Happy New Year!

I'm sitting at home, in my pajamas...preparing to ring the new year in while the rest of the house sleeps and I'm watching tv. The year is definitely going out in a most undesired way. I still cannot eat anything more than soft foods/liquids, plus I'm on antibiotics which means no alcohol. I actually thought I might be out tonight...but since I'm in this sad state, it was a no go.

I started to think about New Year's Resolutions and how I rarely tend to stick to any! Here's a list of things I'm hoping to accomplish in 2011...

1. Be Healthy - Not just lose weight, but exercise because I enjoy it. Make better food choices. Drink more water. Pick up a dust rag more often and plug in the vacuum.

2. Simplify - It's time to downsize some of the chaos in my life (aka STUFF). I am an organizational nut and lately, my stuff has been completely out of order and it's driving me crazy. On top of needing to clear out my personal space, mom and I are going to attempt to reorganize the storage room upstairs again since we can no longer walk in the door.

3. Get More Sleep - I know it kind of goes along with being healthy, but whenever I start to skip sleep...I end up getting sick. Case in point, this past week. I should have known it was coming because my body tried to tell me by taking naps (which I never do), always being sleepy, but I ignored it and bam! I've been dealing with a cold on top of healing from wisdom teeth surgery.

4. Learn Something New - Not sure what this will be yet! haha Whether it's learning to knit or picking up some other useful skill or maybe honing my cooking skills. Suggestions appreciated.

5. Take More Pictures - Most people would say I already take too many pictures, but there are so many times that I regret not having pulled the camera out of my purse and snapped a photo! There are moments in life I just don't want to miss out on.

6. Look For Love - Or at least find some likes! ;) Since moving back to my hometown, I have not done a very good job of putting myself out there or being open to new possibilities. If someone invites me out to dinner, I'll go...who knows what will happen. Maybe nothing. But if a spark does occur, it wouldn't be a bad thing!

7. Travel - After getting my tax papers together (yes, I know...how sad is it that I'm already prepared for this?) I noticed how much money I spent on stuff that I didn't 100% enjoy. This year my goal is to spend more money on experiences I'll remember, whether it's traveling by myself again or finding others to go along. We're already looking at a family vacation to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico or the Bahamas in early July...and I'm thinking another big trip (maybe one of the European countries?) may be in order next Christmas.

8. Enjoy Life - I'm a stresser. Naturally, I freak out about things I cannot control. This does not bode well for a stress-free life. I'm going to do my best not to let the little things bother me.

9. Continue to Build Financial Freedom - Being debt free was a huge step in 2009, continued into 2010. I want to continue doing what I can to save money and build a nest egg for the future. And in this mode, I will continue to work hard in everything that I do...whether it's at one of my professional jobs or one of the side jobs.

Happy New Year! Hope you hold firm in your resolutions for 2011! May it be your best year yet!

Wisdom Teeth

Well, I officially belong to the "I've had my wisdom teeth removed" club! ha

Yesterday afternoon, mom sat and waited to be my designated escort home from oral surgery. I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed, 2 of them were partial bone impacted, meaning they had to cut them out of my jawbone in the back. Yay fun, right? haha All in the all, the procedure didn't take more than an hour from start to finish, including me getting loaded up in the car to come home. The crazy thing is, they did this all day....we saw probably 10 people go in and out while we were there. I so went into the wrong field! haha :p

I remember them hooking up the heart monitors, the blood pressure cuff, making me put on the oh-so-cute hair bonnet, covering me with a towel and the usual dental towel (you know that lays on your chest and is hooked with a chain around your neck?)...I even remember Dr. Bergman (Rajean, I so wanted to ask if he knew Bob or Doug! ha) coming in and putting the IV in my arm and laying that arm against my side. Him and the nurse asked if I was feeling the drugs and I mumbled yes....and the next thing I know...they are unhooking gadgets from me and telling me to take big deep breaths through my nose. hahaha Fun stuff.

I am still a little swollen, and I have a fat lip, but other than that...I seem to be recovering. I've not been in too much pain (knock on wood), but I have been faithfully using the ice pack head wrap and taking my antibiotics and baby aspirin. I figured there was no point in paying for the pain meds at the pharmacist because I'd never be able to function if I took them. I have just been doubling what I normally take for a migraine and seem to be okay.

