Christmas Card

Any given year, I am incredibly lazy when it comes to sending out cards.  Some years I do them all, some years I give up halfway through.  It's not that I don't love and appreciate you all, I'm just plum lazy.  So this year, with a new baby in the house, I laughed at myself when the thought of even trying to send some out entered my head.  So here it is, my Christmas card.  Imagine this image on the outside (thanks for the ornament, Mary Ann) and open the card.  Inside it will say:  Have a very Coca-Cola Christmas.  Love, the Taylors.

An Illustrated List of Unconventional Thankfulness

I am not a person who can get sappy publicly. Trust me, I have nothing against sap, I just can't express it. It makes me squirm and fidget. Needless to say, I am extremely thankful for my family and our home and all the things I discuss with Heavenly Father. I love my family more than anything in the world and am beyond grateful for my life. I'll leave it at that. But there are other things I am thankful for, like:

Creative solutions.

Winning contests:

"Dear Lucky Reader, CONGRATULATIONS! Just in time for the Holidays, you have won a selection of Crabtree & Evelyn’s NEW Aromatherapy Distillations Relaxing body care collection... We hope you enjoy the Relaxing Floral Body Smoother, Relaxing Skin Softening Milk Bath, Relaxing Gentle Cram Body Wash , and Relaxing Soothing Body Lotion..."

Vacuums and mops.

Therapy.

Cats. Most of the time. This picture was not taken during one of those times.

Okay, I'll get as sappy as I can, if you insist:

I am thankful for pictures of my squishy, sweet baby by a great, talented friend.

Carpet picnics with these guys (heck, for that matter, I'm thankful for McDonalds):

And even this guy. He takes good care of me. Even if he did skin Elmo.

And I'm thankful for many more things, including all of you. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Okay, here goes: The Great Jeans Countdown

This post is really for me, so obviously feel free to read, but forgive me if your brain starts to melt out of your head from boredom.

This morning, my one pair of jeans that fit me - maternity jeans - were dirty and I was frantically searching for something to wear.  I looked at my pile of pre-pregnancy jeans and decided to try on the biggest pair, even though they didn't fit me one week ago.  But they fit!  Now, I'm going to be humble here and admit it:  they are a size 17, Mossimo from Target.  They aren't my favorite, but by gosh, they fit.  I have four more pairs of jeans from before baby that I want to fit into, and their sizes start at 15 and go down to size 11.  Two pairs, both 12s, I have never even worn.  Bryce had told me I could buy me some jeans, but I decided not to in what may be a misguided attempt to lose the weight required to fit into the others.  

Now, Ashley has had some weight-loss success by counting calories and all that good stuff, but I am not good at that.  I get overwhelmed by numbers and give up.  So my plan is to replace the bad things I eat with good things - one at a time.  I'm also not good at major overhauls, I have to do it step by step.  To get started with a bang, I will tackle my two worst habits.  You all know about my rabid Coke addiction, so I will replace all Cokes with water (unless I go out to eat, I just can't commit to giving up Coke with my fajitas.  And I can't do diet drinks.  Sorry, Missy, I tried).  My other worst habit is BAKED GOODS!!!  Oh, my goodness, especially if there is good TV, I will kill a batch of chocolate chip cookies before the oven is done preheating.  

I was supposed to start this plan this past Monday, but it was a stressful day and I drank some Coke, then Shannon came by with my favorite shortbread cookies - which are basically pure butter.  (Thanks, Shannon!  They were yummy.  And at the same time, DARN IT!)  My plan also requires a trip to the grocery store as we are low on any fruit, so I will be starting on Saturday.  So hopefully by giving myself a realistic goal, i.e. fitting into the next size down, as opposed to declaring I'll be size 8 by a certain date, I can have some success.  So today I fit into my size 17 Mossimos and a pair of size 14 Old Navy.  Yay for me!  Next up:  a pair of size 15 Mossimos (which are inexplicably smaller than the 14s).  Wish me luck.