Chinese Lantern Festival

I had originally purchased a Groupon for a  4 pack for a double date with my BIL (brother in law) but we kept dodging the weekend because of Holiday activities and out of town guests. (And that fact that it was BLISTERING cold outside.) Finally we got the opportunity to go but it was the last weekend and BIL was out of town so we took Sophia and MIL. I think many people had the the same idea since they too were holding their Groupon voucher waiting in line. The line was instantly. I felt really bad for the guy because it seemed to be the only one person who was able to scan the Groupon and he was doing it all himself. In addition there was a lot of people who would skip the line entirely then merge right at the end leaving everyone waiting behind them. It's just like Dallas traffic. I think we spent more time in line then we actually did looking at the beautiful lanterns. Having said that, it was totally worth the wait. Sophia was in awe the entire time. She just could not believe how beautiful everything was. It was fun just watching her run around and look at everything. 

The line getting in. We where standing in for a hour.

Entrance

By the time we left the line was twice as long. It was almost 2 full blocks. :) 

New Years Resolutions 2013

So this year was pretty successful when it comes resolutions. Lets do a quick review of what was accomplished. 

1) Write in my blog at the minimal of 2 times a week - Over the last year I got lazy. Distracted with stupid stuff. I can take 30 mins out of my day twice a week. Even if it's just tell a funny Sophia story or vent about life in general.

Was not accomplished. This year I will change it up to at least once a month. I think 2 times a week is way to  big of a goal. If I can just do a quick month review it will help me some. :)

2) Lose 15 pounds and maintain my already 50 pound weight loss. I would like to be at 165 before TTC another baby. Currently I am about 185 ish. Not terrible. Within a healthy weight range for my height but I really could do better if I just stay focused and stop eating "the junk" and continuing on with my exercise routine.

Did this but gained some back during Christmas  I will go back to my low carb eating and will begin to take my favorite kickbox cardio class again. I need to get back down to 175 and stay there for a little while. I am still at a healthy weight now but I must stay motivated to keep it there. All my sweets is going to my work via Monday.

3) Sandro returns to school to begin working on this masters. He already enrolled in community college so that he can obtain more math credits so he can apply for admissions to start his masters.

Sandro had a excellent year. He took 3 classes. Trig - B, Pre-Calculus-A, and Calculus 1 - B. Now on to this year will be Calculus 2 and Linear Algebra. He will probably be taken a GRE review class if possible so he can apply to UT @ Dallas for the Masters program.

4) To both get raises this year. No explanation needed on this. But it will be a requirement so we can do #5 of resolution on a more timely basis.

Done. Of course we hope to get this again this year. :) 

5) Pay off truck and start saving for baby #2. This is a big one for me. The only thing holding us back from having #2 at this point is all financial. My goal is to dump all extra money towards this truck. Current truck payment is $356 a month. Plan to put $400 a additional per month. $756 is what daycare will cost us for a second child not including Sophia. Total daycare is $1450 a month. Holy crap that is a lot. Plan to have this paid off in 15 months. (750*15 = $11,250)

We about 5 months away from achieving this goal. We have made double payments all of 2012. This year will be pay it off by May 2013. 

6) If we stay on plan that means we will TTC #2 by October 2012. Or at least begin. Hopefully get PG before February 2013. 

For personal and health reasons we have decided to put this on hold for at least 6 months. We hope to TTC again during the summer after we take our vacation. 

7) To keep myself motivated I just have to be more positive. I have learned that I am all about routine and either I need to embrace this about myself or learn to get the F over it. Being positive is essential to reaching our goals 15 years from now.

I think I did alright on this. But I am going to try to do better in 2013. 

8) Run a 5k competitively. I have been running now for about 6 months. I need to find a few races and actually run one for real.

I ran in 3 competitive 5k's this year. My best time was around 36:00 mins. Goal this year is to get it to be around 30 mins (or less) or course. Already signed up for my first race in January. So looking forward to the hotcake hustle. 

So our new resolutions for 2013:

1) Two vacations this year. One as a family. We are considering going to Yellow Stone National Park. The second will be a romantic vacation for me and Sandro to St. Lucia. Super excited about this one. 

2) Finish savings and paying off consumer debt. I would like to tackle our other car after we are done with the truck. Maybe 3x the payment amount. Then we plan to buy a full electric car in 2014.. I am eyeing the Nission Leaf hardcore. 

3) I would like to get my project management certification. I am considering going back to school to do this. DCCD has a good program. I just need to get myself motivated. 

Overall I am looking forward to 2013. I love the feeling of starting fresh and setting goals. Hopefully I will keep them up this year. 

Here are some pictures from our 2012 photo shoot with Stefani Marcus Photography.