I love him

Tim Tebow has been a topic of discussion for the last several weeks. It seems that no matter how people feel about them - love him or hate him - their feelings are very strong. I, personally, love the kid. For a number of reasons.

GQ magazine

I'm a Broncos fan and he's our QB.
He reminds me of another talented Denver QB who got thrown into stardom before he was fully ready - John Elway.
He's got the work ethic and the drive to make up for what he lacks on the field.
I think he's got the potential to be great.
He has an unsatiable hunger to win.
He is tough (Did you know he playe with a broken leg in high school?).
He's a leader.

But more importantly, off the field he is an admirable man.
He shares my faith and he's passionate about it.
His boldness in sharing his faith has spread the gospel to many. After his championship game with Florida when he wrote John 3:16 on his eye black, 92 million people looked it up online. 92 MILLION! That verse became the top search on Google and Yahoo the day after the Broncos beat Pittsburgh and Tebow threw for 316 total yards and an average of 31.6 yards per pass. How many people have heard that amazing verse because of this one man?
He doesn't let the haters change him.
He responds to critics with kindness and then works his tail off to make any truth to what they said history.
He helps others through his foundation and on missions. 
He uses his financial gain to help the less fortunate. And he's 24!
He serves as an example to young people both in his committment to his sport and his faith as well as his openness about abstaining from sex until marriage and staying away from drugs and alcohol.

There are other things I love about the man. His striking blue eyes and his chiseled physique work for me. And he has the same flat thumbs that my oldest daughter has...which has earned him her devotion. And personally, that's just fine by me. I think he's a pretty good example for my athletic Christian daughter to have. 

Maybe even for all of us to have.

6 Weeks Left

I only have six weeks left in my 30s. Which really means I only have six weeks left to complete my 40 Before 40 list.  Here is where I am right now...

These are DONE...
Make a skirt to dress (like Aimee at My PINK Life) or pillow case top as seen here
Take the kids to Disneyland
Organize my mudroom and the shop
Wear more hats (I love hats but I'm afraid to wear them)
Buy a WOMAN'S winter coat
Figure out my mom's roll recipe - got the bonus cinnamon roll recipe out of the deal too!
Attend a marriage retreat
Set a new high score on Just Dance for the Wii
Try three new foods* - sushi, fish tacos and brie
Do a better job of accessorizing
Find the perfect sugar cookie recipe - thanks to Glorious Treats via Sugarbelle
Create family rules (like the ones at the Pleated Poppy)
Find four red/pink transferware/French toile plates that are reasonably priced - DONE and then some. My awesome mom saw this on my list and found four plates for me. Then we found a 41-piece set while in Colorado.
Visit a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives - Capone's in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Missed my chance to do these...
Go to the Tulip Festival
Pick Huckleberries
Go to the Flea Market at the old Drive-In
Have a professional family photo done - only because I want one outside...in the summer

Working on it...
Document our traditions
Finally do a Couples Night Out - part of the birthday plan!
Make flossing a daily habit - Was done, then relapsed, Working on it again
Learn to make cheesecake from scratch - found a recipe I like, just working to perfect it
Master sports/action photography
Blog more frequently (check!)
Genuinely compliment someone every day (I think it but don't always say it) 
Be able to do 25 push ups without crying

Haven't done yet...
Build a cabinet out of our old windows
Read one of the book club selections
Have all my pants altered so they fit properly *
Buy a pair of red shoes *
Have each of our closest friends over to our house for a meal. *
Fix the "seam" on my living room accent wall  *
Memorize 10 new Bible verses *
Sing a song at a karaoke bar - I may regret this one.
Go to IKEA  *
Watch Gone With The Wind
Finish researching my family tree
Learn how to make fresh guacamole *
Make these super cute milk crate covers *
Bake one cookie recipe out of my giant cookie cookbook with the girls each month

I think I can probably get to the ones with the *.

I'm most bummed about not implementing the last one. It was a double bonus...time with my girls and cookies! But very happy with many of the ones I did accomplish. Time slips by so quickly it was nice to have some deliberate objectives for the year.

Holiday Rewind

Our life is always so busy. Even when I think I'm going to have down time, it seems to fill up so quickly! I intended to do lots of projects and lots of blogging during the holiday break (seems almost ridiculous to call it that, really) but alas, I did not do as much doing as I planned. We did get some awesome family time and in the end, that's better than marking things off my to-do list anyway.

