Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone!  Watch out, this post is LONG. You may want to jump out now. ;)


I thought we'd do things a little backward this year. I'm never on the ball enough to send a Christmas letter and fill everyone in on our year and adventures so instead I'm sending a New Year's letter to set you up for the year to come!


I couldn't wrap my head around a resolution this year, there are just too many things changing every day. There have been so many "resolutions" in the past 6 months it seemed ridiculous to only set one to cover the next entire year!


Instead I sat down and thought about where we'd like to be a year from today and broke it down into 12 achievable goals. Here are (some of) our goals to give you an idea of what we'll be up to and where we're heading in the coming year. 


Both the kids still wear a pullup at night. The move was a bit rough on their potty-training and we're finally getting back to where we were before we moved. This year we want to take it another step forward. Rebecca is shooting to be out of pullups at night again and Caiden is shooting to be completely day-time trained, without accidents (dear god, please let him make this goal!!!!)


We've all decided that living in an apartment is no reason to hold back on having as much life around us as possible. We've decided to set up a garden-box on the back patio to grow carrots, tomatoes, beans, and some herbs. We just may add new items as we go. We also plan to PLASTER the apartment with plants. Everywhere. Literally Everywhere. I was already working this plan in my head when the kids came up with it on their own. We got our second addition this past week (Herkimer II was the first, and he's already putting out tiny little flower buds again) from Auntie Monster: 3 purple iris bulbs which are currently looking oh-so-spunky in their new pot on the patio. 


A pet. Somebody help me, they actually want a farm. Complete with goats, sheep, horses, chickens, bunnies, ducks, pretty much everything our friends have over at their farm. We've compromised on the thought that I will *consider* a *small* pet this year. Like one bird. Or possibly a hamster. There's a $600 pet deposit around here for anything that doesn't live in a cage, so a cat is out of the question! The question of a farm will go on the long-term plans with a BIG question mark. We did spend a week this past month taking care of the farm animals so our friends could go on vacation. It was awesome. Quite literally the sensation of finally being where you belong, doing what you were meant to do. BUT we were only feeding the animals! We weren't mucking out stalls, milking, or (dear god) shooting or burying someone who was hurt! Chris is going to teach me to milk, we'll probably be helping with the big spring muck-out, and Jared is going to call me to come help the next time something horrifying happens and there are carcasses to deal with. No other way to know if we can handle it, right? Stay tuned and ask again in about 3 years! THIS year, the goal is a SMALL, CAGED pet.


Rebecca will be 5 this year, which means school. I'm still back & forth on a regular basis whether she will be entering the public school right down the road in September, or whether I will be putting her on a homeschool curriculum. Either way, by the end of the year, Rebecca will officially be in school!


Skip ahead through the more mundane finance / personal life-related goals I won't bore you with and we're left with: 


Visiting home!  Ideally we will be coming home in August for a 2-week visit to make sure we have enough time to see everyone. Jess, we'll be seeing you in July!  Iain & Nina, we're looking forward to May! Amy, Ashley, Mom & Dad, Webber Clan......we're missing you. So start making plans now because we're going to make it happen!


Best wishes to everyone for a busy and happy new year. I know we'll be busy around here!