going to try to be healthier" isn't gonna really make me change anything. So here goes…

Goals for 2011:

1. Lose 20 pounds by my sister's wedding-June 4, 2011
   
2. Memorize 24 verses, as part of Beth Moore's challenge
   
3. Create and keep track of a budget every month (notice I didn't necessarily say "stay within" – I want these goals to be reachable.)
   
4. Finish the basement of our house, and get halfway through either the kitchen or the bathroom-or at least halfway saved up to what it'll cost
   
5. Create and follow a weekly chore list (for me and Mark) because doing a little bit each day is way better than freaking out on the weekend or having a case of the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)
   
6. Run a half-marathon (crap I've never told anyone that-but right now, I'm all for putting it out there- you might understand why if you read my last post.)
   
7. Buy a new car-and by new I mean newer than what I have now.
   
8. Be a better wife – ok that one's kinda objective, and might not be measurable….but I'm guessing Mark would have a few things we could count (less fights and more….I'm not gonna say it, but I'm sure you can guess it.)
   
9. Get pregnant, yes another "I'm putting it out there" moment. Prayers for this one from you guys…. And maybe Mark will get a "better wife" this way.
   

That's it. That's what I've got. We'll see where we stand this time next year!

God's Blessings for your New Year!

My secret dream

On Sunday, February 1, 2009 - I wrote in a note on Facebook my "25 Things." Do you remember when everyone did that? 25 random things about yourself. I tried to then further explain and tell 25 random stories on myself on this here blog, but I didn't quite have the follow through. But anyhow, #21 on the FB list states "I secretly would love to have a job on the radio. I love music and talking, so it seems like a natural fit." And so, almost 20 months later, I began my new career at the Radio Station. I have a Marketing/Promotions position, but I also do live remotes, on air "featured businesses", and basically live my dream. I'm not even close to famous, in fact, I still feel like most people have no idea who I am in this town. But sometimes, just admitting to myself, I feel a little bit cooler than I ever had before.

I always knew that I would enjoy working in a radio station. I had considered applying while in college…but different things prevented me from ever doing so, namely confidence in myself. But I had completely forgotten that I had ever put it out there in the world, put it out in a way where others could see it.

And as I laid there that night, in bed, re-reading what my early-2009 self had wrote, I was reminded how amazing it is to have your dreams come true, even those secret dreams that you forget about and don't even consider for yourself anymore. I had at times felt like I really missed out on my calling when I left the Athletic Department, and when the job there didn't pan out the second time. I felt like I was wasting away at my job in the bank, and that I was never going to be able to find my dream job, while still living a life where my husband could follow his dreams as well. It was a stuck feeling, and a feeling of being forgotten.

But more importantly, I was also reminded that I need to have more faith in my God. That He will put me where I need to be when I need it, that He gave me my talents and abilities, so who am I to think that He wouldn't provide a way for me to use them. So while I may have a job where I "get paid to talk" as Mark and I joke, I need to also remember to be quiet more and listen and know that what God has in store for me is better than anything I can imagine for myself.

Our Christmas Card Poem

For the most part, no one really wants to read those long, boring, detailed, long, bragging, long Christmas letters. When they're funny, or when they're cute, it's ok. Now Mark and I have no kids, so there's not much chance of us being cute. But I tend think I'm funny (don't ask Mark's opinion, I don't believe we share the same thought always.) And so what we did last year, and again this year, is highlight the important (and not so-) moments of our past year through verse. That's right, a little iambic pentameter makes everything more interesting-well actually I doubt our poem is true iambic pentameter, but it's one of the few terms i remember about poetry. (it's like a horse going down the road, ba Dum ba Dum ba Dum - use two coconut halves if you need to.) And so without any further ado (because really that's some horrible ado that I just did) here's our Christmas Card poem, circa 2010. And just for fun here's last year's Christmas letter.

Then Meenen's are "living the dream"
In Clay Center, Kansas
We don't know what the dream is yet
So just don't ask us

Been married three years now
For rich or for poor
Best three years of our life
So here's to three more!

Mark had a good year on the farm
Made 50 bushel beans
We're getting closer now
To making farming our main means

Miranda's got a new job
She talks on the radio
"Radio for grown-ups"
No, it's not a porno

She's the Promotions Manager
for the KCLY Radio Mall
You should tune into 100.9
It saves money for all

Mark got a new tractor
15 horsepower, I believe
It mows the lawn perfectly
Even though the mower's green

Miranda's on a bowling team
She once picked up a 3, 7, 10 split
Her girl's night out is real fun
Though most times, they play like...amateurs

With season tickets for K-State football
And even baseball tickets too
We've had fun cheering on the Cats
Especially when they beat KU

Mark and Miranda are table parents
At church on Wednesday nights
They help to practice memory verses
And love being a part of these kids' lives

Of course there've been many weddings
KC and Denton, TX for weekends away
A cool trip to Florida last January
And great memories with friends and family along the way

Many wonderful new friendships have been forged
A new job, and we bought the next door lot
Clay Center has become our home
We like it more than we ever thought

We hope you've enjoyed our stories
Professional poets we are not
We hope you got our humor
Sarcasm we use a lot

So, the Meenen's have had a great year
We're grateful for all the blessings we've had
We wish you all a Merry Christmas
And that your New Year is real rad!

