Why 2012 is Gonna Rule.

2011 was pretty great; I made few poor decisions and some really great ones.  I call that a success!

2012 is going to be called the year of 'Running Suzie.'

 It will be called such because I want to maximize my potential hotness and minimize my chub all while making my body feel super good.

I'm sitting here this morning thinking about the many goals I have for the year.  To be a little bit honest, I am looking forward to the new year, but really sad to leave Christmas behind. In fact, I'm a bit in denial about it and have full intentions on keeping my tree up until January is over.  DON'T TRY TO STOP ME!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree - you make me so dang happy.

BUT, since I can't stop time, I will share my top 6 goals of 2012 - yes, 6.  Not 5, not 10, but 6.  I am an individual.

So they go:

1.  Become a running freak.  I want to start by making a personal goal to run at least 10 miles a week.  That's truly not a lot and I would really prefer to be somewhere between 10-20, but it's a starting point.  I want to be hot, healthy, and happy.

2.  Implement Date Night.  Without going into the gory details, it's been a rough and trying year for my honey and me.  I can't remember the last time we went on a date, just the two of us.  So, I hereby implement date night.  We have so many resources and friends/family who LOVE spending time with Little Steven and we need to start using our free time for us.

3.  Spend $100 or less on groceries per month.  I do a pretty good job of not overspending where I don't need to, ESPECIALLY with groceries.  Coupons have been a real blessing this year; it's allowed me to switch from working full time to part time and still be able to make ends meet.  I forever love coupons.  I just want to make a strict budget for groceries and come up with creative new meals.  It's totally possible.

4.  Keep up with school.  Stupid school.  I want to make sure I stay above a 3.2 GPA this year and need to do what it takes to make it work.  If that means studying for hours and that Chemistry very well might be the death of me, so be it.  I need to get my RN and I need to do it ASAP; with the competition to get into the program here, I have to be the best I can be.

5.  SEW!  I didn't sew like I wanted to when I got my machine for Mother's Day.  Part of it is being able to afford material and fabric, but another part is not making time for it.  Of course I'm busy, but I love being creative and want to do more with my machine.

6.  Do more fun things with my boy.  I started doing Friday lunch dates with Little Steven a while ago and that has been fun,  but he's getting old enough to start going to museums, the zoo, etc. and those things are fun, so we're doing it.  Fridays will be 'adventure days' and we'll be dragging along his Aunt Kelly and cousin, Austyn, for the adventure.  FUN TIMES TO BE HAD BY ALL!

Have the best New Year ever! 
Make goals and work for them. 
We control our actions and reactions, so stop finding reasons not to do things you want to do.
In the words of my sweet, adorable cousin Marc,
"If you want to be happy, be."

There's a Party in My Tummy.

{nutella & banana on toast w/ starbucks caramel macchiato}



SO YUMMY, SO YUMMY!

(lyrics stolen from Yo! Gabba Gabba)

Christmas, Motivation, & Love.

Sooooo, my camera officially decided to stop working on Christmas Eve.  I got it for Christmas last year, so it stopped working just in time for the warranty to be expired and just in time for me to miss taking pictures of my boy Christmas morning.  Big Steven was able to capture a few moments with his phone, which officially made me a smart phone believer.  I will be looking for deals on both a smart phone and a camera this week.

Moving on...

One of my favorite things about Christmas is getting a new scarf from Steven's Grandma:

The moment I knew i was 'in' was when I got my handmade blanket!  I love that thing so much I'm scared to use it.  I thought about putting it on the couch, but then I got worried people would ruin it or the little one would spill something on it.

What I don't love about Christmas this year is the pictures I saw of myself.  YIKES!  I have gained some serious lbs since September.  I stopped running and started eating more.  Even though I was working out, that's a bad combo for a girl with a super slow metabolism.  I am looking at the photos this year as motivation.  Big Steven got me a new treadmill and new running shoes, so I have NO EXCUSE to not pick back up on running.  I broke it in yesterday with a 2 mile run and was very pleased to see my endurance is still there. 

Big Steven and I have goals for the years to come and I definitely want to lose the weight before having another baby - not that it's happening any time soon.  I am STILL not back to my size pre-Little Steven, which is just wrong.  If I don't lose it before baby #2, it's going to be 2394839289 times harder to lose it, so I'm ultra motivated for that.

