Friday evening the girls were ready to head to Nana’s for New Year’s Eve. We weren’t planning to go anywhere and then last minute The Man’s mom decided to stay in and have us over. An even better plan, if you ask me.

We played games and drank wine and watched the kids run around. I counted down and watched the ball drop twice because while we’re in central time, eastern time was mine for 20 years and dammit, I’m still ringing in the new year with my family and friends up north. This is the last picture I took of my girls for 2010. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t staged or posed. They were spinning around in this chair and I snapped it as they looped around.

I love it.

New Year’s Day we made our annual eggrolls.

We drank mimosas while we rolled them. We laughed and talked. We watched the big kids play outside while the little kids played inside. It was exactly how I wanted the year to start.

One major goal for 2011? Take more pictures of me WITH my girls. I’m always behind the camera. Granted, most of them will be posed because it’s not like anyone is running around like I am with a camera catching candid moments of me with them. But that’s ok. I don’t care how we look in the pictures. I just want them.

Happy New Year. It’s going to be great.

It’s almost New Years Eve. Every year I get so excited to watch that ball drop, even if it IS only 11 here. For my whole life before we moved to Texas it was tradition to watch Dick Clark as he counted down with the ball dropping. I can’t imagine NOT watching the ball drop for New Years. Last year we stayed home with the girls, watched the ball drop, and went to bed. It was a quiet evening at home, and while some years we’ve gone out and partied, last year we chose not to. This year I think we’re choosing the same thing. Whether I’m at home or out, the anticipation is still the same. Of course I’m not naive to think that the clocking turning to midnight is going to change everything. It’s not. For me, it’s the hope of the new year to come….new things to come…changes and exciting things.

2011 is going to be huge for me.

I’m going to turn 30 in the summer. I’m very excited for my 30s. I’ve only heard good things about being in your 30s. Already as I near them, I’m noticing a different level of self confidence…a different level of self awareness. I’m caring less (a tiny bit but it’s an improvement) about what others think of me or ALWAYS pleasing others. It’s a HUGE goal for me for the next few years to really expand on this. To be myself and not apologize for it…to not be hard on myself…to not look in the mirror before I get in the shower and frown…to embrace my imperfections and know they make me who I am….to spend more time on me…some of these will be very hard for me but they’re plans in the making.

Going to Vegas in the fall. Enough said.

The Man and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage in November. 10 years y’all. That’s a long time, especially for people our age. I’m proud of us and what we’ve overcome and waded through. There have been times of sailing…times of drowning…times of swaying…and times of total, perfect stillness. I look forward to celebrating this big, big day for us.

I looked around my house last night.

Christmas stuff is still out but will be put away this weekend. It’s kind of like putting the year away.

I looked at my girls.

My baby who started off this year not even walking is now talking and sitting still on the couch for close to an hour or more watching Toy Story with her Woody doll.

My other baby who started off this year dancing….well she still dances but now it’s in her room instead of on the stage.

So many things have changed this year. My girls have grown older…I’ve grown older. The Man and I have grown closer. My job changed. I’ve had massive breakdowns. I’ve also had massive put back togetherness. I can’t say I’m sad to say goodbye to this year…I feel like it’s been a hard year for me and a lot of other people and yet, there was a lot of good too.

2010 brought TONS of photographs of my girls that I took which is what I wanted. I lost 20 of the 30 pounds I wanted to lose. (By the way, I quit The Shred this month after 21 days. I just got burned out and busy with Christmas BUT it accomplished what I wanted in that I ate like a pig all month and gained nothing. I plan on doing it 4-5 days a week after new year and continuing with weight watchers because my blood pressure depends on it!) I got more confident in myself and who I am. Livie walked. Hannah danced. Hannah got her horse lessons she’s always wanted. Livie started talking in sentences. Got an iPhone which believe me, was a BIG thing. Got to see my friends from CA/NV that I hadn’t seen in 2 years. Drank a lot of wine. Laughed til I cried. Cried til I fell asleep. Noticed little lines in my forehead that weren’t there before. It was a good year…sometimes a bad year….sometimes a crazy year.

Looking forward to 2011 with BIG expectations. We’re planning to laugh and dance and love our way through it.

Happy New Year y’all. Make it a good one.

I’m not making a single resolution for 2010. Not a one. Mostly because I never keep them but also because I think it’s pointless. If you want to change something, why do you have to purpose to do it at the end of the year? Change it anytime you want! A lot of people are doing a review of their year….well I want to do a review of the decade. We’re starting a new decade! I remember the big hoopla 10 years ago over Y2K. Rememeber that?! HAH. I graduated high school in June 1999 and I can remember all of us saying our good byes and joking about Y2K and hoping that we don’t die. It was crazy. And now 10 years later, how things have changed.

I got married in 2001.

Had our first baby in 2002.

Built our first house in 2003.

Lost my dad in 2007.

Had our second baby in 2009.

And a WHOLE bunch of other crap all in between. Biggest technological blessing to me? Definitely my Blackberry. SMART PHONES. Yes. I can’t live without mine. I don’t know how I used to. Also- Wi-fi. We didn’t have that in our home until after 2000.

So, the other day a few lists of popular bloggers were released. I did not make either of those lists nor did I expect to. Wanna know what list I DID make? The list that I find the MOST accurate of good people who just want to blog and read blogs and NOT be these big time oh so popular bloggers. Most the people on this list are my friends and people whose blogs I read daily. Issa put out THIS LIST and honestly, it’s the best blogger list by far. Check it out. You won’t regret it.

So happy new year to all of you. I personally love New Years Eve. I love the anticipation. I’m ready to start a new year and start a new decade. Are you?

See you next year!