Christmas Eve Eve

Mark and I opened our presents tonight. He's been asking to open them since last Thursday. Yes, I'm married to a 5 year old. I got a wonderful K-State blanket and a K-State business card holder. I'm excited to take that to work tomorrow. And I think he appreciated his new shirt and tie and a book about a nearby high school football team that had numerous undefeated seasons. Plus he got to open his birthday present early. He knew there was another present for him, and I was excited to give it to him, so I couldn't hold back. That has to be obnoxious for people with birthdays around the holidays. No separation of gift giving, you have to go almost a full year without presents, it'd be a hard life. I always thought I got the raw end of the deal because I had a summer birthday….and no one cares about summer birthdays. You don't get to take treats, no one sends you flowers at school, you don't get to be treated special all day. And with a birthday in the middle of wheat harvest like I have, you're lucky if you get anything more than a cupcake out in the field. I'm sure I've bitched about this before, and I mean really, there are worse things to complain about.

But it's Christmas Eve Eve, and it's been a really slow boring week, and I guess that's all you get here this evening. Boring Christmas present report, and a birthday bitching. Merry Christmas! To you from me.

My own kind of parenthood

I'm working at a local radio station now, and have been there for 3 months. Love it!-- but that's not what this post is about. At work, everyone is able to record a Christmas greeting that they will play between songs and such. Lots of people bring in their cute little kids to say Merry Christmas, or they list off all their kids and nicknames or whatever. I on the other hand have only my husband, myself, and my baby Cody. And I can't get him to "speak" on command, so I don't think that would work.

Cody is my yellow lab, and he is Spoiled. When people ask if Mark and I have kids I always tell them, "No, but I have my Codydog." And you guys, he is my frickin kid. He's my baby (my baaa-bbyyyy.) I joke that he's our requisite dog before child, the test run, or whatever that everyone does. And I know that kids are different and blady-blah-blah. But I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what it's going to be like when I do have a kid. I already know what it's like to not be able to sit down on the couch by myself, or that if it's quiet and he's not in front of me, I need to be worried. I cannot go to the bathroom alone, and I've even been woken up in the middle of the night because my kid was about to get sick. And yes Mom, I completely understand what you meant when you said that kids only get sick in the middle of the night-never in the middle of the afternoon or early evening or sometime easy like that.

The other night I woke up to a nose right in my face. I could tell he needed to go outside (which is probably a slightly different need than if my kid wasn't four-legged.) As we started to make our way down the hall, he paused and made that wretched dry heave sound. I started to yell, "Go Cody, go outside!" He made it to the stairs before he stopped again, "Whehh, whhhelllhhhh." (Those are my impressions of a dog dry heaving.) "Go Cody, don't stop, go go go. Outside!!" I was still behind him in the hallway, and I just really did not want to face cleaning up dog vomit all down my stairs. "Please outside Cody," I begged. Finally as I slid the back door open and he made one last shrug forward with his shoulders, he was able to let it all fly out on the back porch. Bright yellow dog vomit all over that pretty white snow we had had earlier that day. So yes, Merry Christmas to you, from Mark, Miranda, and Cody….

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The shopping is all done, the wrapping almost complete. In fact, I was pretty much done last Thursday the 16^th, which is probably the earliest I have EVER been done. Nothing left to get.

And it's killing me.

For me, the gift giving is half the fun. I love shopping, and considering all the people on my list, and trying to find something that they would enjoy and be excited by – and maybe even surprised by. I enjoy shopping, who doesn't, especially when I'm not shopping for jeans for myself. And so yesterday and today, there are shops I could go to, aisles I could browse, and yet no gifts to purchase and definitely no money left in the Christmas Club account.

I love the anticipation of Christmas, the searching, the wrapping, and the surprise of it all. I try to put lots of thought behind each gift. And so now, I'm just waiting. Waiting to see all the family, waiting for all my siblings to open their presents, and waiting to play with the cousins!

Maybe I could get started on next year's gifts. But then I'd be sad for months while I had to wait with no more shopping to be done. THAT would be heartbreaking.

 

PS-Did you see how I just skipped over that whole 3 month blogging hiatus? Yep, we'll just pretend like it never even happened.