We started our year off with the most wonderful blessing of all...Sedona Rose! She is now 11 months old and is FINALLY crawling! Yep, that's right, crawling! It has been a frustrating couple of months waiting for her to finally MOVE. Our entire Christmas break she had at least one, sometimes 3 or 4 people trying to help her learn how to crawl. When we returned home earlier this week she finally started on her own. I guess it took removing the "audience" for her to finally do it. She is now tearing into anything and everything that is within reach but she is much more content for longer periods of time. That makes for one happy Momma!! She has also learned how to give "kisses" although some are open-mouthed and slobbery. She gives kisses to anything she plays with, including her train! Sedona LOVES her "Poppy" (aka Dad) and squeals with delight every time she sees him. (makes me feel like chopped liver, but hey...she's with me all day so I can't blame her for being excited to see Poppy.) She is the light of our lives and I somehow cannot remember WHAT I did with my time before she was here.
Austin finished another year of school, worked 20 hours a week, and took 16 credits both semesters! Squeeze in some snowboarding and being a new Daddy into all that and he was one busy man! Over the summer, he worked as a sales rep and manager for Safe Home Pest Control company in Dallas, TX. It was the hottest summer on record in the last 50+ years and he was out working hard in it every day! How I love that man!! We ended our summer on Vacation with the Clift family at Wallowa Lake in St. Joseph, OR. It is so beautiful there!! Austin works hard to play hard and he did do that! He woke up early every morning to be the first one on the lake jet-skiing with Uncle Curtis. Austin is a very devoted father and husband and is working hard to finish his under-grad at BYU-Idaho. He has 2-3 semesters left and then Dental School!! So, basically, we'll be in school for a really long time but it has its pay-offs.
I have been busy being Mom to the cutest baby I've ever given birth to! haha....Sedona is so much fun and is the center of my daily tasks and all my attention and I LOVE being Mommy. I really do believe it is the best job in the whole world. It is the HARDEST job in the whole world but nothing that is easy is every really worth it. On top of being Mom and wife to a very busy husband, I set some goals this year to focus on being Violet. I have a tendency to lose myself when I dive into whatever I'm doing at the time. I morph into my work and it gets all my devotion and I forget who I am. When I stopped working at the beginning of the year I knew it would be important to set goals that would help me remain Violet as well as being Mom and Wife. There were only 3 goals, and they may seem kinda silly to some of my readers but they have accomplished what I needed them to and so I will share:
1-Read something uplifting every day. Preferably from the Scriptures or Ensign, but as long as it helps me be better THAT DAY, it counts.
2-Run a half-marathon.
3-Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.
Goal #1 was really hard! I'm sure I missed several days throughout the year and those were probably my hardest days to get through. But, I read a lot of really good things this year and fit in a great series "Faith of our Fathers"!
In July, Goal #2 didn't look like it was going to happen and I was so sad! I love to run. I love how it touches all 5 aspects of a healthy life: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, mental. But when I started running with my Mother-in-law in August I found a new resolve to get this one done! We both registered for the Zeitgeist Half Marathon in Boise and on November 5th, I accomplished this goal. I cried tears of joy and pain when I finished. Running does so much for me and my personal "center of balance" and I am so glad I didn't let this goal die in the ditch...
Goal #3 was accomplished by late July and as I started training hard for my half marathon, another 10 pounds came with it. I haven't been where I am now, physically, since high school and it feels so good! Being healthy is the top priority and I have never felt better.
So, now that you are all bored stiff I will end this post with a few of my resolutions for 2012:
1- Keep doing "Violet" things!
2- Run another half marathon.
3- Live in the moment.
I hope you all had a fantastic 2011 and may the Lord bless your 2012 with success and happiness!
Love,
the Clift Family
1 comment:
So glad she's FINALLY on the move!! I love that you were able to accomplish all your goals for the past year, and good luck with the next. However, I'd like to suggest one more goal for the list--how about posting to your blog at least once a month?! Sure wish that was included in "Violet things". But I suppose I do have a phone, and your number, so I can keep updated.
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