Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!

We sure did.

We visited 7 homes between the 24th & 25th - and it was nuts, but it was so amazing. We are very lucky to have so much family close by to share the holiday's with.

We got a big screen TV for our bedroom, I got a pair of the most perfect Tom's Wedge Heels, and everything else a girl could ask for.

xoxox

Mi Casa

I've been bitten by a bug. I call this bug
the "i want to re-decorate, re-furnish, re-paint everything" bug.

i LOOOVE my house. for those of you who haven't been, its a cute 3 story, 2100 sq. foot townhome. we have an end unit, so we only share one wall with our neighbors, so it really doesn't even feel like a townhome. It has 3 bedrooms, and 2.5 bathrooms with an unfinished basement. We have our own fenced in backyard and a 2 car garage that i'm so thankful for.

let me tell you what i DONT love, and what i'm itching to change. any opinions/words of advice are MUCH appreciated.

- my cabinets. they are a kind of orange tint wood, and i HATE them. our dining table and chairs are black/dark brown, and i want them to match the cabinets. i've thought about painting them, as this intimidates me less than staining, but my dad told me "NOOOOO. that's so 50's" (direct quote). so maybe i'll get some professional help with this one.
My parents have a friend in their ward who is a carpenter, so maybe he'll cut me a deal and i can get mine done soon. we'll see.

- kitchen floor. its the same orange-y tone as my cabinets. i want something different, but i'm not sure what. i tened to lean more to dark tones, but i dont want my kitchen to be too dark since it is pretty small. maybe a light backsplash & walls would make it lighter?

- my basement. Kenyon lives down there (in the warmer times of the year. otherwise he's in our spare room upstairs) and our laundry is down there. otherwise its an unorganized "storage" space. it drives me crazy. not even all of the framing is up, there's only one outlet down there, and there's no heat. I dont really care if it's FINISHED, but i at least want to put dry wall up, and have heat/electiricty down there. I think it'd be fun to have a big tv and a bunch of lovesac's down there, and maybe a pool table or something.

- white walls. there have only been 1 other owner of our house before us, and they painted the living room area a nice tan color with a red accent wall & did an excellent job. We've painted our bedroom a cool dark olive green color, but everything else is white and i HATE it. that's the fun of buying your own place - is painting the walls!
here are the spaces i'm DYING to paint: my kitchen (color suggestions? i dont want yellow or red), bathrooms, spare bedrooms, stairwell (its very tall, so i might need to hire a professional).
i just need to start doing it.

i have 2 weeks off of work for Christmas, so I just want to do as much as i can. It's nice having Kenyon live with us. he's pretty handy and i know he'll help me. i just know this is going to cost a lot. It's totally worth it for me though.
I need to post pictures of my house soon so you know what we're dealing with , but suggestions are TOTALLY welcome!
xoxox

December Truths

There's been a few new things happening in the Woodward household in the past month or so:

1 - Christmas tree is up, all the presents are purchased, wrapped & under the tree. I love this time of year. The smells, the lights, the parties. so much fun. I'm so thankful. Plus it's fun that Kenyon's home (for good) to celebrate with us. I love my family.

2 - Derek & I have decided not to start trying for a baby for a few more years. We're currently planning a Europe trip within the next 1-2 years (we have to save up). THEN we'll start trying. I just really want to go to Italy before we have a baby keeping us home, and it'd be nice if i could guarentee that i can be a stay at home mama by the time we have a baby. I THINK we could make that happen, but i want to be sure. I admire moms soooo much that go to work (plus school usually) and be a mom, but if we're able to have me stay home, its worth the wait for us.

3 - I've lost 32 pounds! I've been using pure essential oils from a company called DoTerra, and they honestly work. I had given up hope on ever losing my weight i've accumulated over the past 5 years, (eating out, eating one meal a day, never excersizing) but it's honestly working! I use the "slim & sassy" oils every day (its a blend of grapefruit, peppermint & oregeno oils) and the "GX Assist cleanse" about once a month to help with cravings.
My ULTIMATE goal is to be where I was in high school when i was dancing regularly, and I'm 1/3 of the way there. I have a lot I'd still like to lose, but it's amazing knowing I'm getting there.

i'm blog illiterate

but apparently i've been "tagged"... whatever? hahah
but i love quizzes, and so here it goes:

