You can visit me at my vacation home in Santa Fe, NM

HGTV DREAM HOME 2010. I will continue with this tradition because one year I WILL WIN this free house from a TV channel. After presenting at that conference in New Mexico last March, I've determined that this house is even BETTER than the Napa Valley dream home. I want this so hard.

Register EVERY DAY between now and February 19th.

Dream home, SUV and 500K... YES PLEASE!

PICK ME! I LIKE TO WIN!

Just because I can't see it doesn't mean is isn't awesome

Happy New Year!

It's that time of the year again, which means all of the magazine covers will be splatted with "how to get flat abs" articles and pictures of healthy food which people only even attempt to eat in January (Kale? Seriously?). People will make resolutions to eat less and work out more, get more rest or be a better friend - along with other intangible aspirations that are beyond their control by February and long forgotten by March. I was very happy with my resolutions from last year because I felt so many of them were actually do-able. Paint my nails blue? So it took me half a year to do it, but I did. AND I FELT GREAT ABOUT IT. Tiny steps for mankind.

This is a new decade. I wanted to make a resolution list but for the first time I cannot see what next month will bring, let alone the entire year. The uncertainty that is this year is overwhelming for my little type A, super-planner self. I dread having an interview for my PhD application (submitted Dec. 1st woot! woot!) where they ask, "where do you see yourself in five years?" These next six months are FULL of uncharted waters and for all I know I could have five heads and three kids!

For the first time in my life... I JUST DON'T KNOW!

I don't know what it looks like to be a mom.
I don't know what my body will look like after I squeeze out a human.
I don't know what it looks like to live outside of Ohio.
I don't know what it looks like to be married to a man WITH A JOB (let alone be married to a DOCTOR)

I welcome all of these things with excitement and this year my only resolution is to relish in the moments of this year. In a way I feel like a grown up. Yeah, I have a job, house and a 401K but there is something about GROWING A PERSON INSIDE YOUR BODY that makes your own childhood feel further and further away.

My New Year's resolution is to make a family this year, and treasure it for many years to come. Sound lofty?

Give me a call when you've lost 20 lbs, abandoned your addiction to pizza delivery and saved three months salary. But I might not pick up right away because I'm busy cuddling my sweet little boy and smooching on my doctor husband.

I owned these resolutions, until I got all lazy and knocked up

I am proud that I completed 39 of my 50 resolutions. Some of them were halted by my fecundity like the wine tasting, ski trip, 100 push ups (was that EVER going to happen?) and giving hand made holiday gifts. I feel like if I worked a little harder I could have fit in the pie, the dancing and the bingo, but overall I'm proud of my accomplishments for 2009. Getting pregnant wasn't even on the list! BONUS!

1. Delete my MySpace account

2. Spend way too much money on a fancy brunch

3. Bake an apple pie

4. Register everyday for the HGTV dream home (contest ends 2/19/09)

5. Go to a BINGO night

6. Pay off my Discover card (more like DOUBLE my Discover card... UGH!)

7. Donate books to a vagina charity

8. Study for the GRE

9. Get an ‘A’ in my biostatistics course

10. See a sports medicine doctor for my knee

11. Organize my CDs

12. Play more Wii

13. Go to a wine tasting

14. Snuggle

15. Know Shabbat prayers from memory

16. Get new carpet

17. Keep up with current events

18. Switch to biodegradable cleaning products

19. Wear shimmery lip gloss

20. Have something published (sitting on my bosses desk)

21. Give someone a second chance

22. Dance with my husband

23. Be on time for something

24. Organize my computer area

25. Learn to use iTunes and photo editing software

26. Do 100 push ups (only made it through 3 weeks of this - boo!)

27. Read more books (sTORI Telling) and keep track of them

28. Go on a girls vacation with my friends possibly.to.the.beach

29. Clip coupons

30. Eat more dairy, soy and protein

31. Play ski ball

32. Own a necklace with a sparrow on it **I got earrings instead!**

33. Keep a secrete

34. Hand write notes to friends and family

35. Get rid of my mail catalogs

36. Be patient with husband’s schedule

37. Floss more

38. Get a fancy banner for my blog

39. Take the GRE This ended up being a mute point as I found a way to include my old scores on my application... thank god!

40. Apply to DrPH programs

41. Think before I speak **although being preggers made this INFINITELY HARDER**

42. Frame some wedding photos

43. Paint my nails navy blue

44. Win something (A FRICKIN' LAPTOP!!)

45. Give handmade holiday gifts

46. Ski

47. hang out with my mom

48. Have my veil preserved

49. Wean myself off of Us Weekly

50. Use more lotion

The waiting game

My baby is due in 71 days.

My new laptop will be here in 15 days.

