Our Christmas presents finally arrived from Idaho and these fancy mugs were in them.

Happy Birthday to our new niece Aspen!

A new project that I’ve yet to start. It’s intimidating.

Morning waiting for the bus.

Tsunami’s favorite move with Efes. Notice the blank stare in her eyes, as though she has no idea how she got there or what she should do next.

Efes, Rhody, and Tsunami at the dog beach. It goes out for a couple hundred yards and the dogs love frolicking around in it. It tires them out in a way nothing else can, but cleaning up their poop later on is not so fun.

The new mugs doing their job.

It usually takes Tsunami a few minutes to get comfortable, and many times manipulating her bed in order to get a small pillow to hold her head up, even if that means half her body isn’t even on the bed.

Newish glasses.

Una the German Shepherd puppy. 

I have sort of a thing for mini things. So of course I snatched up this black clip when it came across my desk. The red is standard small size and everyone I’ve showed it to has never seen one so small (that’s what she said). 

Both dogs were incredibly happy at being allowed to finish the peanut butter jar. Too bad neither of them could get to the very bottom of it. 

These dogs are so spoiled. Peanut butter from the jar one night and then peanut butter dog ice cream (left over from Christmas and taking up precious space in the freezer) the next.

View from the military hospital.

Shave ice. Don’t you dare call it a sno cone. Does not go well with white wine.

The fence in the front yard was tagged with this zebra. Either they ran out of time to finish the legs or this is a pony zebra. 

The show was scheduled for 8 o’clock but we assumed, like all concerts, that it wouldn’t start on time. Elton John, though, is a professional and when we walked in at 8:15 he was already rocking out.

I’m not convinced lilac is a good color on me. 

He played for two hours straight. Some songs we knew and some we didn’t because when you see someone who’s been performing that long there’s bound to be some music that you don’t know.

After every song he stood up from his piano and pointed at the crowd and bowed, seemingly genuinely enthused that we had all come out for his show.

So basically, I slept with Elton John is what I’m trying to say.

(All photos from my iphone because I didn’t think cameras would be allowed in. I was wrong and I think the moral of the story is that I should always have a real camera with me.)

He’s so dark that everything else is washed out in order to get all his features.

When the first movie came out we were in Idaho for Christmas where we watched Sherlock Holmes. Before we went into the movie I snapped a very similar picture of Wes posing with the Chipmunks. This year we were able to get another picture while on our way to see Sherlock Holmes.

Having this display of Christmas cards makes me smile every time I look at it.

That’s peanut butter ice cream for the pups.

I call him Frances and my new glasses look perfect on him.

We gave them candy cane shaped braided raw hide bones for Christmas and they weren’t without them until they were gone.

Stocking Stuffers.

The old gang together again to celebrate the New Year.

Having a friend who works at Coach is getting dangerous.

We finally stepped up our Christmas game and decided to get a real tree. It made all the difference in the holiday.

This sign sat outside my office building for two days before it was taken away. I tried to get Wes to pick me so that we could take it home but he declined. 

We were given three bottles of wine for our wedding and decided to finally open one and have a fancy dinner. 

One of Wes’ coworkers worked in Louisiana for a couple of years and missed their delicious shellfish. He ordered all of this and had a cookout. Everything was delicious. Spicy but delicious. We ate way too much but it was worth it.

Three days after getting our tree we finally decorated it. 

This is how Tsunami spends most of her days. We can’t figure out what her plan is – mostly she just stares blankly ahead. 

Don’t mind the cluttered coffee table

 It always feels anticlimactic, waking up to the first day of a new year. Like the view is supposed to change, the feel of the pillow, a new longing to get out of bed. If only we could move through our lives with the same self-forgiveness we carry these first few days of January, the same hope and hustle. We could all stay up until midnight, kiss and exclaim “Happy New Day!” and then make it one instead of waiting around for the year’s change to reset our alarms

I always make grand resolutions that I’m certain will change my life for the better. And I’m equally as certain that I’ll follow through with every single one, as though January 1st will change who I am and how I behave. Last year’s resolutions started a fight between me and Wes when, after a few glasses of wine, he didn’t understand exactly what I meant and suddenly the whole thing seemed like a waste of time. Resolutions that include Be Happy aren’t supposed to start fights.

This year I have an idea of specific things I’d like to check off, but I’m not going to put them in writing because that always seems like a road to failure when you forget and then look back. Instead I decided to make a word for 2012. I’ve seen a few people do this and at first thought it’s seemed a little far out there. A word to describe the year? In the past, just thinking about all the words to choose from would give me a headache. But this year when I thought about it a word immediately came to mind and I knew that it would be my word for 2012: Intent.

I have a habit of doing things too quickly. I answer questions without thinking and say things without thinking and am forever hurrying through pretty much everything I do. A lot of times this leads to regret, both large and small, about how I’ve behaved or what choices I’ve made. I change my mind so often that Wes now waits for me to change my answer before proceeding. Obviously I could benefit from slowing down and thinking about something before I make a decision.

