Memory Jar

Last March I had an "Around the Clock" bridal shower in Seattle. This kind of shower is one of my favorite types of bridal showers. The object is that each person receives a time of day with their invitation and they get a gift that the couple could use for that particular time. It's great to see how creative some people get with this....especially Ms. Adrianne Martin.

Now, the shower was planned by Emily Shoemaker and her mom Judy Borrow. Emily was strategic in assigning the time of day to my sisters and friends and gave them all evening/night times. I think she was getting me back for Marin giving Emily leopard lingerie at her shower ;) holla!

Anyhoo.....Adri was given the time of midnight. Which, one would think...bedtime. Something dirty? Something romantic? Emily thought she would go the dirty route, but Adri went with sentimental and romantic. Love! She got creative...heck, she is a designer-creativity is her job! When I opened her gift I found a bottle of champagne, noise makers and a memory jar. (with a fun polka dot lid in our colors! Point for Adri!)

The object of the jar is to write down memories of all kinds throughout the year and then read them at midnight on NYE. Now, I had pinned something very similar to this and loved the idea of having one, but never in a million years did I think that my hubs would ever participate in this. Yeah, no. Not his thing. I however, thought I would attempt to keep track of some WAM memories and write them down. I had a good handful in the jar.

Let's  rewind to earlier this fall. W told me one night that he has a secret, but he cannot tell me. Seriously? Boy, why do you play these foolish games! You cannot tell me you have a secret and NOT tell me. I asked him about the secret. Who does it involve? Is it good or bad? Do I ever get to know the secret? He assured me it was good and that it involves us.

That was it. It drove me crazy...like when you bite your cheek and then keep on biting it throughout the day. Yes, that crazy.

So, after midnight on New Year's Eve, while watching Dick Clark's NYE special and singing along with Fall Out Boy and Jason Derulo, Will says, "Do you want to read the notes in our memory jar?" I said, "sure, but there's really not many. I am the only one who put things in there." Cue Maja's sad face. That's when the big secret was revealed.

W said, "Remember that secret I told you I had?" Me: "Yes......?" W: "Hang on." He left the living room and came back with a pile of folded up notes and memories from 2013. What the fox say?! Is this for realsies?? Not only did he write some fun memories down, but they were sweet, unlike his wife who put crazy and funny memories down. We obviously know who the romantic one is in the marriage ;)

What a great secret! Well played Willis, well played. 

It was an awesome finish to 2013 and our first holiday season as Mr. & Mrs. Looking forward to the memories we'll make and create in 2014 filling up our memory jar!

2014 Resolutions.

Can you believe it is already 2014?! Holy cow....where did 2013 go??

This week marks a big week for me...if you can believe it, this week is my blogiversary! Wahoo! WAMalicious has been going, not as strong as I'd like, for a year now and I feel that I successfully completed my Challenge 2013: A Metamorphasis in Baby Steps resolution. How about THAT for sticking to a new year's resolution, huh?

Seeing as how it is January and that I am a HUGE, like Jay Leno chin huge, fan of new year's resolutions, I will happily share mine with you. Many people make resolutions, but do not complete them. As I was watching the TODAY show this morning, they had a segment on NY resolutions and one thing that helps people stick with their resolutions is to make them public and tell others. Just a fun tid bit :) This year W and I both did resolutions again and I made simple little cards for each of us so we could display them and look at them everyday...

Will
1. Learn to speak Spanish
2. Be less dependent on technology (mainly cell phone)
3. Live a healthier life...
-work  out regularly
-eat right
-get 6 pack back (ow owwww holla!)

Maja
1. Read one book a month for fun
2. Learn to play the acoustic guitar
3. Live a healthier life...
-work out regularly
-eat right
-lose 30 lbs by end of 30 yrs.

My first goal, read one book each month might be a little hard this spring while I finish school, but I am going to do my best. It is a relaxing thing for me to be able to lose myself in a book and take a time out from the real world. I might be asking for some suggestions because I want to read a variety of books, not just my typical chick lit.

My second goal is one I have had for  a while. If I hadn't decided to get a master's, I would already know how to play the acoustic guitar. The hubs bought me an acoustic guitar a few years ago for Christmas. He said he knew it was something that I had always wanted and I really wanted to learn to play, but it was also something I would never buy. In other words, it was a dream. He helped make my dream become a reality. Don't worry ya'll....when I can play, I will serenade ALL of you :)  I used to want to play punk songs and Christian songs. Now, I would still like to play both, but W knows that my big goal is to learn how to play "Come On Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson (LOOOOVE HIM!). I would love to be able to play and sing to my future unborn kids some day and for W.

Next year's resolution: perfect angel-like singing voice.

My third goal is one that W and I both share, to live a healthier life. I was in great shape before WAM wedding and then life got busy again. I chose the easy, non-healthy route. Why? Because I thought that I was too busy. I made excuses. Tons of excuses. Ugh. It disgusts me. So, together, we are going to get back into a regular workout routine, which I started this morning. I got my butt kicked, but it was good! Also, our eating habits are going to change. We are making simple swaps and smarter decisions. We love to cook together, so this will be fun to cook healthy together!

The last part of my third goal is lose 30lbs. by the end of my 30th year. My bestie, Adri, is also participating in this challenge and is the one who inspired me. Kudos Age! The object is to lose 30lbs before you are 30. Seeing as how my 30th is coming right up, I decided to take the route Adri is taking, which makes absolute and complete sense to me: lose 30 while you are 30. Essentially I am tweaking it even more since I am not 30 until May, but who cares. I will start now and then by May 31st 2015 I will be 30lbs lighter and sexier....holla back! ;) This fits in with my health goal because I am making a lifestyle change rather than going on a diet. Ha. Diets are a joke. Seriously. So are pills. Joke joke joke. Ha. That's my opinion, if you disagree fine. Just don't tell me about it. :)

So. There you have it. My 2014 resolutions. I am excited to tackle these new challenges and am feeling motivated. Stay tuned for the good, the bad and the ugly experiences.