Involved is My One Word

What your Christmas tree isn't still lit and up in your house?

Hmmm...

Well, mine is and it's just one part of my life that I'm just a bit behind on...and I really don't care. Honestly, the tree kind of just blends into the corner and who knows, it may be up for a while!

Another "project" I wanted to get started when the calendar turned to 2013 was something my friend Cris shared over on her blog. It's actually something she found over at One Word 365 and I love the whole concept.

Simply choose a word that "sums up who you want to be or how you want to live." Then focus on that word EVERY day, ALL year long.

I immediately chose a word and then questioned myself on if it was THE WORD.

I thought about it and thought about it and kept coming back to my original word so I stuck with it.

Here it is...Involved.

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."

-Benjamin Franklin

I want to be more involved in all areas of my life...

With my family, especially with my nieces and nephews. I want to be the aunt that DOES things with them.

from here via Pinterest

With my friends

With my community

With my faith

With my health, I am so inspired by the #Year2Change movement happening over at As Goode As It Gets that I'm determined to make exercise a part of my weekly routine. 

My first time on the treadmill in a year...

With my blog, this means actually posting AND interacting on here. I started the year out OK, but I just let it go and it was easy to do. I don't want it to be easy to ignore this place where I truly enjoy the time I spend on it. 

Want to choose your own word? Check out this post on One Word 365 for help.

Heading to that Magical Place

Scary self-portrait of an aunt & a crazy nephew

I am SO excited. 

My sister and I are taking her youngest to Florida soon for an ADVENTURE. 

He's the baby so he seems to get left out of the big stuff we do with the older boys. 

Since he starts kindergarten (where has the time gone???) in August, we thought this was the perfect opportunity for some fun.

While we are down there, we've decided a day at the Magical Place on Earth is a must.

We went as a family back in 2010 when he looked like this...

Look at my shark hat!!

Arrrrgh, I'm a pirate.

 Army Guys from Toy Story...a favorite

The one park we didn't hit was Animal Kingdom so that's where we are heading this time.

Any suggestions on what we should OR shouldn't do/see while there?

Since the park closes at 5 p.m. and we have Hopper Passes, we are thinking of hitting one of the other parks for dinner and one of the fireworks shows. Maybe Fantasmic or IllumiNations?

I really shouldn't be this excited, but I am!

The only thing I'm bummed about...he's really too big for a stroller!

It's rough being a kid at Disney...

Where will we put all of our stuff? Maybe I will have to get a backpack!

Found in the Drawer

What an exciting blog title, huh?

Just drew you right in, didn't it?

I was talking to a couple blogging friends today and we were lamenting about how hard it is to write sometimes.

You can have a great idea. You can have the time to sit down and write. And nothing.

That's how I felt most of December...full of great ideas and nothing.

Then I had THE conversation. The one where a friend said when you are struggling to write a post sometimes it's best to put it aside and just write something random.

I LOVE it. I love random posts (and random dancing - so sad the iCarly decided to go grow up and go to college) so it's the perfect solution.

So, here it is...my random post that I hope will break this cycle of paralyzing non-posting.

I was digging trying to find the postcard Google sent me back in July with my Google AdSense PIN (I know, don't judge me) when I came across a stash of stuff that made me smile.

 forgotten gift cards

Do you ever find gift cards that you have forgotten about? 

It's like Christmas all over again. One of the Southwest cards was brand new! Now I'm thinking a long weekend visiting friends out East is a must...especially since they gave me the cards.

On the other hand, the Visa card has 78 cents on it. What do you do with cards that have less than a dollar on them? I can't make myself throw it away!!

 Someone loves the iTunes deals at CVS too much...

I can't resist the ExtraCare Bucks savings when it comes to iTunes cards. I just didn't realize how many I have accumulated! Yikes.

the coolest bumper sticker ever

I lived in Wareham - pronounced Wear-HAM, not Wear-em (learned that the hard way...) - for about a year a decade or so ago. I loved the town. I loved the people. I did NOT love being a thousand miles away from my family. So when I moved home, one of my friends gave me this sticker and I love it. 

It used to hang in my office but when I changed jobs a half a decade or so ago, it got shuffled into a drawer. I find it every once in a while and smile. 

It is something that no matter how many times I "clean out the drawers" that I will never throw away. 

Do you have something as silly as a bumper sticker that you just can't throw out?

By the way, I never did find that stupid Google postcard!

In Front of the Christmas Tree

This post is for one person and one person only.

It's for my mom. And since she is NOT on Facebook this is the only way I can share this with her!

She asked me for one thing on Christmas Day...to get a photo of each grandchild in front of the Christmas tree. 

This sounds simple, right?

Wrong...this is what I dealt with...

These four masked "men" are not the easiest to corral, to make sit still and smile.

However, I think I did OK, with the exception of the pirate on the right. His photos came out blurry, except for this one...

He photo bombed me! Crazy red-headed kid...gotta love him.

I did capture the rest of the kiddos and here they are from oldest to youngest.

Aren't they the cutest? I may be biased but I think they are!

Here a few of my other favorite shots of the day...

gimme a kiss..

loving on the dolls in the high chair Papaw made

a working auger...cool!

Mom, I hope these were what you wanted. I do have them saved on a CD for you and maybe Little Sister will use them in the family calendar next year!

Are You There Blog

Are You There Blog? It's Me, Megan...

I know you are probably soooo mad at me. It's been a long, long time since I've been around.

I don't have any excuses - or any good excuses. 

I've been busy. I've been tired. I've been lazy.

See, no good excuses.

I've even had great ideas for blog posts. Ideas that have stemmed from conversations I've had, things I've seen, thoughts I've had (that's a scary post BTW). Still I have not blogged.

Well, it's a new day...a new year actually and I'm turning the page on the neglect of 2012.

I've been inspired by several posts of my blogging buddies over the last couple of days. 

I AM going to start blogging again. 

Well, I think I am.

No, I am. 

Source: etsy.com via Megan on Pinterest

I am.