How was my 2008?

So, it's that time of the year again to make resolutions and see which ones I can stick to. But first, let's take a look back at what I said I'd do in 2008 and see how it went:

Ten resolutions for 2008

10. Make time to read a lot of good books this year.

David and I wanted to start a book club between the two of us, or pretty much just make an effort to read the same book and then discuss it. It's a very romantic idea but didn't take off much in 2008.

I started reading the "Twilight" book series, and am 1.5 books from the finish. I also got into the "Dexter" books after having seen an episode of the Showtime series. Individually, I also conquered "The Kite Runner" and "I Am America (And So Can You)."

Goodreads.com has proven to be a great resource for this goal. I didn't do quite as well as I'd hoped, but I definitely put forth an effort.

9. Blog every day. Something, anything, just blog.

I slacked a little on this one, but it's hard when you have a billion blogs to find something to write on them. Though I didn't blog every day, I bet if you look through all of them you'll find I blogged a lot. Better luck in 2009, now that I have my own Web site. ;)

8. Get more violin practice in each week.

Due to money restraints, I have not taken lessons in many months. I haven't even picked up the instrument in awhile - mostly because I was practicing one day and some ppl down at the Muddy Pub were making fun. How discouraging! Also, David accidentally pulled off the chin rest because I was not specific when I told him to remove the shoulder rest. I need to get back into that...

7. Move out of my parents' house.

Check!

6. Volunteer more.

I served as the Jersey County Relay for Life's Fight Back chair person last year, but I thought I'd take it back a notch this time. Christmas went by so fast I didn't get to ring bells for the Salvation Army. I need to do more research and budget my time better in '09.

5. Get along with parents/brother more often.

My brother is still somewhat of an issue because he is quite possibly one of the grumpiest people I've ever met. My parents and I still get into tiffs every so often but they are two of my best friends these days. It really does pay to move out and have your own space. You really appreciate family more.

4. Eat better, excercise regularly -- come up with a plan and stick to it!

For awhile, I went on a big yoga kick and was doing great. Then school started and it threw my schedule off. Later in the year, I started walking with my dad twice a week at the mall, something that fell off around the holidays, but is expected to pick up again in the new year. Living with a boy has caused me to eat more than I usually would so as not to waste (and there's a lot of food for just two people to eat usually). Also, we eat out a lot. We need to get better in 2009.

3. Get better at drawing/sketching and photography.

I have not done a lot of this at all.

2. Keep in regular contact with old friends via phone, e-mail, text, snail mail, whatever.

I get better at this and then I do worse. I am pretty decent with e-mail, but not the phone. I did get some stationery and a quill late in the year, so look out people!

1. Get my clips organized. Figure out how to be happy professionally and start doing it. (Or at least actively working toward it.)

I'll work on it in '09.

Fancy Christmas comes to the Griffith household

This year has been so busy for everyone in my family that it just wasn't feasible to open presents from Santa on Christmas Day.

Our solution?

We had Christmas at our house last night. And when we planned it, which was kind of last minute, I thought this was a chance to make it my own.

Inspired from all the parties I'd been to this year featuring fancy appetizers and party gifts, we put together a few items of our own, even if it was just for our little family and David (who came late because Dominoe's kept him at work 2 + hours late).

We had cookies and candy galore, pecans my aunt picked herself and gave to my parents as a gift, spinach-stuffed mushrooms and cream cheese bacon crescents mom helped me make (kraftfoods.com), rye bread mini pizzas and a meat, cheese and vegetable tray no one touched as well as a plethora of chips, pretzels and dip. (And fancy G napkins :))

I made some sweet wine glasses for everyone to have as party favors. Altogether the materials cost me about $8. And I could have made at least 10 more for $1 more per glass.

Read my work blog for more details and tips.

I got a Wii Fit (FUN!!!!), a great set of luggage and lots of other goodies I love.

For entertainment, we played a game called "Pay Me" and watched Christmas videos from mine and James' childhood (cute AND funny!)

I tried to record the whole thing but my camera died halfway through James opening his presents. I wanted to make things last longer so we opened presents one at a time starting with him. By the video though, one would think he was an only child.

More Christmas stuff going on tonight and tomorrow, but for now, everyone have a very Merry Christmas!!

Omy God, I want this

:)

Fancy holiday party fun

I spent most of last week feeling sick, but I caught a break near the weekend and was able to accompany Lynne to a girls' night in Christmas party she and her friends been planning at least a month. Turns out it was just what I needed for a relaxing night of fun, and the added excitement of meeting some new people was the icing on the cake.

The party was held at her friend's place in University City, which was decked out in classy Christmas style - I was amazed at all the preparations, so I sat there and took it all in while I tried to make friendly conversation.

The women there were very friendly and, might I add, pretty good cooks. It was a change of pace from the Christmas parties I was used to - bags of chips, store-bought cookies, pizza and beer. That being said, I was a little embarrassed with my non-cooking skills and Christmas popcorn tin, but at least people ate some.

 

Instead, Christmas platters filled with Cream Cheese Bacon Crescents and Bruschetta covered the tables as we hovered around the kitchen, talking and refilling our holiday decorated glasses with mulled wine and Sangria.

 

Read more on my work blog and get the recipe for the crescents, which were TASTY.

Lauranette.com

Hey everyone,

So I bought a domain name, lauranette.com (for lack of a better name at the current moment) and am using it as a professional site. I don't have much up currently, so the home page says "under construction."

However, Stephen helped me load WordPress (thanks Haas, if you read this) and I imported a blog I started months ago on journalism and the Web that I wanted to keep separate from this one, which is more personal.

Check it out and stay tuned for updates. The links and everything are not how I want them to be but I figure this is a good starting point.

http://lauranette.com/blog