#Weverb11 - Day 27: Spend

Day 27:  Spend

Where did your money go this year? Where do you want it to go in 2012?

Contributed by Kimberly Michelle [kimberlymichelle.com]

Both The Hubs and I are pretty good about saving money. We don't go on extravagant vacations or buy extravagant things. I think that a lot of our money goes to eating out or groceries, since we aren't very good about meal planning.

Our biggest purchases of the 2011 included our trip to Seattle and buying tickets for our trip to Vegas in 2012. The Vegas trip was especially expensive since the Garth Brooks tickets are $250 a pop! I'm sure it will be well worth it though!

We also purchased our TV console, which wasn't expensive, but still something we considered a "major" purchase.

Next year, I hope to spend money on one other vacation (I'm thinking maybe Chicago or Hawaii...).  And if a bun finally inhabits my oven, I would like to invest in a new car, one where The Pup can be kept in the way back away from all passengers. My current crush is on the Toyota Highlander...

Image Source: Toyota

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Are you participating in #WEverb11? If not, go here for more info! It's an awesome way to reflect on last year and you'll meet tons of new people in the process! :-)

#Weverb11 - Day 26: Revive

Day 26:  Revive

Share a favorite photo from the past year. What was happening behind the scenes? What were you thinking or feeling? What could you smell, taste, see, hear at that moment?

Contributed by Tara [twowishes.com]

This is one of my favorite pictures of the year. I call it "Sparkling Seattle". 

The Hubs and I were on a tour of the city as viewed from Elliott Bay/Puget Sound. It was an amazing way to experience this beautiful city that both The Hubs and I had been wanting to visit for over three years. 

The air was crisp and smelled like vacation. (Vacation to me smells like fresh pine trees and although I don't specifically recall smelling that while on the cruise, I do recall smelling it as we drove through the outskirts of Seattle. That's something you don't get in California unless you head to Lake Tahoe or up north to Mendocino or Humboldt County, well outside the city limits!)

I was feeling exciting and energized. I had just flown the furthest from home I had ever been. I was experiencing a new city with The Hubs. There's something wonderful about experiencing something for the first time with your spouse. 

I could taste freedom. 

The whole trip made me realize how limiting I was making my life by allowing fear to get the best of me. Fear of flying, fear of the unknown, fear of spending too much money...

All I have to do is look at this picture and know that I want to experience more new things with The Hubs. Hopefully 2012 will bring many more new adventures!

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Are you participating in #WEverb11? If not, go here for more info! It's an awesome way to reflect on last year and you'll meet tons of new people in the process! :-)

#Weverb11 - Day 24: Control & Day 25: Celebrate

Day 24:  Control

What did you finally let go of in 2011? What will you let go of in 2012?

Contributed by Julie Jordan Scott [fivepassions.com]

This year I finally let go of the work fiasco that happened last year and really feel like I was able to establish myself in my new position. It was one of the goals I had for 2011 and I think that I pretty much accomplished it. 

Next year, I'm going to try to let go of constantly worrying about what the future will hold and to focus on the present and acceptance. I can only control my actions and attitudes to situations that arise. As far as I know, I am not psychic and can't predict the future, so why continue worrying. This is going to be especially difficult for me, but it's a work in process!

Day 25:  Celebrate

What did you celebrate in 2011? Are you looking forward to any celebrations in 2012?

Contributed by Kaileen Elise [kaileenelise.com]

My favorite celebrations of 2011 were mostly of birthday milestones:

My Grandpa's 90th Birthday

My Sister's 21st Birthday

The Hubs's 30th Birthday

Rowan's First Birthday

Next year, I'm looking forward to celebrating my two best friends having babies. And I'm trying to look forward to my 30th birthday, although right now it just makes me feel old!

Happy Holidays!

Hope you all have a fabulous holiday weekend! We'll be spending Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with The Hubs's family, which is each families tradition. (Works out great for splitting time!)

I'll be around next week with some catch up #Weverb11 posts and maybe a few other things. Most bloggers are taking next week off, but I'm hoping to use the week to do MORE blogging! hehe :-) Plus I know some of you will be like me and by dying with all your favorite bloggers taking a hiatus!

See you next week! :-)

#Weverb11 - Day 22: Accomplish & Day 23: Grasp

Day 22:  Accomplish

What is one thing you want to do before you bid adieu to 2011? How will you make it happen?

Contributed by Bella [bellaonthebeach.wordpress.com]

In this last week of 2011 that I thankfully have off from work, the one thing I want to accomplish is to finish watching the Oprah's Life Classes that I have saved on the DVR. I watched the first couple of weeks when they first came out and actively watched the show including taking notes! I'm all about learning and the life lessons Oprah is teaching ar every important to remember.  I hope to then wrote blog posts like the one I wrote on Ego so that I can come fully circle and teach what I learned. It will be a great collection of thoughts and ideas that I will easily be able to go back to.

To make this happen, I plan on using the four days I will be home by myself to take some quiet time to watch and then reflect. It is going to be GLORIOUS! :-)

Day 23:  Grasp

Describe something you actively engaged in learning this year.

Contributed by Katie [latteloveblog.com]

This year, I actively engaged in learning more about yoga and meditation. Early in the year, I stepped out of my comfort zone and took a meditation class where I explored what I might want to do in my career in the future. Then I began taking yoga classes more often, including the Yoga for Fertility class. I had done a ton of research regarding yoga previously, but it wasn't until this year where I really actively began learning and practicing.

#Weverb11 - Day 21: Ripple

Day 21:  Ripple

The butterfly effect posits that a small change can ripple across whole ecosystems. Who do you credit for the small action that made all the difference in your life this year?

Contributed by Zak [andrea-zak.com]

I think that having one of my best friends start working at my company really made all of the difference in my mood and attitude this year, both at work and at home. I'm no longer miserable at work, which translates into me being less moody at home. 

Having someone to vent with, bounce ideas off of, get advice from has been so helpful. I think it has made me realize that I really wasn't alone in all the things I was feeling on the job and made me more confident in the decisions I make while at work. I was this.close. to finding something else, but now I seem to find more value in what I do and even though there are bad days, the lows aren't quite as low.


It's amazing what a friend can do!


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Are you participating in #WEverb11? If not, go here for more info! It's an awesome way to reflect on last year and you'll meet tons of new people in the process! :-)

Thankful Thursday - FINALLY Finished Gratitude Photo Challenge!

I know this is a bit late in coming, but I really wanted to finish the Gratitude Photo Challenge I started in November. I got a bit sidetracked with all the Weverb11 posts, so this project took a back seat.

But without further ado...

Day 25: Artwork

 

Saw these at Crate and Barrel and really liked them. I'm not much into abstract art, but I really like these different patterns. Wish they were smaller so I could put them in the bathroom. Guess I could always try to DIY it!

Day 26: Transportation

I had to use The Hubs car for the last two weeks while mine was in the shop. While I was very grateful to have it, I'm happy that today I finally got to pick my car up!

Day 27: Daily Routine

My daily morning routine once consists of catching up on blogs from the day before with a bowl of dry cereal and either tea or coffee. Probably one of my favorite parts of the day.

Days 28 & 29: Nighttime and Light

I combined these two because I really wanted to share a picture of how cute our house looks at night with all of the holiday lights on it! The Hubs did an awesome job of decorating the outside! Love him

Day 30: Self Portrait

I'm cheating here.... This isn't really self portrait, but it was a spontaenous picture that The Hubs took of me at a friend's 30th birthday at Campo di Bocce. I was quite surprise with how good it came out and it has some artistic flare! :-)