The 2013 Top Ten List

No doubt about it, 2013 was a major year around here. It was absolutely LIFE CHANGING, but totally for the better. Yesterday I engaged Mr. C in brainstorming the major events of our year so with no further adieu--The C. Family Top Ten of 2013

1. Baby C Arrives: No question about this being #1. Our amazingly wonderful little guy arrived early in the year and our year really became about him. He is hilarious and adorable and challenging and smart and wicked fantastic. I love being a mom!

2. Mr. C Switches Jobs...Again: This one came out of the blue for me, but it happened! In the spring Mr. C was offered a job at a new company with better pay and a position more in line with what he wanted to be doing in the field. He accepted and had a long commute, but we're happy with the job. I do have to wonder, though...how often is this going to happen!? Since we've been together, this is his fourth job. They've all been good jobs. He just likes moving around, I guess!

3. I Quit My Job: After the baby arrived, we made the decision that I would get to be a full-time mom. WOOHOO!!! I love it. I worked for the school district for nearly 8 years and it was hard to leave, and yet totally easy at the same time. Being a full-time, stay-at-home-mom is ridiculously wonderful and so hard at the same time. But we're living it and loving it and learning a lot.

4. The Year of the Pump: As I wrote about previously, Baby didn't take to breastfeeding like I'd hoped/expected. I still felt it important for him to have breast milk for at least 6 months, so I ended up pumping hours every day so we could feed the kiddo breastmilk in his bottles. And so I felt like I was attached to that pump for a solid 5 months. When August came and I weaned him it brought on some new problems, but it was SOOOOOO freeing! Would I do it again? Yes. But I really really really don't want to. 

5. New Church Callings: I started out the year serving as the Primary chorister. I ended the year serving as the ward choir director AND a Mia Maid adviser. The latter is totally brand new and I'm excited about it. The choir thing has taken some getting used to--its so intimidating!--but I'm learning to love it. Mr. C is now serving as a counselor in the Elder's Quorum presidency. Suffice it to say, our Sundays are busy. 

6. Senate Youth Scholarship Coordinator: In the fall, I was asked to pick up the reins of the state's Senate Youth Scholarship program rather last minute. It mainly involved a lot of organizing and I happen to excel in that area. So I jumped in and had a grand time of it. Its a great little program and I'm excited to tackle it this year as well.

7. Household Repairs: Mr. C had his hands full this year with a variety of odd jobs around the house. I kept joking that he'll eventually replace the entire house. He's replaced a valve/stopper thingamajig on the toilet, the bathroom fan, the garbage disposal, and the kitchen faucet. He's also put up new shelves in our storage room and in the baby's room. And in addition to that, he fixed the water temperature problem we were having in the guest bathroom. I love having a handy man husband. I'm hoping to persuade him to install a ceiling fan in our bedroom before summer.

8. 5K Fun: I was intent on getting back in shape as soon as possible after the baby arrived. To that end, I signed up for a 5K before he even showed up. We did our first 5K together in April. As a family we tackled another in early June and a 4th of July one the next month. And then Mr. C and I ran the first annual Harry Potter Run in our area this fall--I was Ravenclaw, he was Hufflepuff, and my sister ran for Gryffindor. It was great! We're already looking forward to some fun races in 2014.

9. Family Pictures: This summer we had family pictures with both sides of the family and with our only little family too! The O side of the family was done in about 5 minutes. Our little family took about 30 (and that included the baby's 6-month photo shoot). The C side of the family was over 2 hours. (WHAT?!) Go figure. Anyway, its really great to have updated photos to display in the living room. 

10. Reading of Middle Earth: Mr. C rarely has time to read anything that isn't directly related to school. But this year we took the leap and read "The Hobbit" and "The Fellowship of the Ring" together (as in, we had one copy of the book and took turns reading it during the same period of time). We're currently in the middle of "The Two Towers." Its been really fun to read and discuss the books as we go along. Hopefully by next year's Top Ten list, I can say we've finished the entire LOTR trilogy.

And since I like to include a few other things, Honorable Mentions go to: Bubblews.com (my writing hobby site), Noosa Yoghurt (my favorite food indulgence), Jillian's 30-Day Shred (you can actually do a complete workout and shower during naptime!), and "Lincoln," "Catching Fire," & "The Hobbit II" (the only three movies we actually got to see in the theater together this year!) 

Looking forward to another great year!

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Previous Years Lists

2012

2011