So in 2012 I want to live with intent. I want to think about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it instead of just forging ahead and hoping for the best. I think I started it right on New Year’s Eve when I didn’t end up puking in the New Year. Great things are going to happen this year, I can feel it. And I want to be part of every decision that makes this year great instead of coasting by.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Celebrated Tsunami’s first birthday with homemade treats at the dog park. Finished a metric century ride. Competed in two sprint triathlons and one olympic triathlon. Visited Kauai with Wes and dove. Went to Seattle-area in June to celebrate Brette’s bachelorette party. Started a 365 day photo project. Watched Brette & Wiley get married in an incredibly beautiful setting. Went to New York to visit my brother and his girlfriend. Celebrated our one-year anniversary with tickets to The Book of Mormon. Went to Las Vegas with a large group of ladies and had an incredibly fun time. Finally completed NaBloPoMo. Invited a friend and her dog to live with us. Started trying to have a baby.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?

I was pretty vague on my resolutions for this year. I like to think that I was a little more aware of my attitude and would do my best to not focus on the negative but I’m sure there were times when I failed.

Yes, I will make more for this coming year. Maybe the most is following up on what I want from 2012 and making sure that I’m where I want to be.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

One of my best friends had a baby in September. Two of Wes’ college roommates had babies.

4.  Did anyone close to you die?

A friend of ours lost her baby just before the 6-month mark.

5. What countries did you visit?

We stayed in the US for our travels this year.

6. What you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

Same as last year: a shorter commute. Oh, and to expand our family with a baby (which would mean no commute at all!).  

7. What dates in 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

New York to visit my brother because it’s really the first time that we’ve spent time without our parents in a over a decade. Also: New York. Celebrating our one year anniversary.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I wish I had more to add to this.  And part of my goal next year is to be proud of something in 2012. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

Same as last year: losing my shit. We had nearly two months of visitors December-February and by the last group I was not on my best behavior. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I didn’t. But Wes injured his hand in a bike race in March. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Tickets to Washington and New York and all the money we spent while we were there.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Tsunami, rent, our trips to Washington and New York.

13.  What did you get really excited about?

Brette & Wiley’s wedding. Our visit to New York. 

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

I think Mumford & Sons’ entire album because I listened to it constantly.  

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happpier or sadder? I think it’s hard to top last year with the move and the wedding and the puppy. But I’m definitely not sadder. We had a great year and perhaps the only that would have made it better would be knowing what the heck is going on with Wes’ project.

thinner or fatter?  Fatter, unfortunately. Why is it so hard to consistently work out?

richer or poorer?  Money-wise, we’re the same as last year. But, again, the experience side of this year was worth every penny we spent.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Spent more time outdoors hiking and camping and such. Run. Swim. Bike.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Again, getting mad over stupid things. Watching television.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

We had an early Christmas with my family in Boise (the first time in Idaho in almost two years). A small gift exchange while we were home  and dinner at Wes’ boss’ house. We drew names for both of our families this year and it was so nice not to have to stress out about spending a lot of money. 

19. What was your favorite tv program?

Community.  Bones.  NCIS.  (I’m addicted to crime dramas.)  And recently, The League. How I Met Your Mother.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

I just finished The Art of Fielding and loved it. The Omnivore’s Dilemma because it really made me think about food. V is for Vengeance because I just can’t get enough of Sue Grafton’s novels. 

21. What was your favorite music of this year?

Mumoford and Sons. Adele. Yes, I’m super boring with music. 

22.  What were your favorite films of the year?

The Muppets. And, shit, well, I can’t think of anything else. I guess I need to start writing down more things so that I can remember what I’ve done. 

23. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?

We were in New York for my birthday. We started at midnight with with champagne with my brother and his girlfriend. During the day we explored New York. Finished with a Yankee game with friends and got sung to on the subway.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Same thing as last year: A shorter commute.  A full-time job that I absolutely love.  To be able to take awesome pictures on my awesome camera.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Still the same as last year: I’ll wear anything that doesn’t make me sweat as soon as I step outside.  Fashion in Hawaii has sort of gone out the window in favor of not melting when I walk outside.  So: skirts, shorts, dresses.  Lots of wearing my hair up. 

26. What kept you sane?

Running.  My puppy (unless she was making me crazy).  Wes.  Writing.  Swimming.  Cooking.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010?

One that I feel like I’ve learned often and then promptly forgot: nothing matters except what matters.  Basically: stop letting all that little stuff get to you because it doesn’t matter.  Focus on the important things because they do matter.

Happy New Year, All.

But now we are home. All of our presents are wrapped and our stockings mostly stuffed. The tree lights are brightening up our living room and I’m enjoying a glass of Pendleton (thank you Ewa Pantry) for stocking such a delicious treat. Wes is starting the dough for Christmas morning cinnamon rolls, recipe courtesy of his mom and even though it’s still hovering around 80 degrees outside, it feels like Christmas.

We contemplated getting a real tree this year and finally bit the bullet – cost be damned! – and it’s made all the difference. Our home feels like the holidays and that makes me feel less like a grouch. We won’t have any family here to celebrate, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be surrounded with people we love like family.