Top 9

Several months ago I started making a list of things I love about Nashville.  After a few, I thought a "top 10" list would be fun.  Well... I got stuck, and never came up with 10!  About a week ago I vaguely remembered writing a "top 10" list for Michigan (except it somehow only got 9....).  Today I found that list, buried in my writer's notebook from 2 years ago :)  Sometimes snippets from the past are the best treasures! So without further ado...

Top 5 Things I Love About Nashville:

5. East Nashville MOMS Club
4. Bugtussle Farm (technically Kentucky - but they deliver to Nashville) 
3. Real Life Community Church of the Nazarene (technically Murfreesboro)
2. October
1. Sheryl (the most amazing midwife ever)

Top 9 Reasons to Live in Michigan

9. Summers are breezy and beautiful
8. You develop a keen eye for deer at dusk
7. It's a snow globe for 6 months out of the year
6. Every pay check is reason to celebrate*
5. You become an expert egotistical driver
4. There is no pressure to buy a house in order to "get your life started"*
3. Road maintenance is guaranteed work, probably even over-time from April-August
2. You probably never need sunglasses
1. The apple cider is real!

*Apparently I wrote this during an economical crisis.  I vaguely remember writing this during a season where I got a phone call each week from a different friend/family member who was losing their job.  Therefore, a couple numbers are a bit pessimistic.  Perhaps if I were writing it today it would sound a little different.  For example, under Top 10 Reasons to Live in Michigan... I would add another

#1. MY FAMILY!

Travel

We've been traveling a lot lately - and this is how Justice keeps busy :)

 

Christmas

Our trip to Michigan (obviously) started off with a drive...

We left our Nashville home at 4am to get a few hours in before Justice woke up.  It worked, but we didn't plan our gas stops very well.  

So she watched some Sesame Street on mama's phone :) 

Big Cousins

And little cousins

Justice's new rocking horse from Grandpa Craig

Seeing snow for the first time

Our visit with my high school girlfriends, and their little ones.  

Making fishy faces with Papa

Michigan is COLD! 

And this begins our drive back to Nashville.  We again left crazy early, and planned our stops better.  This time it was snowing, and probably 3 hours into our drive we couldn't see the road anymore.  So we stopped in a parking lot, slept for an hour, and then ate at Cracker Barrel.  The rest of our drive was long, but smooth sailing! 

Lunch at Panera

A Handmade Christmas

Way back when, Eric and I decided to make Christmas gifts this year.  We have always wanted to, and we love the home made gifts we see and receive, we've just never done it before.  Quitting my full-time job and replacing it with a very part-time job was just the motivation we needed!  

The adults in our lives got this assortment of goodies: pancake mix, granolas, and soaps.

And the children in our lives got super hero capes...

I didn't use a pattern, so this cape is a bit large for this little dude. 

But it made him run soooo fast! 

and a sock monkey.

There were a few store bought additions along the way due to time constraints, or me not owning a sewing machine yet.  Overall, we were happy with our gifts.  We hope to plan ahead a little better next year, and continue this new tradition.

We also received some phenomenal hand made gifts (along with traditional, also fabulous, store-bought gifts).
Like this:

 And this, created by Jeff from his recent deployment:

And this:

Hats off to creativity!

I should also mention we received an ice cream maker, and home made ice cream is oh so good! 

2012 in Review

What can I say about 2012?  A lot, actually.

I quit my job, moved to a new home/neighborhood, started a new job, stopped using shampoo (and lotion, and face wash, and a bunch of other harmful chemicals on my skin), got rid of (almost) all harmful chemicals/cleaners in the house, and in general tried to live life a little more simply.  We recycle and compost now, and can't really believe we went so long without recycling and composting. We were so wasteful (and probably still are in a whole bunch of other ways).

In the midst of these changes, we took a really expensive vacation to Hawaii.  I know, it doesn't really fit the bill.  But some really great friends moved to Hawaii in 2011 - and we saved our pennies (ok - Eric saved his pennies), and we used Christmas money (Eric's Christmas money), and all of our tax return, and we WENT!  We stayed with our friends for most of the trip, and ate their food, so about 90% of our expense was the airplane ticket.  It was wonderful!

Aside from our lovely, and very out-of-the-ordinary, vacation what I hope to remember about 2012 is Justice's first year of life.  It has been wonderful!  Or perhaps we're in such a sweet spot with her right now that I'm forgetting those first few months of sleepless survival-mode, but I'm okay with my memory forgetting the not-so-great :)

She has grown so much this year, and amazes us daily at her comprehension.  Of course, we think, believe, know she's adorable ;) She is so fun to watch, and play with.  We love to hear her giggle and squeal in delight.  Every day brings new blessings as her parents.  And so, 2012, thanks for allowing me to quit working full-time.  It's a decision I will never regret.