I have not been sleeping very well...about an hour or two at a time. This is mostly due to the fact that I have a cold. My nose is all stuffed up and I get a slight cough when my throat gets dry, but it's been somewhat manageable. It would be better if I could blow my nose, but I feel the pressure in my stitches when I barely try to blow my nose, so I'm kind of a leaky faucet for now. Attractive, huh?

I am lucky because this week my work is on a paid holiday shutdown, so it's a free week of vacation normally. At least I didn't have to use up any real vacation days to do this and I have the rest of the week to rest. One of the other doctors at the clinic, Dr. Forbes, told me I could go out for New Year's Eve with friends if I wanted to, but I'm thinking I will probably spend the night at home. The only thing I really want to be able to do....is go out to eat with mom! Liquids and soft foods are not my idea of surviving.....hahahaha

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas...from our home to yours!

As is tradition in our home: mom, Jenna and I open gifts on Christmas Eve. We used to do this as a big family thing with my maternal grandparents, but since they are no longer living, it's a smaller scale hubbub.

This afternoon I enjoyed a drink out with a friend and got home just in time to chat with the family while dinner finished cooking. We then opened our presents (boy oh boy Santa must've thought we were good this year!) and enjoyed a yummy dinner. Tonight we're watching Christmas movies on tv and playing with our new toys. haha

Tomorrow we'll sleep in and enjoy a day of relaxing and eating WAY too much. It'll be a quiet weekend as we are officially done with parties and holiday gatherings. Hope you are all enjoying yours!

me on Christmas Eve

Jen opening her new Keurig coffee maker

mom opening her new Wusthof knives...she LOVES this brand!

Toby's loot :)

my loot stash! couldn't have asked for more!

Jen's bounty

'Tis the Season

As promised...our Christmas card this year.

(sorry the quality isn't very good, couldn't figure out how to post straight from Wal-Mart's site)

Christmas Came a little Early

This year the Menchhofer family celebrated Christmas a little early...since Zach is a brand new homeowner and everyone wanted to see the house, we made the trek to Georgetown, KY for a weekend of fun!

Mom, Jen, and I left home on Friday night around 7pm and made it down there a little before 9pm. Most of Zach's family was already there, so we had a big ol' slumber party. haha We played cards, snacked, talked, and laughed until 2am when Uncle K made it there (he works the night shift at UPS loading the trucks and moving semis).

Saturday we spent the day at the house preparing for the rest of the family to arrive. We baked, ate way too much food, had lots of laughs, helped Zach do some stuff around his house, and then enjoyed family time all evening. The kiddos were a bundle of fun! Ethan is still my little buddy, although he's growing up so much! He's reading and that doesn't seem possible yet! ha Callie is such a little character. She's definitely her mother's child. hahaha And baby Henry...he's growing like a weed and is such a snuggler. I had a blast giving him his bottle and rocking him to sleep a few times over the weekend. :)

We all got some cute gifts and enjoyed some riotous games of Rummy and Mexican Trains. haha Oh yeah, and can't forget the rum, vodka, and everclear soaked cherries! Yowza!

We finished the weekend off with a family breakfast on Sunday morning. Most of us stayed at Zach's all weekend, but a few had rooms at a nearby hotel. It was truly a full weekend and our longest Christmas celebration to date!

Here's a few pictures of our weekend of holiday fun....

rocking baby Henry to sleep Friday night

Callie weasling some crackers from mom

Callie looking at pictures of herself with Jen

Callie posing

the family hanging out at lunch time

mommy Sara & her little helper

Zach by his tree

Grandma, Callie, Henry, Aunt Della, Uncle Owen

Gran, Uncle Kevin, Sara, Monica, Callie

Matthew, Jason, mom

Mumbo Jumbo

...it seems everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE on my blogger list of friends has been playing catch up with posts! It's kinda fun to back track and read all the happenings in your lives, even after the fact. ;) I've had good intentions to get on here and update my own for the past few weeks...and every time I had a few spare minutes, I would think "resting here on the couch while I doze watching tv sounds better than typing at the computer for the millionth hour today." haha So, I'm sorry I've neglected my blog...I'm gonna try to catch up in this one post as not to bombard your blogger update list. hahaha

Start at the present and work my way back...and hopefully remember everything that's been going on!