2011 has been a very trying year for my little family. 

Exhaustion + stress + mean words + cranky toddler - Jesus - alone time = no bueno.

This weekend made me really grateful for the love Big Steven and I share and the love we have for the little one - and not just because I got a garbage disposal (PRASE THE LORD), but because we got to spend a lot more time together than we have in a while.  There are a lot of people who don't like the running around, and I understand the stress of having multiple families to see over the holidays, but I love it.  I love my family, I love Steven's family, and I love that they all want us around.

I am just very grateful.

I HOPE YOU ALL HAD THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!

OMG!

HELEN IS COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

(thanks to this little number)

Again, my irresistible dance moves save the day.  And, again, I make this all about me.

It's going to be an EXCELLENT Christmas.

Giving, Receiving, & a Giveaway!

I love, love, LOVE giving gifts.  It's the most fun ever to see people smile.  I always look forward to being able to give people things, whether they're homemade or store bought.

I also really appreciate when people think of me during the Christmas season.  One of the companies we purchase from sent me this little number:

So fun, it made me laugh.  AND it's actually really warm, so thank you Bill at Bretmor.

With all of that out of the way, the next week is going to get really crazy with wrapping up Christmas shopping and making our rounds to family and friends, so I wanted to give you a little somethin', too:

I will be giving away a shirt to support my sister's journey to Brazil:

Another winner will get a Shine Shirt:

This one is my personal favorite, but there are others here for you to choose from.

And a 3rd winner will get the gift of warmth and caffiene;

a $25 giftcard to Starbucks!

Of course, you must be a Semi-Homemade Suzie follower via:

Blogger

Facebook

or

Google Friend Connect

And you've gotta be a follower of The Shine Project if you aren't already.

Leave a separate comment for each way you are following to get more entries and a better chance of winning one of the items!

Names will be drawn at random for each item and the giveaway will close December 28th extended to 1/4/12!

All I Want For Christmas Is YOU!

I've been talking a lot about my sister, Helen, and her journey to Brazil.  Last night, a group of family, friends, and I decided to do a video to entice her to come home.  She recently had an unexpected surgery, so we REALLY wanted to make her laugh.  We're so happy that the surgery won't keep her away for Christmas.

For your viewing pleasure and a couple of laughs:

Starring:

Suzie

Big Steven

Wendy (sister)

Buddy (brother)

Jason (brother-in-law)

Mandy (BFF)

Jeff (Mandy's hubs)

Fear & H2O.

I am currently sitting at my desk with the willies.

(no I'm not talking about this, though that movie FREAKED me out as a child.  Who let's their children watch this stuff?  I'm looking at you, Mary!)

I was making my morning cup o' joe (peppermint mocha this a.m.) and caught a little movement in my peripheral.  What was it?  The largest spider cricket I have ever seen.

When I was young, I shared a room with my sister, Helen, in the basement.  Because I was the youngest/least favorite, I got to have the trundle and frequently found crickets on it.  Let's not forget the time I had a cricket jump out of my shoe as I was trying to put it on or the time I was innocently playing with my Barbies and one came out to attack; all of these which resulted in me sleeping with my face under the blanket (so they didn't crawl in my mouth or ear like happened to my twin's 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Washington) and begging until tears for the same twin to shake my shoes out every day so there were no repeat events.  On top of that, I developed a serious fear of crickets.  Spider crickets are the ninjas of the cricket world and I am TERRIFIED right now because it disappeared before I could trap it and is probably just waiting for the opportune moment to freak the crap out of me and/or kill me.

Here's a very accurate reenactment of my reaction:

I had to scream on the inside because I don't want my coworkers to know I'm a wussy, but I think my tear-filled eyes gave me away.  I have always wanted to be on Fear Factor, but if it involves spider crickets, fear will be a factor for me. 

I will spend the rest of my work day allowing my imagination to run wild with all the ways I could potentially be killed by a cricket.

Another matter of business is to show you all that I do actually drink things other than caffeinated products, as it was brought to my attention that 90%+ of my photos include caffeine.  I drink a LOT of water out of this giant thermos on a daily basis:

Please pray that I don't get eaten alive.