The family starred in the church program. I got a reprieve after a large role last year. I figure either the "director" had mercy on me or I was terrible last year!  Either way is fine with me. I loved getting to do my mama-razzi bit! Hubs provided his annual dose of comic relief to the program. He was actually cast in a semi-serious role with pretty tame lines but never fear, he is great at improvisation. As the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk, he read "the giant arose to discover Jack stealing his golden goose" and that translated into "the giant arose, stretched and gave his kiester a mighty scratch." He got a good laugh out of it so he was satisfied.

The girls were bugs. My big girl was a bumble bee (and a mighty darn cute one, I might add) while Molly was a ladybug.  Mags had no lines and couldn't wait to get off the stage. She was asked to help the little kids and agreed but didn't realize all her friends would be doing sets. She couldn't get out of her costume fast enough! 

Molly had a fitting line - "You smell bad!" and did it with her usual sass! But her big moment was during the song. She belted out every word and did her actions with flair. She has received many compliments on her performance and I'm certain she's earned a larger role next year!

We have a tradition in our house that includes opening a family gift on Christmas Eve. We bumped that up a day early to catch the premiere of "We Bought A Zoo" starring Matt Damon. I can not tell you how much we loved this movie. There were a few swear words I thought were unnecessary but the story itself made it easy to forgive those. Staring at Matt Damon didn't hurt either! If you haven't seen it, please go!

Christmas Eve we invited hub's family over to watch the Denver Broncos take on the Bills. Tim Tebow has made the second half of the Broncos season much more interesting than the first. Unfortunately, the coaches didn't let Timmy work his magic during this particular game and we lost. BOOOO! We did have a nice visit with his parents though. They were the only ones from his side we got to see this year. I treasure my family and back home in Colorado, we always spent the holidays together. I'm learning that other families don't have those same traditions. That's not always easy for me.

We wrapped up Christmas Eve with part II of our family gift...new jammies. By buying them new jammies every year and giving to them on Christmas Eve, I ensure that they have nice PJs on for the Christmas morning photos.  Mission accomplished.

 Christmas day we woke up early and ate Mimi's cinnamon rolls for breakfast. When she gave me the roll recipe from her 1960s Betty Crocker Cookbook, I learned that the roll recipe was the same recipe used for the cinnamon rolls. They came out perfect on the first try. Now no matter where she is, our Mimi is always with us on the holidays.

We seemed to have a theme going this holiday...soccer. Mags asked for and got soccer related gifts - including her sweatshirt with Lionel Messi's colors and number on the back.

 And Molly got her very own Sounders gear, as she requested. Dad, however, went with a coffee theme. Coffee cards, k-cups and the all important Keurig. Needless to say, he was very happy and very caffeinated!

We spent the afternoon with some very good friends who we actually consider family. It made me realize that while it is always hard for me to be away from my family, there are special people...chosen family...who can still make the day special. 

Hope you had a wonderful holiday as well!

DIY-ing

The long holiday weekend made for the perfect opportunity to get some projects done. I did a few things in the kitchen.  Like this...

Paint my Candy Apple Red accent wall.

Hang glass jars in front of my window.

Create  super-cute letters and some embellished hooks.  Inspired by CandieMae Designs. You can find her on Etsy. I actually found her at the holiday craft show my Mom and I went to in October.  I love her work! Love it!

Embellish my dining area canvas listing all the things you will likely hear during a meal at our house.

Put the silver I bought at the Sidewalk Sale in August to use.

And in the living area...

Create this lovely message center.  I'm going to use it for Christmas cards during the holidays then for things I need to remember before I walk out the door.

I also put the finishing touches on a bunch of scrapbooking pages and put my Disney book in order based on what we did each day. It is a miracle I remembered it all!  I also created a few collages.  I'm loving that technique for scrapbooking. So cute. So easy! You can dowload a ton of templates from Scrapbooks Etc's site or you can easily create your own on Muzy.com but only if you just want to use them online and don't want to print them. (Like I did above.)

I got started on a little project for my hallway.  Stay tuned for more on that later...I hope!

Do You Coupon?

I'm thinking of throwing my hat into the couponing ring.  I joked about doing extreme couponing and then taking my stockpile and moving off the grid but now I'm taking a more serious look at it. Because let's face it, we could all use more cash!  Besides I work for a nonprofit, the hubs for a school district so in this recession neither one of us is getting a raise any time soon.  Not to mention we own a car that has nearly 200,000 miles on it - so we are only putting off the inevitable task of buying a new car.  And adding a new car payment to our monthly expenses.

I'm following a couple of really smart blogs and driving my friends who do coupon crazy with questions.  So we will see what happens.  I'll try to share what I learn here so you can join in the fun!