The way I see it...

2017 Goals

How is 2017 treating you all? Are you feeling motivated? Kicking some backside and taking names? Still looking for inspiration to make some changes?

So far, 2017 is going alright in my neck of the woods. As per usual, this girl had to write down some goals for the new year. I'm a list-maker, remember? I decided to not really call them resolutions because I feel like you're asking to fail. There's a negative connotation associated with that word. Instead, I'm calling them goals. I'm not going to share all my goals for the new year, but here are some of them.

1. Workout 30 minutes five times a week: This probably seems like an obvious one. People are always making goals about working out in January. I feel like this is completely realistic and do-able. Five times isn't every single day and 30 minutes isn't a lot. I feel like if I can peruse social media every day or read or watch t.v., I can most definitely use that time to get moving instead. Even if it's with my kiddos or just on the treadmill with the t.v. on.
2. Drink 110 ounces of water PER DAY: If you see me running to the bathroom every 15 minutes this would be why. It's really easy for me to get this done in the summer and really challenging for me in the winter. My water intake had taken a nose dive with the cooler weather, so I set a goal. I think I've hit this goal every day except two so far. My kidneys (and other organs) thank me for the gift of hydration!
3. Take more pictures with my real camera: 2016 was a terrible year for me in taking good pictures with my real camera. I always grab my phone because it's always with me and just easier. The pictures aren't as good though and I need to make more of an effort to haul out the good camera. Every month I need to have a folder on my computer with photos that I've taken. That's the goal.
4. Read out loud with my kids more: This is directed more at Jenna and Brody, since Aaron and I already read aloud with the twins. I got a text from a friend who shared with me something called the Read Aloud Revival. Did you know that if you read out loud every day with your kids for just ten minutes, at the end of the year they will have read aloud for 30 hours?! That's amazing. And so, so important!
5. Gratitude Journal: This is an idea I saw online and it is by far my favorite goal of the new year. I went to the dollar store and bought a pretty looking notebook. Every day I write down ten things that I'm grateful for that day. Yes, every day. Sometimes I do it in the morning and sometimes at night. This has completely shifted my days! I am now actively seeking out things that I can write down. The other day, for example, despite the fact it was 30 below, a nice older gentlemen let me head into the grocery store before him. Simple enough, but it was so kind. I have found that it's hard to be in a bad mood when I'm constantly thinking about examples of gratitude that I can write down.

Here's my attitude for 2017. Some days are better than others. Some days you fail. Some days you succeed. That's ok. Life isn't supposed to be perfect. This life is a marathon, not a sprint. Trying to continually create better habits is hard work and takes time. I am just trying to be a little better than I was the day before, but that's just the way I see it.

Burdorf Christmas

Over New Year's weekend we went to Omaha to celebrate Christmas and New Year's with the Burdorfs.  The weather felt more like Easter, but at least it was good travel weather!

Friday we got to Adam and Jill's just in time to see the Huskers get beat in their bowl game.  HOLLA!!  Sorrynotsorry Husker fans. ;)  Nothing goes better with games than game day food.  Yum!

 Saturday was our "official" Christmas.  We opened gifts.  The Burdorf tradition is one at a time, even the kids and they stick to it. ;)

 Miss Sass was super happy to get these new boots.  Not only are they cute, but they added another couple of inches to her already ever-growing self. 

 

The kids were hilarious.  They had the best time in the basement playing cafe.  You want to know the name of their cafe?  Kozy Korner, of course!!  I know that will make you Armstrong people proud.  We may have talked about it once or twice.  Ha! 

 Adam and Jill were pretty excited to give Aaron his gift.  It was a framed photo from the front page of the Chicago Tribune the day after the Cubs won the World Series.  So cool!

 

Another Cubs gift for this Cubs-loving kid! 

 I made Grandma Linda an updated photo collage (see below) of her grandkids.  I think she liked it! The one hanging up in her house doesn't include Noah or Claire.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out. 

 

 Grandpa Frank travels a lot for his job, so we thought he needed a new jumbo travel mug.

 

 

 We played some Skipbo and even put together a 300 piece puzzle.  This is big because I actually hate puzzles because I have zero patience, but the four oldest and I did it together!

 All eight grandkids.  Not too shabby.

 

Grandma and Grandpa with the tribe. 

 

And...all of us.  The whole Burdorf Bunch. 

 

 After presents, Aunt Jamie was in charge of some New Year's games for the kids and the big kids.  I, unfortunately, didn't get many photos because I was in charge.  We did have a lot of fun with balloons, let's just say that.  We took a break to wish Grandma a happy birthday and have a slice of birthday pie.  

That wraps up our holiday season.  It was definitely a blessed one.  We are so grateful for our family!

Hunecke Christmas

The holidays are over! *sob*  I don't know about you, but I always get sad when it's January 2nd and the holiday season is over for another year.  Taking the tree down?  Don't even get me started.  

Anyway....way back on December 17th we had Christmas with my mom and dad.  This year it was my sister's turn to host, so we headed to Cherokee. My nephew Carter's birthday is in January, so we celebrated that on Friday night too.  

We had fun, as always!  We played cards Friday night.  I talked everybody into playing Hearts, a Hunecke favorite, and it turned into a marathon game.  I didn't win and I can't remember who did. 

Jess and Mitch had two real trees.  I'm so jealous!  This one in their fireplace room was ginormous.  I think my sister said that her boss brought it from Wisconsin.  It seriously must have been 11 or 12 feet tall.

When we get together, there's a lot of boys.  Here Blake and Maddox are clearly discussing something super important. 

Poor Jenna.  She's the odd man, er, girl, out.  We let her be in the older girls picture this year.  We all had to wear our "ugly" or "cute" depending on how you look at it, sweaters.

We're not really good at taking turns when it comes to opening presents.  Pretty much it ends up being complete chaos.  That's Christmas though, right?!

After last year's success at our house with games, Jess planned some games for this year too.  Disclaimer:  These cans were already empty when we arrived in Cherokee!  This game was called chandelier and the kids had to stack cans, 5,4,3,2,1. 

For the adults, it was harder.  We had to stack 1,2,3,4,5.  I was on my #5 and my chandelier tipped over and I LOST to the Mr.  Dang it!  I heard about that for awhile...

Clearly my mother didn't have great luck...haha!

Next up was the cracker face game where you try to get the cracker in your mouth without using your hands. 

 

Our family.  We are loud and crazy and kind of dysfunctional.  I wouldn't have it any other way though. 

Bear looked how I felt after Saturday's festivities.  Sooooo...tired.  I just hung out in front of the twinkly lights and watched a movie.  Pretty, pretty.