In summer, we just throw together our paper plates, our burnt marshmellows, some campfire wood, some limbs, (maybe even some tiki torch oil) shh... don't tell... to make our summer night bonfires.

Winter time?

You must be methodical and planned out. :)

You have to know EXACTLY the resources you have, so you can get the most heat out of your supplies. :) Good job birthday boy, you made the 30 degree night quite enjoyable :)

but of course, we had to keep a little of the summer tradition alive...

but wait. I was missing out! Today at the grocery store I saw.... SEASONAL MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE.

WINTER BLACKBERRY!

and you wonder where I get my love for pajama pants and slippers.

I get it from my mommmmaa :)

just a typical evening at the Hatch's :)

and you probably can't see that we are watching the E-Trade baby commercials on You-Tube. Just to appease my dad, of course. He gets a kick out of those things ;)

I hope Drew is ready for my evening rituals :)

My New Career Choice

this weekend, I thought I was just going to a fun little fund-raiser for this cute girl and her school. I actually sat through a few somersault competions. Yep. Like who can somersault across the gym the fastest.
watched some mini-cheerleaders...

and found my new career calling... :)

I want to be a cheerleader.

Yeah, so maybe I am a little too old for the high school football team cheer squad, but come on. The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders or the SeaGals have to be around my age, right?

it was freaking AMAZING. Those girls can lift, throw, jump, kick, do gymnastics, dance, and do the cheerleader face alllll at the same time. :) Like seriously, could you THROW your friend in the air, have her do the splits, do a flipping backflip and then catch her? All with a huge SMILE on your face. I can't even talk on my cell phone and run up the stairs at work without getting winded. :)Really, I had no idea. The music was so fun (ya know, all the trendy, hot songs that I feel like I am too old to listen to?) and seriously, those girls can groove. I was very impressed.

maybe to start my practicing, next year I will enter the somersault competition... what do you think? :)

Going Overboard!

The Predictable Pitfalls of the Holidays!

OverINDULGING
-- "If it leads you down the wrong path, don't follow it."

Okay... Starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes and peppermint mochas. Gramma only makes the cinnamon rolls Thanksgiving and Christmas. The PEPPERMINT BARK hERSHEY KISSES ONLY COME OUT FOR ONE MONTH A YEAR! I haveeeeee to eat them! Maybe for you it's the hot buttered rum or the spiked hot cocoa at the ugly Christmas sweater parties! Pastor Grant said today something that really resonated with me. If you can't handle it, just. don't. do. it. If you struggle with over-indulging in food, then just don't go to the buffet. If you make a fool of yourself AND your spouse after a few too many drinks at the office Christmas party, maybe reconsider:)

OverSPENDING
--"Invite Jesus into every purchase you make"

Okay. So yesss. This does sound a little "sunday schoolish" bumper-stickerish. BUT. think about it :) Since during this season the whole POINT is to honor the Big Guy's birthday, everything we do to celebrate the season should be, in theory, to celebrate him :) Soo... before really... should i spend $100 on wrapping paper and gift tags and bows and ribbon and those wrist-tape dispensers (so. our family gets competitive with who finds the cutest wrapping paper. I won last year. thank youuuu Target :) just because I LOVE wrapping presents. Probably not. Not the best use of my money. :)

OverCOMMITTING
--"Sometimes the correct answer is "no"

I ALWAYS think the right answer is yes. "Can you babysit?" YES! "Wanna come over and bake Christmas cookies?" YES! "Can you head the decoration committee for the Christmas party?" OF COURSE! "Wanna have a Justin Beiber Christmas CD dance party on Friday?" HECK YEAAAH! Even though all of these things are fun, festive and there is nothing wrong with the, sometimes we just can't do it all. Sometimes, we NEED to say no, for everyone's sake ;) (p.s. FYI, don't ever ask me to be on a decorations committee. i am horrible at decorating. :)

So this is what we talked about today at Church, and he did SUCH a good job of not making it should like a list of "do's and do not's" and "ways to ruin the holiday season" :)

I just want to pick one of these things to focus on this season, and see how it goes. :)

little miss evy turned ONE this weekend!

and got some prettttyyyy sweet stuff :)

My personal fave? Her PERSONALIZED blocks HOMEMADE by alissa :)
The birthday girl thought they were pretty cool too! (see the unoriginal, un-homemade tricycle in the background? that was my gift :)

all my friends complement each other so well. :) some crafty, some not so much :)
(but really. liss says they are easy to make? anyone wanna try and report back to me?

:)

Simplify Your Life

I am debating getting rid of Facebook. I just spend waaaaay to much time on it, and whenever I am done looking at it, I usually feel stressed out or like a big fat loser :)

The truth? I am afraid if I get rid of it I won't know what's going on! Drew thinks it's weird borderline psycho I even care what so and so named their twin baby or how so and so from high school got engaged. (lots of these people I haven't even talked to in YEARS!) When I write this out, yes it does sound super creepy. I don't like to refer to it as "stalking" but more just like super intensive research ;)

Anyways... so, I have been trying to find ways to simplify my life so I can learn to keep my facebook account but just use in moderation ;) Moderation, moderation, moderation. :)

I tried downing an app on my ipad that would de-activate my facebook account for a certain amount of time. (This is more for college students who can de-activate during finals week so they can focus on their schoolwork with no distractions. Then. finals are over. party hard. facebook is back.) :)

Then I tried downloading some timers, and I would allow myself 30 minutes a day to surf the net, facebook included. Didn't work. I spent half the time stressed out just staring at the timer as the seconds ticked away :) annddd it remained me of my tooth brush timer from when I was little... Bad memories. ;)

Then one morning I got this lovely email from my friend Alissa!

1.) Turn off all technology for 60 minutes a day and focus on doing your most important work.
2.) Don't check your email first thing in the morning.
3.) Start your day with exercise!
4.) Be obedient to the sabbath!
5.) Learn to say no.
6.) Plan your week ahead. (Schedule space and time for work, rest, exercise, hanging out with friends, etc.)
7.) Don't answer your phone every time it rings.
8.) Get up early.
9.) Go to bed early.
10.) Eat a big healthy breakfast.
11.) Clean out your closets. If you don't wear it or don't use, get rid of it!
12.) Stop watching TV.
13.) Make sure you plan a decent vacation at least once a year. (at least 10 days to be truly regenerative.)
14.) Learn to protect your time.
15. Do your banking online.

there is no way i can do all of these. or even half. but I think they are interesting. This week, I am going to try not checking my email first thing in the morning. No groupon, twitter updates for me at 6 AM. Hope I can survive :)

"Put first things FIRST"

~Stephen Covey