My DVD of the first season of Glee arrives in 3 days.

The new year begins in 2 days.

Isn't it weird as the year comes to a close and we can measure it in hours instead of weeks - each moment seems like it should have a purpose?

Here's to purposeful moments - for this year and next!

Merry Happy Holiday Indeed!

I FINALLY WON SOMETHING!! AND IT'S A LAP TOP!! A FRICKIN' LAP TOP!!

I swear on hot dogs I almost coughed up my morning Christmas Tree cake when I saw Ashley's post, scrolled to the bottom to see the words...

CONTEST IS CLOSED.. Congrats, Tam!

This has been a hard week for us, but things are looking up. What a wonderful late Chanukah, early Christmas present. This will make my bed rest so much more bearable, and my husband can finally have his laptop back!!

And with only one week left to fulfill my resolutions - I FINALLY WON SOMETHING!!

I WON!

I WON!

THANK YOU ASHLEY!!!

(also, I don't think my husband believes me for realsies)

Bed rest also includes couch

I am finally home from the hospital, but on pretty strict bedrest for what we hope will be the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy. I should be able to blog, as long as I can dig down deep for my wit and candor - two feelings that have escaped me over the last week while I've dealt with the reality that is this situation.

Also, many of my new years resolutions are going to shit right now but Ashley is giving away a laptop and if I can win it...

my blog, my morale and my dedication to resolutions will all be thankful.

This owl is so cute you could just eat him up!

One of my new year's resolutions was to buy a fancy banner for my blog. Instead, I decided to MAKE a (er, uh) fancy banner for my blog AND my parenting blog. I know, I'm all "Look a me and my thrify, talented self!" Modesty is a learned behavior people.

BUT! I did decide to break down and have the wonderful Shelly at Pixie Dust Sprinkles make me a blog button for the baby blog. Mostly because the Top Mommy Blog website requires you to have a fancy looking button to entice people to click on your craziness and read about how big your boobs are getting.



I think it's adorable and only reinforces my obsession with owls.



Also, I've stayed true to two more resolutions as well - handwriting notes to my friends and buying handmade holiday gifts. Let's just say my credit card statement has a lot of Etsy on it this month.

31 days left

AND I STILL NEED TO WIN SOMETHING!!

I have been registering my BOO-TAY off for giveaways lately. How can it be that I have gone an entire year and can't win a single thing (although my husband reminded me last night that I was the proud winner of... bed bugs)??

This isn't a wim people, it's a RESOLUTION!

So, in an effort to both win something and gain five more entries...

I've decided to tell you all about THIS CONTEST.


Only, don't bother registering for it - I've got this one in the bag!

And I also worked on these

The doctoral program I am applying to will accept my old scores, so I no longer need to:

8. Study for the GRE

39. Take the GRE

40. Apply to DrPH programs (application is due DECEMBER 1st and I'm almost finished with it!)

BUT, because of
33. Keep a secrete

I can't do these this year...

13. Go to a wine tasting

46. Ski

This past weekend we placed an order for our carpet.

16. Get new carpet

And this counts DOUBLE because I MADE a fancy banner...for BOTH of my blogs! Go me!

38. Get a fancy banner for my blog

Now if I could only...

44. Win something!!

(16 more to go!!)

Resolutions don't have to happen in America

31. Play ski ball




and then hubs played that strong man game... and KILLED IT!


43. Paint my nails navy blue

I need to bake a pie - who needs pie?

My updated resolutions list. I need to get a move on with these!

1. Delete my MySpace account

2. Spend way too much money on a fancy brunch

3. Bake an apple pie

4. Register everyday for the HGTV dream home (contest ends 2/19/09)

5. Go to a BINGO night

6. Pay off my Discover card

7. Donate books to a vagina charity

8. Study for the GRE

9. Get an ‘A’ in my biostatistics course

10. See a sports medicine doctor for my knee

11. Organize my CDs

12. Play more Wii

13. Go to a wine tasting

14. Snuggle

15. Know Shabbat prayers from memory

16. Get new carpet

17. Keep up with current events

18. Switch to biodegradable cleaning products

19. Wear shimmery lip gloss

20. Have something published

21. Give someone a second chance

22. Dance with my husband

23. Be on time for something

24. Organize my computer area

25. Learn to use iTunes and photo editing software

26. Do 100 push ups

27. Read more books (sTORI Telling) and keep track of them

28. Go on a girls vacation with my friends possibly.to.the.beach

29. Clip coupons

30. Eat more dairy, soy and protein

31. Play ski ball

32. Own a necklace with a sparrow on it

33. Keep a secrete

34. Hand write notes to friends and family

35. Get rid of my mail catalogs

36. Be patient with husband’s schedule

37. Floss more

38. Get a fancy banner for my blog

39. Take the GRE

40. Apply to DrPH programs

41. Think before I speak

42. Frame some wedding photos

43. Paint my nails navy blue

44. Win something

45. Give handmade holiday gifts

46. Ski

47. hang out with my mom

48. Have my veil preserved

49. Wean myself off of Us Weekly

50. Use more lotion


I still need to win something... little over three months to go!