4 Shows I Regularly Watch:
-How I Met Your Mother
-Dexter
-Glee
-Dancing With The Stars

4 Things I'm Passionate About:
-My family
-Christmas
-Laughing REALLY hard once a day
-Respect

4 Things I Say Alot (which apparently there's a lot since people make fun of my "sayings" all the time)
- "People are really passionate about"... (cars, music, deer, etc.)
-"Heard That!" (joking of course... or am i?)
-"Love You"
-"guess what i ate today?" hahaha

4 Things I've Learned From The Past
-Family is THE most important part of my life
-Regret nothing. You can learn from every bruise and bump along the way
-Pick your battles
-Only be around people who are happy & positive (most of the time). There's no room for negativity in my life.

4 Places I'd Love To Go:
-Italy
-New York
-Germany
-Hawaii

4 Things I Did Yesterday:
-Worked for 2 hours
- Had sushi with my sister
-Bought/wrapped Christmas Presents
-Watched "Life or Something Like It"

4 Things I'm looking Forward To:
-Dr's. Appointment to get rid of this blasted bladder infection once and for all
-Getting preggers sometime after June (hopefully)
-Christmas
-Seeing Tangled on Wednesday with my family

4 Things I Love About Winter:
-Christmas!
-Snuggling up
-Christmas Tree
- Snow (for about 2 months then i'm over it)

4 Things on My Wishlist:
-To get pregnant as soon as we are ready
-A sushi maker on my amazon wishlist
-To lose the rest of my weight quickly (28 lbs down, 40 to go)
- My hair to grow quickly

4 People to Tag:
-Tahnie
-Maegan
-Julie
-Mama

i finally have some pictures, so i'm going to overload you with a glimpse into the past (almost) 5 years with my husband. enjoy!

Reward:

anyone who will have the patience to sit down & teach me how to actually work this (shoot dang darn the devil hells bells) blog will be rewarded handsomely.
i can't figure out how to make my main picture a NORMAL size, or the little quote in front to be how i want it. also i'd like to change my background & upload pictures once in a while.
i ask a lot hu?

other than that - life is good. :)
i got my own pizzelle iron, so there'll be treats-a-plenty at the woodward house so PLEASE PLEASE come eat them.
i'm on a diet. so far i've lost 20 lbs. yay! now just about 40 more to go & i'll be happy. :)

thats all for now folks. peace & blessin's

confessions

here are some things i have to get off my chest:

i'm completely jealous of everyone with a baby right now. i want one...
hopefully in about 7 months i'll be pregnant as planned, but as of now i need to be getting healthy and ready for it. It's a TERRIFYING thought of being a mama, but nothing sounds so great. I love my husband soooo much and i want a little "deranzik" running around. Derek's even downloading some "pre-pregnancy" books for us to read to make sure we get everything ready now. He's kinda perfect.

i have major anxiety. last night i couldn't get tired because i start to obsess over things that make my heart beat out of control crazy. last night it was "what am i going to get everyone for Christmas? what movies should i put on my que for netflix? we need to get pictures taken for our Christmas cards this week." geeze louise.

that is all. just wanted to share with you all the thoughts that keep these brown eyes awake at night.
love you
Anzana

ugh

dear diary (and readers)

i have to get something off my chest.

i love my family with my whooooole heart. I love derek's family with my whole heart. and they're our best friends. however, a new pet peeve keeps returning, so i need to vent. sorry.

lesson of life #1: do not go to someone's house and say "wow you should really clean up".

this is rude. I work over 40 hours every week, and try to have a social life as well as have some "me" time. My house is not perfectly clean all the time, but i wouldn't label it as "messy" by any means. The person who says this should try living on his/her own, working full time, and doing the "wifey balancing act". then keep a clean house constantly.

lesson of life #2: mind your own beeswax. If i want to talk to my husband, and call him a "jerk" or something, don't but in and tell me i'm so rude and it bothers you when i say things like that. Believe it or not, but we TALK about things, and make sure we don't hurt each other's feelings. where are people to stand up for ME when he hurts my feelings? no where. you know why? people need to mind their own business.

basically, i just wish i got the same love and respect back that i give to people. i have become an expert in learning to bite my tongue. i just wish certain people would learn to do the same.

