Looking Forward to 2011

I must say that I think 2010 was a little rough.  There were good things, but some of 2010 was kicking butt and not in the good way.  So, I am absolutely looking forward to 2011 and hoping/praying for a better year.  Like I said, 2010 has definitely had it's blessings, but it had it's lows too.   :)

I always try to set goals for the year.  I don't always meet them, but at least I have something to shoot for.  I don't believe in New Years resolutions because they never stick.  A goal is something you can keep trying at.  A resolution feels like it's over the first time you fail.

So, here's my list of 2011 goals:
(not a prioritized list)

1.  Have a monthly date night with my husband - just us!

2.  Take an infant CPR/First Aid class before June

3.  Have a weekly budget/bills/filing night to maintain the files consistently.  I'm thinking Tuesdays

4.  Create a monthly budget

5.  Hang all of the items in our house that need to be hung. (curtains, mirrors, pictures, etc.)

6.  Read one book a month (or twelve books by the end of the year) (and not 5 at a time)
7.  Take more pictures of the events and activities we attend
8.  Prepare the baby room before June
9.  Work out twice a week (2 out of 7 days)
10. Cook more meals at home (3-4 times a week)
11.  Read the bible more / memorize at least a verse a month
12.  Blog at least once a week
13.  Learn to knit

So, do ya'll have any ideas to help me out?  What are some cheap dates we can go on?  What are some easy meals to cook regularly?  And how-oh how-do I get to the gym more than once a month?  (OH yeah, stop watching TV!)

What about you?  What are some of your goals for 2011? 

May you all have the best year yet!
-Stef

My First Gingerbread House

This last weekend, we went to a tacky sweater Christmas party at a friends house.  We couldn't really find a tacky sweater (I thought Goodwill would hook me up for sure) but that's a different story.

Growing up, we didn't ever decorate gingerbread houses.  I don't know why, we just didn't.  So this was the first time I had put one together.  Luckily there was a cardboard cutout to use as a template (or is that how it's always done?)

It was really fun.  I enjoyed eating all the candy though.  I realized that I should have let Curtis help me more, but I was kinda of a control freak about my decorations plus I was just caught up in the process.  I apologized to him later for not letting him do more on the house.  I guess it was a good lesson for me to learn before we have a kid.  :)

So, what are you supposed to do with these after you make them?  I'm not sure how this is supposed to work.  Do you just look at them for awhile, then throw them away?

Also, what are some of your Christmas traditions?  I recently heard of having a birthday cake and/or birthday party for Jesus and I think that's a really cool idea.  We always decorated the tree as a family sometime after Thanksgiving and we always read the Christmas story from the bible on Christmas Eve.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!  I'm looking forward to seeing my family, it should be a lot of fun.

Take Care!
-Stef

Biggest Announcement Ever

Guess what!   Curtis and I are going to have a baby!  We are so incredibly happy and blessed and excited.  Our baby is due June 26th, 2011, which means I'm 13 weeks today.  I'm only sad because we won't find out if the baby is a boy or girl until sometime in February.  I don't know how I can wait that long, I wish we could have found out the gender the day we found out we were having a baby.  They should make a test that does that, don't you think?  I do.  Really though, not knowing the gender doesn't really make me sad, we couldn't be happier.

Baby Stallings - 8.5 weeks

We want to say thank you to our friends and family who prayed for us and supported us through the process of trying to get pregnant, and it was a process.  Without those special people to talk too and cry too, I'm not sure how I (we) would have kept on going with the whole process.  Thank you for being there! 

We want to tell you a little bit about the process we went through because we want to give the credit where credit is due - To God!  Now I know what it means when people say it's the miracle of life, it really is our miracle because without Him, this would not be happening. 

We have been trying to have a baby since May of 09.  I know that a lot of people try way longer than we did and they have way more complications than we did, but when you decide you're ready for this step in your life, every month that it doesn't happen feels like a failure, an eternity, and an empty spot in your arms and it hurts.

Turns out, I don't ovulate.  And of course, without an egg, there is no baby.  I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and that means, my follicles never develop into eggs, just lots of cysts.  My ovaries look like bubble wrap - isn't that nice.  However, it took lots and lots of tests and seeing my regular doctor then seeing a fertility doctor for them to tell me that.  (Which is annoying).  So, we finally got started on the process of trying to make my body create eggs in mid-2010.  They recommended we do an IUI, which is an insemination of 'the goods' into my 'baby maker' to put everything in the right place at the right time.  Even this proves not to work every time.  Which is why I know without a doubt, that God gave us this baby.  The medicine and the doctors can only do so much.  The making of life is not controlled by those medicines and those procedures and tests.  It's only controlled by God.