I still need to win something. Any ideas?

Remember how I told you that most people abandon their resolutions by the end of January? I'm still plugging away... 15 of 50 isn't too bad.

1. Delete my MySpace account

2. Spend way too much money on a fancy brunch

3. Bake an apple pie

4. Register everyday for the HGTV dream home (contest ends 2/19/09)

5. Go to a BINGO night

6. Pay off my Discover card

7. Donate books to a vagina charity

8. Study for the GRE

9. Get an ‘A’ in my biostatistics course

10. See a sports medicine doctor for my knee

11. Organize my CDs

12. Play more Wii

13. Go to a wine tasting

14. Snuggle

15. Know Shabbat prayers from memory

16. Get new carpet

17. Keep up with current events

18. Switch to biodegradable cleaning products

19. Wear shimmery lip gloss

20. Have something published

21. Give someone a second chance

22. Dance with my husband

23. Be on time for something

24. Organize my computer area

25. Learn to use iTunes and photo editing software

26. Do 100 push ups

27. Read more books (sTORI Telling) and keep track of them

28. Go on a girls vacation with my friends possibly.to.the.beach

29. Clip coupons

30. Eat more dairy, soy and protein

31. Play ski ball

32. Own a necklace with a sparrow on it

33. Keep a secrete

34. Hand write notes to friends and family

35. Get rid of my mail catalogs

36. Be patient with husband’s schedule

37. Floss more

38. Get a fancy banner for my blog

39. Take the GRE

40. Apply to DrPH programs

41. Think before I speak

42. Frame some wedding photos

43. Paint my nails navy blue

44. Win something

45. Give handmade holiday gifts

46. Ski

47. hang out with my mom

48. Have my veil preserved

49. Wean myself off of Us Weekly

50. Use more lotion

Works in progress:

Hubs and I just started 100 push ups program - um, OUCH.

Working on the iTunes/photo sofware

#27 MEXICO BABY!!

#28 MEXICO BABY!!

I'm working on the Discover Card

#44 I didn't win the HGTV dream home, the basketball bracket or the Glamour magazine contest. I won a free ice cream from THIS, but that doesn't count as winning because, in the end, they gave out coupons to everyone. I suck at winning...

And #38... instead of paying someone to design a fancy blog header, I designed one myself!!

Tell me, DO YOU LIKE IT??

If I win the Dream Home I will never read US Weekly again, I promis.

Did you know most people abandon their resolutions by the end of January! January people? Why bother? I, on the other hand, like to work on myself all year long. It ebbs and flows with my mood but I have made some definite progress on my lofty resolution list for 2009.

1. Delete my MySpace account

2. Spend way too much money on a fancy brunch

3. Bake an apple pie

4. Register everyday for the HGTV dream home (contest ends 2/19/09)

5. Go to a BINGO night

6. Pay off my Discover card

7. Donate books to a vagina charity

8. Study for the GRE

9. Get an ‘A’ in my biostatistics course

10. See a sports medicine doctor for my knee

11. Organize my CDs

12. Play more Wii

13. Go to a wine tasting

14. Snuggle

15. Know Shabbat prayers from memory

16. Get new carpet

17. Keep up with current events

18. Switch to biodegradable cleaning products

19. Wear shimmery lip gloss

20. Have something published

21. Give someone a second chance

22. Dance with my husband

23. Be on time for something

24. Organize my computer area

25. Learn to use iTunes and photo editing software

26. Do 100 push ups

27. Read more books (sTORI Telling) and keep track of them

28. Go on a girls vacation with my friends possibly.to.the.beach

29. Clip coupons

30. Eat more dairy, soy and protein

31. Play ski ball

32. Own a necklace with a sparrow on it

33. Keep a secrete

34. Hand write notes to friends and family

35. Get rid of my mail catalogs

36. Be patient with husband’s schedule

37. Floss more

38. Get a fancy banner for my blog

39. Take the GRE

40. Apply to DrPH programs

41. Think before I speak

42. Frame some wedding photos

43. Paint my nails navy blue

44. Win something

45. Give handmade holiday gifts

46. Ski

47. hang out with my mom

48. Have my veil preserved

49. Wean myself off of Us Weekly

50. Use more lotion

So according to my math brain, I should be tackling 4.666(repeating) resolutions PER MONTH. March is over like tomorrow, so I'm about ten behind. But at least I managed to cross off six of the things on my list.

