Goodbye, 2011!

I've been thinking about this year. It's been a good one, generally speaking.

My girls are both growing healthy and strong.

Big Girl is dependable, strong, trustworthy, smart, creative, imaginative, curious, and sweet. She has grown about 4 inches or so in the last year. The top of her head now reaches the bottom of my neck. For all the worries we had when she was a preschooler, they have been allayed for the most part. Her adolescence will bring new challenges, for sure, but I don't worry about her. We'll cross the challenging bridges when we get to them.

Little Girl is strong and creative. She sees things in her own way. She challenges us and her teachers. This year has been a hard one for her. She struggles to fit into the mold of school, and what is expected of her there. Routine is difficult for her. She forgets things all the time. (I can relate!) She frequently leaves a mess in her wake.

Hubby has had a good end to 2011. There are many factors bringing this on, but I don't know what he'd like me to share and what he'd prefer me to keep private, so I'll keep most things private.

Something I know he's made public is his weight loss. He and I both have been using the Lose It! app to lose weight. He's lost more than 20 lbs in the last three months or so and I've lost six or seven in two months. We're helping each other and doing it together. I'm sure that's a big part of our success. I'm fitting into clothes I haven't worn in years and that's fun. I like my body more in the last few weeks than I have in years.

In addition to making progress on our personal goals of getting smaller, Hubby and I have been helping each other carry out other goals too. Seems like many things around the house that have needed to be done are getting done. We had our front door and back door replaced. Both of them leaked air, and we tried to fix that with weather stripping, but then the door wouldn't open and close properly. The back door was replaced with a 3/4 window so that a dog door would fit in the bottom for Daisy. The front door was replaced with a security door that has an integrated locking mechanism in the top, middle and bottom of the door. They both seal up, and open and close properly. Both came unfinished, and I've been painting them and finishing them this week.

The new front door's handle was built in, and we got to pick the finish for it, but not much else. Shiny brass knob was not one of the choices, and we didn't want that anyway, so we decided to change all the doorknobs in the house. Now they're nice satin nickel levers like this, only I flipped them over the other way so that it matches the front door a little better.

Accomplishing projects has always been good for me. This week has been very different from the past when I'd be knee-deep into project mode. It has struck me more than a few times that Hubby has been supporting me this week. Three days this week he went out to gather what was needed for this or that project, he did laundry and cooked or brought home dinner. I think the two of us are working together better than ever before. It's a very good thing.

I am thankful for the many blessings God has given us this past year. May God bless you in 2012!