Hoosier Holidays

We had such a great Christmas week having the whole family together again.  21 People in my parent's house for a week sure did make for a loud, messy, exciting time.  Each family had their own room, with my brother's family in the basement.  There were some delays with the flights coming home, but everyone made it by Christmas Eve night, and we were all together Christmas morning!  What a great memory that will always be.  Throughout the week, we enjoyed a family talent show, a Grinch skit by my parent's and brother, lunch with our Terre Haute cousins, a day in Columbus playing in an indoor area with lunch at an old ice cream shop, family photos, celebrated Annie's birthday, decorated gingerbread houses, sang Christmas carols around the piano, many late night games and good conversations.  It was really nice to mostly stay home at my parent's and watching the grand kids all play well together.  Of course we stayed up way too late, until 1-2 AM every night, and my body is still paying for it!  I am so grateful we were all able to be together for Christmas.  It is so hard to say goodbye not knowing when we will all see each other again.

On Christmas day, Kyhle and I drove over to Terre Haute to celebrate with his mom and step dad.  It was a special day, because we were able to Skype with both of Kyhle's brothers on their missions.  Saxon is serving in Santa Rosa, CA, and will be coming home in 2 months!  Strom is serving in Salvador, Brazil, and has been out for 9 months now.  It was especially cool that they were able to call at the same time and we all got to talk to them together.  We stayed on Skype for two hours, and then Kyhle's mom hosted the missionaries for Christmas dinner.  Unfortunately, we couldn't stay the night because Kyhle had to work early Thursday morning, so we drove back to my parent's later that night.  I am also so grateful for in-laws that treat me like their own, and are always so welcoming.

Wicked!

For Christmas, Kyhle asked my parents for tickets to go see Wicked...for my mom and I!  I was so confused when I opened the tickets, but Kyhle said that all he wanted was for mom and I to have a good time and take a picture for him to frame.  He said that seeing me happy was the best gift he could have asked for.  The week leading up to the show, he was just about as excited as I was!  He kept asking, "Are you ready?"  "Are you excited?"  He's pretty awesome.  I still feel so guilty that he won't be getting anything other than his stocking Christmas morning, and kept contemplating having my parent's get him gifts instead of me, but he kept telling me that it would hurt his feelings if I did that.  I'll make it up to him somehow.  

Well, YES, I was so excited!  I had no idea what to expect since I had never been to a show before.  My mom asked my dad to pick up our tickets downtown.  Little did she know, he asked the ticket lady for the best seats in the house, and we got to sit in the VIP box!  What a fun surprise! :)   I was blown away the entire show, and it was so hard not to sing along with them.  We tried so many times to have people take our photo, and I guess everyone is iPhone camera challenged.  We had about six tries, with six different people, but nothing really turned out that great.  They also didn't allow any photos inside the venue, so we couldn't get any of us with the stage.  Luckily, I snuck a quick photo of the stage before the show started.  Mom and I met downtown and had lunch at a restaurant on Mass Ave.  After the show, we went back to that restaurant for a yummy chocolate volcano slice of cake to share. We then walked along Mass Ave and browsed through some of their cute stores.  We had such a fun time.  I am definitely looking forward to seeing another Broadway show, hopefully sooner rather than later.  :)

We were sitting in the same balcony VIP section.  This is a photo of the one straight across from us.  

Make a Change

A new year usually means new changes for most people.  Resolutions are made--some are kept, and some are forgotten after a month or so.  I'm not usually one to make resolutions, just because I don't like feeling that since it's a new year means it's time to finally make the changes and do things better.  However, that is just how I am feeling this year.  I must say that I am not too sad to see 2013 end.  It was a pretty tough year for me with 3 failed IUI treatments, and complications from a breast reduction that ended up costing us a lot of money and me a lot of pain and depression.  Don't get me wrong...there were many good things that happened to us in 2013, including some small trips, growing closer in our marriage, Kyhle getting a couple of promotions, me becoming director at the daycare, and spending so much time with family.  

I am ready for a change.  I don't know if that's because of a new year, or just because I am feeling stuck in a rut that I need to dig out of.  Struggling to become pregnant has taken quite a toll, and I am ready to let go of it.  (At least for now. :))  Kyhle and I feel like we are busting out of the seams of our apartment and are more than ready for something bigger, even if it means a bigger apartment.  I want to do better at my job.  I don't know if that means changing my attitude, or changing jobs, but I need to change something somewhere.  I love those kids, though.  

I need to change my health.  I have finally been able to get a free membership to LA Fitness through work, and I have to go 8 times a month or I will be charged.  I am grateful for that because it will help motivate me to actually go to the gym and do something about myself.  I am ready to feel good, happy, and pretty.  I am tired of walking by a mirror and wanting to always adjust my shirts to try to cover a little better.  I am tired of being scared of a camera showing anything from my neck down.  I know it sounds silly since it is the "new year resolution," but it's all with the timing of when I was able to get the pass from work.  My goal after my reduction was to lose weight and become healthy, and since I wasn't cleared to fully workout until October, now is the time!  I didn't get surgery for nothing!  

Another big thing I have been thinking about lately is the fact that I have lived in Indiana my entire life.  I moved to Utah for 4 months of schooling, but it was awful, so I came home.  I have traveled a lot in the US, but I feel like there is still so much more to see and do.  I have always felt like I am just too attached to my parents and just can't leave them.  I have also grown really close with my sister Laura and her children in Indiana, and the thought of moving from them makes me so sad.  I am also not good at making new friends at all!  I have always felt like I have all the friends I need in my childhood friends, and don't open up and reach out to new people.  If we were to move away, it would force me to get to know new people and Kyhle and I could make many new friends as a couple.  If we wanted to go through with moving, now would be the time before we do have kids.  Then if we decided we wanted to come back and be closer to family once our kids were older, we could do that (as long as there is a job).  

I am determined to do some things differently this year.  Some may laugh and joke, "She'll give up on it in 2 months...", but I know it has to start somewhere.  

“Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.” - Maya Angelou

“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.”  - C. Joy Bell C.