I haven't once missed MySpace, I spend most of my free time writing on people's wallpaper and talking about all of the things I heart.

I registered for the Dream Home and I cannot wait until HGTV pulls up in my driveway to tell me #44 can be crossed off with the acquisition of my new home in Sonoma County, California.

I switched to Method(R) cleaning products after a friend of mine did an extensive comparison and voted the mint cleaners superior. Now I don't feel like I'm about to pass out when I'm cleaning the shower, because the fumes are all natural.

My *best* accomplishment is BY FAR my A IN STATS! I really pulled it out there at the end with the take-home final, especially since I totally bombed the mid term. This was a special victory for me. (BTW I still have no idea how to do statistics, so please don't ask me)

My second best accomplishment was my Santa Fe presentation and trip I took with my mom - now that was a lot of time to spend with your mom!

I was on time for TWO lunches with friends this weekend and on time (hour early) to my presentation in New Mexico. Those totally count.

Works in progress:

I'm working on #30 and added chocolate soy milk in addition to my soy yogurt.

#35, it a vicious cycle. I went online to unsubscribe to catalogs and now I am getting different catalogs! Frick!...work in progress...

#42 I finally ordered our wedding album and some prints - AND I bought the frames. So this is also very close to being completed.

#44 I thought with my Louisville pick, I might just win my basketball pool BUT since those nim rods went and lost yesterday - I have to hold out for the Dream Home.

#48 I put my veil in a pillow case last night, in preparation to bring it to the preservation place. I will do this.

#19 I am SOOOO behind on my magazine reading. I have 4 US weekly, 3 Redbook, and 2 Marie Clair (9 copies of Working Mother?!) magazines sitting in my living room waiting to be read. Latest US Weekly features Reese Witherspoon in on the cover and I must know the dish about her and Jake. I'm not sure if this resolution is possible, but I'll keep trying...

I'm working on the Discover Card (this will take time people) and holding out that my husband will initiate either the brunch, the wine tasting or the Bingo... I wonder what I'm getting for my bday...19 days, hope the suspense doesn't kill you.

Overall, I am very proud of my accomplishments to date. How are you doing with yours? Slack-UH-LACK-AHS!

Do we really get a "do-over" every 365 days?

I have a feeling 2009 will be an exciting year. Soon enough husband will be in the home stretch of medical school and we will be considering places to move for residency. I've never lived outside the state of Ohio so, for me, that's exciting.

My top resolution for 2009 is to date my husband. I love our dates and time together and sometimes fun relationshippy stuff gets lost in the crapitty crap chores/errands/money/life stuff. The Today show experts say most New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by the end of January. I say, Screw you Today show. I started cycling as my New Year’s resolution three years ago and, although my thighs haven’t noticed, I’m still doing it! Here are some other things I'd like to do in 2009...

1. Delete my MySpace account

2. Spend way too much money on a fancy brunch

3. Bake an apple pie

4. Register everyday for the HGTV dream home (contest ends 2/19/09)

5. Go to a BINGO night

6. Pay off my Discover card

7. Donate books to a vagina charity

8. Study for the GRE

9. Get an ‘A’ in my biostatistics course

10. See a sports medicine doctor for my knee

11. Organize my CDs

12. Play more Wii

13. Go to a wine tasting

14. Snuggle

15. Know Shabbat prayers from memory

16. Get new carpet

17. Keep up with current events

18. Switch to biodegradable cleaning products

19. Wear shimmery lip gloss

20. Have something published

21. Give someone a second chance

22. Dance with my husband

23. Be on time for something

24. Organize my computer area

25. Learn to use iTunes and photo editing software

26. Do 100 push ups

27. Read more books (sTORI Telling) and keep track of them

28. Go on a girls vacation with my friends possibly.to.the.beach

29. Clip coupons

30. Eat more dairy, soy and protein

31. Play ski ball

32. Own a necklace with a sparrow on it

33. Keep a secrete

34. Hand write notes to friends and family

35. Get rid of my mail catalogs

36. Be patient with husband’s schedule

37. Floss more

38. Get a fancy banner for my blog

39. Take the GRE

40. Apply to DrPH programs

41. Think before I speak

42. Frame some wedding photos

43. Paint my nails navy blue

44. Win something

45. Give handmade holiday gifts

46. Ski

47. hang out with my mom

48. Have my veil preserved

49. Wean myself off of Us Weekly

50. Use more lotion

I've already done #1, so that's a good start. I have Facebook and two social networks are one too many for me. I'm just not that social.

Tonight is my first biostats class. Wish me luck!