Ringing in the New Year

It's hard to believe that one short year ago, I was sitting down to write a similar post to say hello to 2012. Somehow the days flew by once again and here I sit pondering another new year. It's amazing what can happen in 365 days if you open yourself to new possibilities.

Although I hoped, I never truly imagined that I would meet an amazing man (and his beautiful daughters) and fall in love with all 3 of them...and certainly didn't expect to be planning our wedding which is a short 5 months away! Stay tuned for a post in the next few days sharing how the plans are coming along. :)

I stayed faithful to my healthy living goals for about 6 months and then I sadly fell off the wagon. Tomorrow morning is judgement day as I will be weighing in (a scary way to start the new year, no?) and starting fresh with Weight Watchers Points Plus plan. I am going to do this on my own again - no meetings. I was using My Fitness Pal this year to stay in touch with my friends, Kayla and Angie, as we tracked calories this year (this was after I switched from over a year on WW)....hoping to find some others to be accountable to again!

I think this year, I am going to take a similar route as many of my friends and say that my New Year's resolutions are going to be simple. To be happy! hahahaha Just kidding! I do hope to be happy this coming year, but I also resolve myself to: live a healthy life, love the ones I'm with, strive to be debt free, and to enjoy all the ups and downs of life as a married woman! REALLY can't wait for that last one!

I hope all of you are celebrating the new year and wish you the best that life has to offer!

Picture Recap

Jeez....I don't even know when the last time I posted was, but I know it was a few weeks ago. I have been terrible about keeping this up to date. Life seems to be flying by!

Here's what we've been up to:

Listening to Emma sing at her school's Christmas program

Christmas with Eric's family

Christmas here at the house

glasses (that match our china pattern) from Jen for the wedding toast

yes, that's an 11 pound jar of Nutella

Happiness

Sometimes, all you need to make your day is a little note like this. :)

Got up to go to the bathroom while catching up on blog reading/commenting/posting and came back to a love note from my One & Only.

Neglected Blog

*sigh* Well friends...here I sit...FINALLY getting a chance to blog! The sad thing is, there's so much to say that I probably will just give in and go the easy route with a simple few sentences to sum things up while I've been on my blogging hiatus (an unintentional one at that) and throw in lots of pictures to distract you from that fact! ha

We've been super duper busy as always! We even managed to fit in a Thanksgiving trip to Gatlinburg, TN to relax for a few days. It was a fantastic trip and I wish it wasn't over....coming back to work and dealing with open enrollment for insurance (lots of new options this year), plus still doing 2 jobs at once, fitting Scentsy stuff in as much as I can, getting ready for Christmas, and working on wedding plans...life has been chaotic at best. I get worn out just thinking about it!

Before the trip there was wedding registry stuff, Christmas shopping, work, and making plans for the holidays.

I unfortunately don't get any other break from work besides the normal weekends until the week of Christmas. The countdown is on! Speaking of countdowns...did you know that Christmas is 27 days away??? I almost have my Christmas shopping done. Just have to get online and order the last few items. Once again, it's mostly about finding the time to do it.

And now for some pictures of what we've been up to!

**Tried posting this last week, but I am out of photo storage space and I refuse to pay for more! ha Had to delete a lot of pics, so if you are looking through old posts and a picture is missing, that is why!**

Another Yummy Foods Post

I've been trying some other new recipes from Pinterest! These were ones we tried & really liked!! :)

All pictures are taken from the links...click on the name of the dish to be taken to the website! Delicious!

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Corn Casserole

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Mozzarella Sticks

Be sure to let me know if you try any of these yummy foods!

Save The Date

Don't be late...for a very important date! ha :)

I have been dying to share this with all of you, but I really wanted to wait until our Save The Date cards were in the mail (and possibly in the hands) to our guests!

Jenn at In Munchkinland did a fab job! She designed my blog and I have been watching all her other blog updates and dying for a new one, but wedding stuff first, so it was a no brainer when we wanted a custom card that we could love. She nailed it on her first try! There were no edits at all. She even got us a steal of a deal on the printing and envelopes! I am excited about working with her after the New Year on all our other wedding stationery.

So without further ado.... *drumroll*

What's in a Name?

Today I'm linking up with Lora - this absolutely fantastic and hysterical blogger I found via Twitter a few days ago! Seriously, you gotta go read this post. You'll laugh out loud.

The question of the day is...how did your blog get it's name?

The Life & Times of E1

I know, I know...it's kinda generic. A lot of people think I'm creative, but in reality, I never seem to be when it's ME that I need to be creative for! Argh! haha

My nickname within my dad's family is E1. Why?? Well, I'm Erin. My cousin, Jacob, married an Erin. We have the same initials - EMM. We have identical first and last names and only different middle names. It started to be funny at family meals when someone would say Erin and we'd both answer...at the same time. Since I am the oldest and the "original" Erin, they started calling me E1 and she is E2. The only day we've ever swapped was on her wedding day...ha. We're goofy, I know. ;) The thing is...I couldn't have asked for a more amazing person than her to share my name with! They live on the east coast because Jacob is in the Navy, but when we visited them a few years ago, E2 and I would pay for meals using our debit cards because they both had the same name. hahaha She really, really wanted to confuse a waiter! No one ever said anything, but they had to be wondering.

So when it came down to naming my little piece of blogger land, it seemed appropriate to incorporate my nickname into the title. This blog is all about my life. And the crazy times that have happened. I have contemplated changing it a million times, but therein lies the million dollar question, what the heck would I change it to? So it stays.


Grab the button below and link up! How did your blog get it's name??

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