Today it looks like a winter wonderland outside...I actually like a little bit of snow (less than 3") and think it looks so pretty when its fresh snow, no tracks or shoveling or grime to be seen.

They say more is coming...and it's still flurries...so we shall see!

In the snow picture above, you see my pretty little car covered....well, it feels good to see that car parked in the driveway again! I was without my car from Saturday-Thursday this past week. The week before I noticed it didn't seem to be warming up anymore and then one night we were coming home from dinner with family and I got an electronic message on my dash that there was a problem, as well as a Diagnostic Alert from OnStar. Pretty crazy, huh? So I called the dealership Saturday morning at 8am and by 10:30am I was on the road home in a 2011 Chevy Equinox (with less miles than my car...ha)! It was a pretty sweet rental car (that I did not have to pay for). Needless to say, they had to replace the thermostat in my car but due to it being a brand spanking new model for Chevy, it took them awhile to diagnose the codes the computer was spitting out at them. I'm just glad it was a stress free week because I didn't have to pay for anything!

the 2011 Equinox (love the mocha color)

I would be remiss not to mention that we also held our annual Mary Kay Open House this week. We had a fairly decent turnout for a rainy night, but don't worry...the consultants did a good job of eating the treats we had for the chocolate fountain. Yum, yum, yum!

many pretty tables full of MK products

During the past week, winter officially welcomed itself in our part of the world...we had a small dusting on the ground when the weatherman (oh yeah, you know you all trust his every word!) said we wouldn't have anything remaining on the ground.

this was at the end of the day when the sun came out, we had a bit more earlier on

So, remember that dinner I was telling you about coming home from when my car told me it had a problem? My aunt's birthday is Nov. 27th and although the Menchhofer family needs no reason to go out to eat, a birthday is as good as any! We all trekked down to Lawrenceburg for dinner at Sakura. It's our new favorite place....we are seriously addicted to Japanese Hibachi. YUM! It was Jenna's first time actually sitting around the hibachi grill, but she did enjoy the meal we had in Pittsburgh; however, Sakura is way better than Nakoma was.

Sara, Monica holding her nephew Henry, Jason

(not pictured: Andy, Callie, Kevin, Roni, Zach, Ethan, me, mom)

Jenna flipping me off for taking her pic :p

And now we arrive at Thanksgiving...well the day after. haha Thanksgiving was a glorious do nothing weekend. I was seriously in my pjs almost the entire time! Lots of naps and good food. It's tradition in our house to put the Christmas tree up the day after Christmas. It's a serious downsize in what used to happen at our home (I believe my dear friend Kim would have said it "looks like an angel took a dump" back in the day, outside and inside our house), but it's the one concession that can't be made! I truly love Christmas trees...they are just so peaceful and simple. I even dug my tree and decorations out from when I lived on my own and put it up in my bedroom. I often times turn off all the other lights and sit in the room with only the glow of the tv and the Christmas tree lights. :)

tree in the living room

my tree

And finally, I cannot forget Pittsburgh...I know, I know...it really deserves it's own post, but since nothing of significance happened on the trip and you've probably all seen the pictures on Facebook already, there's no need to go in depth. Suffice it to say, that it was a fun and relaxing long weekend. Jenna had a Swing Dance Exchange there, so mom, Zach, and I tagged along. We drank a lot of Yuengling beer (and brought some home), found fun kitschy places to eat (like a church converted to a brewery), learned how to navigate da Burgh's crazy road system (think multi-level highway systems and a million one ways), left some money with their fine casino (haha...and met some crazy, fun ppl at the bar there), took Christmas card pics at the Duquesne Incline (sorry, none of you have seen those yet! but I'll post in a few weeks after the cards should be in your homes), and caught up with an old FFA friend, Tim, who now works in Washington PA (which also happens to be the hometown of another Pittsburgh friend of mine). It was all in all a great trip and we were sad to leave, but it was nice to get away for a little while. Short trips like that make life bearable and interesting!

Whew...that was a lot of mumbo jumbo! Hopefully you are still reading! ;)

Stay safe this winter and enjoy the Holiday season! Our first round of Christmas parties starts tonight...and I promise I will do a better job of staying up to date on here! It's too much work to let it go this long. haha