Happy New Year.....or is it?

Gah......it's the end of 2011!  I'm SOOOOOOOO sad! I LOVED 2011!  So many good things happened in 2011 that I find it hard to say goodbye.  2012 is foreign to me.  The year is symbolic of changes for me and I don't like changes. I'm a creature of habit, I like knowing what to expect, a planner by nature.  So as everyone is excited about planning their big celebrations for tomorrow night I die a little inside thinking about mine.  Am I going out? Yes! Am I going to enjoy it? Yes.  But that doesn't mean I'm not an emotional sap tonight.  Sitting in bed with the lights out, just me and the lap top reminiscing over the past year with youtube and tissues as the clock refuses to let me hang on to my precious time any longer than normal.  I suppose the saying goes 'every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end'.  So, hats off to 2011 and I will embrace 2012, even if I turn my cheek until familiarity comes.  Goodbye 2011....goodbye my friend.

The Elf on the Shelf!

The Elf on the Shelf came to our house at the beginning of December to visit.  He brought a North Pole breakfast for the kids to enjoy and also brought the movie "Elf" for us to watch that night.  Each night the Elf hides in a new spot or does some sort of trick for the kids to wake up to in the morning.  They love all the funny stuff the Elf is doing each day to make them laugh.  The following are a few of the surprises he had in store.

The mini donuts the Elf was eating made us all laugh.

Early morning Christmas lights.  Kennedy looked so precious by the tree.

The North Pole breakfast full of sweets!  It was such a fun morning as the kids had no idea the Elf was going to come and do this!

Part of the North Pole breakfast, peppermint sticks in snow donuts!

Our Elf with his movie!

Sometimes he gets in trouble around the house....

Elf turned our milk green! Kennedy thought it was funny but Gabe wouldn't drink it!

 

In other news, I'm officially done with school.  I am the proud new owner of a general associates degree...which basically means nothing to me. I already have a Bachelor's degree and this Associate's doesn't really get me much closer to the end goal but it IS a start.   I've completed all my nursing classes and now I play the waiting game to get into a program.  This semester couldn't have ended soon enough, it was awful. So, now I have the world ahead of me and I'm sort of just out here in space waiting for a sign or direction in order to find what's next for me in life.  I'm very excited, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders to be in this position.  Every time I make a plan for my life it NEVER goes the way I imagined.  So, I'm going to just throw my expectations to the wind and see where I end up.  

The holidays are only days away.  I *think* the shopping is done.  I'm hosting a huge Christmas party here on Sunday for all my family so that should be fun.  I have a lot of cooking and cleaning to do before then (no sweat, I have 48 hours to complete this HUGE task).  I get a little overly excited about Christmas.  I like love the holidays.  I like the time together with family, the reason to break routine, the sweets and the wrapping paper.  Check out the cute sweets I'm making for the Christmas parties this weekend:

  Cute right? I like to go a little unique and parties are my favorite.  Nothing will ever top last year's Frosty the Snowman cheese ball though, that was a show stopper!  Off to do some cleaning and baking.  I will try to keep this blog more updated for family since it's hard to keep in contact like I used to.  I've also neglected to get a picture of the kids for our Christmas card this year.  I have that on my list of things to do....gah...better get to work!