thanks for letting me vent. i'll try to be my usual cheery self next time. :)

xoxox

picture time

since i usually blog at work (dont tell) i never have pictures to upload so i am going to overwhelm you of pictures of our little lives. most of these are going to be on facebook already, but i like this blogging phenomenon so someday i can print all this out and have a "lazy girl scrapbook". love it

... just kidding....

derek's "organizing" our pictures on the actual computer upstairs - and i clearly rely on him for all my electronic needs, it'll have to wait until he moves the pics back to the lappy.

sorry charlie.

let me just finish by saying i love my family. we are so lucky to have kenyon (derek's cousin) living in our basement. we are best friends with our families.

i'm over my job. it doesn't pay me NEAR enough for what i do. i'd LOVE to work at a beauty school of sorts doing financial aid - so keep your eyes and ears open for me would'ya?

peace & blessins. peace & blessins.

Fathers Day 2010

Yesterday was Fathers Day.

I've always had a weird feeling regarding this day - but this year was especially hard. My whole family was in Hawaii, I've been completely exhausted (taking care of their house, and Uncle Ben), and I didn't have any Father's to talk to on this day.

My relationship with my dad has improved x 10,000,000 in the past 3 years or so. He is my "go to" guy on most topics - and mostly relationship. Turns out it helps to have a marraige counselor as a dad. He's one of the most accepting and loving people I know. I'm so blessed to have him in my life, and to have the blessing of calling him "dad". He doesn't have to be. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to be. But he's still there for me. Giving me good advice and a hug when i need it. I wish i could just call him up and tell him how much he means to me, but I'm shy i guess....

I had a brief time period in October 2009 where I - for the first time in my life- had some contact with my biological "father" Jeff. This experience has really been an eye opening one for me. Jeff basically told me he is content in his life. He doesn't want to know me regardless if I am his child. He's happy in his life & doesn't want me in it.

I always expected this response from him - and I'm honestly okay with it. It's the closure I needed. It just really is eye opening to me that the man who technically SHOULD be in my life and care about me does not. And the man who doesn't really owe me anything is there for me. And cares for me. And loves me. I'm so thankful for my Dad.

ANY MAN CAN BE A FATHER

BUT IT TAKES SOME ONE SPECIAL

TO BE A DAD.

I miss Nonno. Fathers Day to me always meant "call Nonno" but i can't anymore. It's still as hard as ever. Monica (my aunt) made a beautiful tribute to my Nonno with tons of pictures of him with us. I was in almost every single one.

Staying with him before he died was honestly the best experience of my life. He straightened me out. I grew up a lot being there with him. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to tell him how thankful I am to him. How much of an impact he had on my life. We would stay up until 4 am sometimes talking about my goals, what hurt me, what made me happy. He genuinley cared for me. He loved me. I knew that. He was my rock. My best friend. I miss him so much.

This is the first Father's Day we've had without Pappa around. I sure miss him. He was also a genuine loving person. I fell in love with this man when i realized his true sincerity. He missed Derek when he couldn't come to family gatherings. He had the best hugs. The greatest eyes. Miss you Pappa.

Luckily - Derek has a big warm loving family - so the day wasn't empty. We were able to go up and spend the day with his Dad Shawn, his Grandpa Roy, Corinne's dad Jack, and Uncle's Rock & Micah.

We are blessed. I have been so fortunate to have the best of the best men in my life. I miss Nonno & Pappa terribly, and my life will never be the same now that they're gone - but I have some amazing people in my life.

Happy Fathers Day! xoxox

blog envy

welcome welcome - one & all.
i've had "blog envy" for quite some time now. everyone seems to have a blog full of fun facts - yet my sweet little family has none. so here we are.
things you might/might not care about:
Derek & I have been married for almost 2 years (but i love to emphasize the fact we've been together 4.5 years)
we're happy. we laugh a LOT
our boxer baby Millie is perfect
she & i have the same hair color
our home is beautiful. its perfect for US
we like the outdoors but dont camp very often
we're obsessed with Dexter, How I Met Your Mother, & Glee
i rarely use "uppercase letters"
derek judges me for that
we work hard so we can play hard
together we know how to cook about 6 meals
we have the greatest family in the WORLD
he lets me buy high heels so i'll be tall like him
i dont like concerts. derek loves concerts
peach iced tea is a staple in our house
millie loves it when i sing songs about her

so that's all folks. i'll be sure to post pictures soon of our little lives.
later gator