January 1st, 2010...I mean 2011.

Happy New Year! It's been too long since I've checked in here. Not a single post last semester which should tell you something. But I made it through with my sanity intact with a nice 4.0 to go along with so that's always a good thing. John also started school last semester and only took one class (would have been two but there was a mess up with his TA and one ended up being dropped), but anyways-he did it online and also made an A. I have two more weeks to enjoy before heading back to the school grind. Kind of worried about this upcoming semester. I'm taking PreCal (yikes!), Biology and then an online Philosophy class. John's taking Pre Algebra and History. We'll see how it goes. I've already asked one of my friends here who is an Engineering major if she will help me with PreCal if the need arises and she said she would so that's a relief.

Christmas was nice. It was just the three of us since going "home" would have been really costly. Plus Santa likes to leave Chance's gifts at Chance's house. Chance made out pretty good I'd say. Santa brought a tech deck ramp and lots of little skateboards, the massive Halo Reach elite set with the game, a Halo Warthog vehicle, Operation the Toy Story version, Mighty Beanz, a big book about spies since he wants to be a spy, and I can't remember what else. From John and I he got a ton of movies (Black Friday deals!,) Epic Mickey, a couple of books, a Bakugan video game, some more Bakugan toys, more Mighty Beanz, a new Nintendo DSi XL and again no clue what else. Too much stuff. The grandparents spoiled him good too. John's parents sent him a big ole' check which he had a blast spending. He traded in his old DS and used that money along with what he had to buy a bunch of video games. He had a little leftover and bought the plug and play thing that has all of the old Nintendo games on it which has been fun for all of us. My parents sent him a microscope set, the Lego Advent thing he asked for, a Lego game, clothes, money and more gold dollar coins that my dad always sends him.
John got me a new CD player for my truck which was much needed. The factory one swallowed a CD and refused to give it back and my speakers have been blown for eons now. So I got new ones. Found a really great little hole in the wall place here in town and the prices were good, the guys working there were really nice and the work was good. We went to the Power Sound Express on Fred Wilson. Not much on the outside or inside but the important thing was, they knew what they were doing and were finished in less than two hours. I told him how much we wanted to spend-which wasn't much at all considering I needed the deck and new speakers and he got us pretty much right at that before included the cost of the harness so I was really happy. I can now listen to my Zune and Pandora on my phone through my truck speakers so I am loving it! I got that about a week before Christmas and I also got a new Peanuts book, Sims 3 for the Xbox and Eclipse.
John got a G Shock watch since I know he's wanted one for years now. Now he finally has a good work watch and a nice going out watch. And when I ask him the time, he'll actually tell me by looking at his watch and not his cell phone! He also got some Xbox points, A Blu Ray player and a movie to go with it. I guess you could also say he got a Netflix subscription since the player has a Netflix app on it, so we went ahead and signed up for that. Lulu of course wasn't forgotten either. Chance picked out a stuffed reindeer for her that she just loves and she got a new bone. All in all it was a great holiday and we are so lucky to have John home for what is the 3rd Christmas in a row!

Karate is going well for Chance. They had their last local Team competition in December. It was an unexpected, last minute tournament but it was worth double points, so he competed. So glad he did too since he fially-after all of his hard work all year long-placed 1st! He's placed 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and finally first! He's done really well all season long placing-so when they tallied up the points-there are two kids tied for 1st and then Chance is 2nd place. We're so proud of him. Can't wait to see how 2011 goes for him and the rest of the Team.

I don't really plan on making any new years resolutions. They always end up broken. But I would like to do more things I enjoy. I've started on that a little I suppose over the break. I'll admit it-I've played a TON of video games. John got me hooked on Call of Duty so that is what I find myself doing most of the time or reading on the Kindle. I need to find something to do that's a little more mobile though that will aid in getting rid of the 30 pounds I want to lose. But that's another rant entirely.

Chance is doing great with school. He reads really well and is actually above average with it. So our days of spelling things out when it's something we don't want him to understand are pretty much coming to an end. Glad to see our Barnes and Noble habit is paying off for him. He's also lost a total of two teeth already and another one is already super loose on the bottom.

Anyways, so that's a quick version of the last 6 months. We also took a vacation over the summer to the Outer Banks and stopped to see family along the way. Hated the long drive, but it was worth it in the end since we brought back Lulu who has taken really well to being back with us. And the vacation was great. Reminded me of taking vacations when I was little with the whole family. There was a little drama, which I expected-but I just ignored it and enjoyed the trip. I didn't have a hard time convincing John that we should retire at the beach. We spent the week in the ocean, fishing, going to the lighthouse, visiting the Wright Brothers memorial and just spending time with the fam. Can't wait to do it again. I still some leftover tan from the trip. We actually stopped in Georgia on the way to NC to surprise Tina. It was so great seeing her and the Fuata girls. Can't wait until they move to TX and are only one time zone away rather than two. On the way back from the beach-we stopped in Greensboro and were able to see Molly and Clara (she is too cute and a Molly clone!) and Nate and Steph. So it was a great trip all around.

With all that said-the Xbox is free finally so i'm about to get my COD on!