A mish-mosh of unorganized thoughts of 2010 and 11.

1. Well, happy new year, Alexis. 2010 was quite a strange and amazing year, and 2011 has some more crazy shenanigans in store, I'm sure.

Plans for this year include some of the same as the years before... finally get pregnant (fingers crossed- one hand only), take better care of the dogs and the house, make time to read, show people that you are thinking about them.

and some new ones... stop being pushover (ha, yeah, right!), take care of your body (it has been a while for this one), visit a dentist, find better healthcare options.

2010: A year in review

The biggest part of our year - Fell in love with a baby girl in 2009, My Kim Truong, aka Kimmy. She has become a major part of the fa

mily- with a decorate

d bedroom, cloth diapers, tons of clo

thes and toys, and baby supplies. The house is baby proofed, and boy did it need to be! Kimmy rolled over at 1

1 months for the first time while we were on a road trip to Zach and Emily Reimold's wedding in

Johnstown, PA- and she hasn't stopped moving around since. She started crawling shortly after, and started walking on her own within 3 months. We've sort of melded the Truong and Miller families. I take care of Kimmy's brothers Monday through Friday (sometimes weekends and nights too) and we have all become very attached to one another! I've managed to break kids of bottles, potty train twins, and learn a

few Vietnamese phrases in the past 6 months, all with the help and advice from family of course.

And let us not forget the ama

zing trip to Disney World in November! Kimmy, Justin and I had a blast for a few days with Dad, Sue, Michelle, Julie and Kyle, and then we partied on our own when they hopped a plane back to frigid Philly!

We finally finished our law suit from the car accident in '08. Glad that is over with... Paid off the student loans, credit card, and money we owed to family. It feels good to be pretty much debt free- besides the mortgage and upcoming tuition.

Justin and I have made a decision that we MAY take a year work-ation in LA. It will be hard when Kimmy leaves our house to make her way into her birth family home- we'll need an escape. I dread the thought of her not sleeping soundly in her room at the end of the hall. Until the day comes, I'll try and not worry too much.

Roxy survived another year, but sadly we put her to sleep on Saturday, January 8, 2011. We had to call my dad to take her. It was hard making the decision, but it was the right one to make. At least that's what I have to tell myself.

Working at PPACS in 2010 was a great experience. I taught 8th grade math and science and then 4th grade math for summer school. I left the school to help out the Truong family. It was a big change, but one I feel good about.

Last week I started Weight Watchers with Becky (the new PointsPlus+ program). It seems to be alright (whew.. sigh of relief). Justin believes I've picked a crap time to start, but there will always be some excuse to start a diet the next week.

This week's excuses are...

1. We have all 4 Truong kids staying in our tiny home while their father is attempting to get to Vietnam to pick up his new wife.
2. We lost a family member... Love you Roxy.
3. The scent of pizza carries down our street in this crisp winter air.
4. It is snowy weather made for pizza and hot chocolate.
5. Pizza.
6. Pizza.
7. Wine.
8. Hunger.

I'm not exactly sure when Evelyn (Paul's/step-father's mother) passed away, but I think it was in 2009. If that is correct, we had no funerals in 2010. Thank you.

Enough for now- it is one AM. I definitely shouldn't have had a Wawa 24 oz. coffee at 8 pm, even if it was only 99 cents and my mother-in-law paid for it.

With love and high hopes,

Alexis

Vietnamese Soup

There is nothing like a warm bowl of soup to make you feel comforted... It warms your body and your soul. It just feels good. I had my hands on the most amazing bowl of Vietnamese soup for the second time this month... her name is Kim. She is a BEAUTIFUL five month old baby who has no mommy... I dearly want to fill those shoes. Everything about her is wonderful from her squeak-toy cry to her ever-so tiny hands. She is, without a doubt, the most talented bubble blower I have ever met. I was lucky enough to have her sleep in my arms for three hours on Monday, and I wish could relive that time every day of the week. I have found myself starring at two photos my mother was gracious enough to take of me holding the baby in the most beautiful (and cozy) quilt which was made by her extremely talented friend Sasha.

It is so easy, maybe too easy, to fall in love with a baby, especially a baby who needs love. Fortunately for her, she is currently being cared for by an amazing woman named Marya (pronouned Mary-A... not sure if I spelled it correctly). If you ever wanted be inspired, you should meet her. She is 75 and has fostered, adopted and raised several children from China, Vietnam and Korea. And at 75, she's changing diapers in between laying new stone on her walkway so trick-or-treaters won't trip on their way to collect candy. And she's single! YOU GO GIRL! However, I know she does not intend on raising Kim through her entire childhood. I want to make sure she goes to the best place she can. What we want to do for Kim is to provide her with love, health, and opportunities for however long we would be honored with the opportunity to provide her with those things. Whether we could have her for a month, a year, ten years, or forever, it would give both Kim, and us a wonderful experience full of love and caring. Something we have been wanting.

I just needed to gab... I can't get her off of my mind.

Beautiful, right??

Shiver Me Timbers

Brr... it sure is almost temperate in here! That's right, folks. We are the proud new owners of a Frederich Energy Star 12,000 BTU air conditioner. She purrs like a kitten. 

I know what you're thinking (maybe)... It's almost the end of the summer, why did you get it now? Well, we tried hard to resist, but frankly the past few weeks have been so humid and gross that it was making us irritable. In order to keep the peace, we made the investment. The animals seem to be loving it. They are all in the living room (cat on the steps) chillin' out with their greenies. Can't wait to have our friends over for dinner in our new "chill spot." 

Brrrrr,

Alexis

Listening to Jimi Hendrix Bold as Love. 

Knitwit

I wish I had some great quote to use comparing my life to knitting... but at this point I am a failure at knitting, so we'll hold off on the deep thoughts.

Yesterday Jess Noel (Tex) and I went on a journey for groceries and a wooden crate... we wound up with food, a wooden crate, yarn, knitting needles, and shoes. It was a successful trip. However, the success ended as soon as we got to Jess' house and she wanted to teach me to knit. Honestly, I thought it was doing pretty well, and then everything fell apart when I went home and tried to knit without her professional supervision. I tried and tried to get what I had when I was at Jess' but, frankly, I am knitting-challenged.

We'll see how long this hobby lasts...

The hobby killer,

Alexis

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Knitting Mess: Take 3

Figured I'd give it another go and stuck, hooped, looped and pulled while waiting for Justin to let me know what time he'd be home for dinner. I am having a hard time believing that this knotty mess will some how magically turn into cozy scarf... also having a hard time believing that I've spent more time than I'd like to specify sitting here to make an inch of this knotty mess. Jess informed me I was a slow knitter yesterday. I'll try and pick up the pace.