So, I can't say that I handled infertility the way a Godly woman should have.  I had doubt and frustration and tears and anger and just a good ole' melt down.  But even though my faith was not strong, God is.  He knew when it was the right time for us.

I could go on and on about this whole process (the story can be very long), and if you want me too, I'll answer any questions, but the point is - We owe this miracle to God and we are so grateful He heard our prayers and the prayers of others and gave us this little baby.

To those of you who are trying to conceive, I know how these announcements of new babies can feel, please know that I wanted to share how God answered our prayers to hopefully encourage you. 

Love,
Stef

Ten on Tuesday

Here's Ten on Tuesday courtesy of Roots and Rings.

1.  What is your favorite kind of cheese? 
I like 'normal' cheese.  You know, the kind that comes shredded in a bag at Kroger.  My favorite is Mozzarella. I don't like'stinky' or 'specialty' cheeses.  Not so much.

2.  Do you prefer fudge with or without nuts?
I would say no nuts.  I like both but honestly fudge is not my favorite chocolaty delight.  I'd rather have a chocolate pie or cake or mousse or ice cream.

3.  How do you feel about cats?
Love them.  I had two cats growing up, Sparky and Sweety. LOL.  Both of whom are no longer with us.  I had an awesome dog, Annie, but she went to a better home with fun little boys to play with her instead of being cooped up in my lonely apartment everyday while I'm at work.  I miss her, but I've been wanting a cat for awhile now.  My husband, however, is not convinced.  I want a kitten and I've been begging for one for awhile.  Once they get past the fun kitten stage, they're easy to take care of.  I like low maintenance.

4.  Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts?
That's a hard one.  I like both actresses but I'll have to pick Julia Roberts.  I think she's great in almost everything she plays in.

5.  Do you wear a watch?
Yes and no.  I have a couple of watches and I like them but I type all day long and wearing watches and bracelets bother me, so I don't really wear one daily. 

6.  What are a few of your favorite songs from the 90's? 
I have no idea.  To be honest, I didn't listen to a lot of 'secular' music during that time.  I lived at home with my parents who really only let us listen to Christian radio, which I'm ok with.

7.  Do you like scented candles?
YES!  I love for my house to have a 'smell'.  I have this secret fear that my house will smell funny and I won't notice because I live there and I'm used to it.  So I'm all about the scented candles and the air freshener.  I like fresh scents, like clean cotton or vanilla.  I don't like any flowery scents - no rose or gardenia.

8.  What do you like on your hamburger?
A hamburger is low on my list of favorite foods, but sometimes I just need a good burger.  I like lettuce, mayo, and extra extra pickles.  When I go to Fuddruckers, I get the relish and the dill pickles on my burger.  YUM!

9.  How often do you cut your fingernails?
I have this horrible habit of biting my nails.  It is so gross yet I can't seem to permanently stop.  I'll stop for awhile but then I get stressed or something and bit them all off.  So, I don't trim my nails, they are very thin and don't really grow that long when I'm not biting them.  :(

10.  Do you sleep in socks?
Lately, yes!  My husband and I have been having the battle of the thermostat.  I'm very cold natured and he is hot natured  (isn't that just male and female?) and so even in the summer I have on a blanket.  So, with it getting colder, my husband doesn't want to turn on the heat because he thinks 68 degrees in our house feels good.  I think it is ridiculous, I don't think our house should ever be under 70 degrees and that's pushing it.  If I had it my way, I'd live in 75 degrees at all times.  :)

Well, I hope you enjoyed Ten on Tuesday this week.  I hope you have a good rest of the week!


-Stef

Ice, Ice Baby

This past weekend I went to Dallas to visit one of my bestest friends, Stephanie for a girls weekend.  We had such a great time cooking good meals, watching movies, shopping and just hanging out.  It was relaxing and fun! 

When I got there on Friday night, we went to something called ICE.  There's a hotel there called the Gaylord (which is an amazing hotel) and every winter they put up this huge tent full of ice sculptures.  It's 9 degrees in there and they make you wear a parka (yeah, 9 degrees).  I don't think I have ever been that cold.  We didn't think about bringing gloves so my fingers were actually shooting with pain.  Us Texas girls are not used to the cold, but we're strong, so we survived.

This years theme was a Charlie Brown Christmas so the sculptures were of Charlie and his friends and Snoopy too of course.  They also made a huge slide out of ice that you could slide down but I was too cold to slide. 

If you're ever in the Dallas, Grapevine, Bedford area during the holidays you should check it out.  It's pretty coooollllll.  (haha)