The Bradley Bunch

Monday, December 31, 2012

2012 In Review

What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?
Paid off all our debt! Wahoo!

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any for 2012 and the jury is still out on 2013. I tend to make resolutions when I feel they are needful, not when society tells me I should. I do need to make some changes and goals but I haven't nailed them down so I'm not ready to commit.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Too many to list!

Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully. I do know several people who suffered miscarriages though which is devastating.

What countries did you visit?
None. Again. :(

What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
A real vacation.

What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The day we decided to move to Georgia, the days of our move to Georgia, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Honestly? Just making it through in one piece seems like a big deal to me. It's been a rough year for many reasons, most of which I'm not ready to share. I'm proud to still be standing and smiling.

What was your biggest failure?
Not losing weight/getting healthier. I really wanted to be in better shape by now.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really. I had a couple of colds but that was it.

What was the best thing you bought?
A swing set for the kids.

Whose behavior merited celebration?
The kids. They took our move (mostly) in stride and have had a great year!

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My own at times. Politicians. Celebrities.

Where did most of your money go?
I'm honestly not sure...housing, the move or food.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving back to Georgia!

What song will always remind you of 2012?
Bring On The Rain by Jo Dee Messina

Compared to this time last year, are you:
~happier or sadder? Both, in different ways.
~thinner or fatter? About the same.
~richer or poorer? Both, in different ways.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
Things that matter - quality time with family and friends, time for reading and relaxation, serving others.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Things that don't matter - stressing and worrying, unrewarding tasks, wasting time.

How did you spend Christmas?
The kids spent the night in tents in the bonus room at the Bradley house. Layne and I went over at 6am for the festivities to begin. We had the morning there then headed to my moms house around 11 or 12 to spend the rest of the day there. My dad came to our house the next day. It was busy but good!

Did you fall in love in 2012?
Over and over and over again.

What was your favorite TV program?
I discovered Hell's Kitchen on Hulu and I'm currently on season 5. I absolutely love cooking shows and I'm trying to learn as much as I can from them. I would LOVE to go to culinary school some day. Heck, I would love to go to just one cooking class!

What was the best book you read?
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It's a LONG read but I have enjoyed it so very much. I have a couple of chapters left then we are going to see the movie. I can hardly wait! I also really enjoyed reading the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan and rereading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
I went to a concert a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by Justin Evans, Holly Bell, and Etienne de Rocher (With Ben Mize, Chris Sugiuchi and Dan Nettles). All of their sets were wonderful and Holly even brought me to tears with her beautiful voice. It was a great night of music.

What did you want and get?
A move back to Georgia.

What did you want and not get?
A jobby-job.

What was your favorite film of this year?
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We celebrated my (30th!) birthday a couple of days early with family so my actual birthday wasn't all that eventful. My family party was a great celebration with decorations by the kids, a yummy meal by my mom, a tower of 30 mini cupcakes from Gigi's (all my favorite flavors!) and a slideshow put together by Layne. On my actual birthday we had dinner and cupcakes that were leftover from the family celebration. It's always fun when your birthday is on a school night! ;)

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Oh dear. I don't know.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
I really am trying to dress like an adult now and move beyond jeans and tees. I've got a very limited clothing budget but I'm trying to pick pieces that reflect the fact that I've moved out of my 20s!

What kept you sane?
My kids.

What political issue stirred you the most?
The election, duh. Actually, I got pretty sick of it fairly early. I think our future will be very bleak if we can't learn to talk TO each other instead of AT each other. And that's all I'm going to say about that!

Who did you miss?
Friends in Maryland. My Grandpa.

Who was the best new person you met?
The staff at Winterville FBC Preschool. They are amazing with James and Ada and just so, so friendly! They really do let their lights shine! Alayna and Jacob have great teachers too!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
Question everything. Trust yourself. Don't be afraid to change.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Two Months Went By In the Blink of an Eye

November started with Alayna and I going to Stone Mountain with her class. We spent the day learning about Native Americans and after the buses left she and I headed up the mountain. (I had to drive separately.) It was a beautiful day and it was so fun to have so much one-on-one time with her. The sky line ride was having "mechanical issues" so we ended up spending more time on top than we had planned. After a long wait they crammed all of us into the ride for one last ride down for the day. The officer on the top locking up the building literally pushed the last guy in so the doors would close. Sardines, anyone? I was nervous but stayed calm for Alayna's benefit. They took us down VERY slowly which meant we got a nice, long look at the carving on the way down. (The ride down normally takes about 2 minutes and ours took just over 10.) We obviously made it down just fine!

Dancing Performance

Headed Up

Skyline Sweetie

Goofing Around

Beautiful Breezy Girl

Cheese!

Going Down

The rest of our month and most of December was pretty uneventful. I didn't take as many pictures as usual but I did capture a few fun moments that show how we fill our days.

Canning

Pretending

More Pretending

Digging

Picking

Styling

Sliding

Swinging

Repairing

I tried taking pictures of the kids and did get a few good ones but usually I find myself drawn to the more candid shots. These are my favorites from this particular day:

Happy Girl

Quiet Boy

Goofy Boy

Chatty Girl

When James started preschool I thought about putting Ada in too but she was still taking a morning nap at that time so I didn't. She stopped napping in October and at the beginning of November I decided to put her in one day a week. She absolutely loves it although it wipes her out. She always takes a great nap after preschool! In November they had a cute Thanksgiving program and feast for everyone.

Ada Starts Preschool

James and His Class

Ada and (Some of) Her Class

Mayflower Skit

Chow Time!

Preschoolers!

In December we had a Christmas activity at church. The kids had fun coloring, singing, eating - and of course visiting with Santa! It's always fun to stand nearby and see what they say to Santa. This year proved once again that I know my kids well.

A few days before Christmas we went to the Christmas activity at Bear Hollow. The zoo was decorated with lights, inflatables and other displays. I only have a few pictures because my awesome sister-in-law Emily had her fancy new camera with her and was getting much better shots than I was! Once I have them I will post them. We walked around the zoo, listened to Santa tell us about owls, told Santa what we wanted and made s'mores. It was a fun night out with the Bradley clan.

James and Kyle