We had a blast of a party for Marin the other day. We had 7 friends over! (and thankfully several mothers stayed to help!) We made personal pizzas on sandwich thins, which were really good! (Google it. I can't get the link to go in here.) The moms were asking what I used and want to do the same thing at home. And we decorated cupcakes, opened presents, and broke a pinata. I made the pinata for Marin which was a lot of fun too. Marin and all the kids just had a blast! Marin was so cute all day. She was so excited, it was like Christmas times 10! It really was a great day. The weather was even warm enough to go outside to do the pinata, which by the freezing temperatures of the past week, I did not expect, but was very grateful for!
Then next Tuesday, on her real birthday, she and I will spend the day together doing things that she will love, like meet a friend at the local ice cream parlor, possibly ice skating, whatever else she wants to do, and a little shopping spree at Target of all places, courtesy of Grandma Denise. Marin is so funny about Target. She's frequently asking if Target is open and if we can go. I don't really know why she likes it so much, but you'd think we were heading to an amusement park by how jumping-for-joy-excited she gets. Maybe she got that from her Papa and his enthusiasm about Cosco. She's a funny, and a very fun kid. Happy Birthday Marin!!

A New Year and New Adventures

Happy New Year!!! This is my favorite holiday! I love the fireworks, and the worldwide celebration! My favorite thing is First Night in Salt Lake City with 60,000 people excitedly bustling around in the cold, the noise, and the many activities and performances to be taken in in so many locations around the heart of downtown, and of course the fireworks.

Since we are in Virginia, we couldn't go to that, obviously, but it's fun to remember. I still love New Year's. At the end of a year I either feel a sense of accomplishment, a relief that it's over, or a combination of the two. And, I feel that I have a clean slate, chance to start fresh and set out on new adventures. Being a military family, with many moves and deployments, every year for us is usually very different from the one before. This past year brought some tough personal challenges, but those challenges presented incredible and unique opportunities for me to grow in some amazing and deeply rewarding ways that are changing the course of my life as I knew it. Yeah, it's that cool. But, sorry, it's personal stuff, so I wont say more than that.

This year will bring a new set of opportunities to grow as we "go Active Duty". We do not know yet where we will be sent, but it will be a whole new world in Active Duty. Really. It has a culture and a language all its own. I have new goals for this year and I can't wait to see how this year unfolds!