Anna Grape

check it

*Yearly* bucket list

Let's try it eh? I like thinking of things I want to do before I kick the bucket, and the thought of chipping away at it yearly excites me. So before this year is over I would like to (in no particular order):

Volunteer
  "We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give." -Churchill
                              
                        Join/start a book club

              Enter

               a

  photography

              contest

See my new nephew once a month {at least}

                                                                        Complete a 5k

                                              

SAVE MONEY

           Touch a state I have yet to touch
           
            {North Carolina preferably}
   

Take classes, fitness, trade, and educational



 Meet Phillip De Franco


      

I feel like 2011 was a great year for me, I met myself again, have grown comfortable with who I am and would like to explore and push myself further. I have struggled with my identity for a long time, but now I am confident in who I am.

I think this is because I set a goal, just one goal, and I accomplished it. It was a domino effect, once completed it gave me the resources  to finish another along with the mindset that I can do anything I put my focus and effort towards. It wasn't easy, it made me uncomfortable at times. It is through those times I found myself.

Cheers to new goals and a new year!

touch

the little things: taking the boyfriend's truck

pushing a button and waiting while the seat scoops me into perfect driving place.


the music!!
I love listening to the last CD Rich has listened to. He has great taste and is always showing me new artists. Hearing my favorites all together on one disk. extra awesome.



how it drives our road.
 the driveway is a monster, in my small car the approach is: slow and precise tire placement.

two words:
cup holders
  yeah that driveway I mentioned, imagine that with a five speed and two lattes...messy.

Say say say....

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson

Oh blogger....long time no post eh? Recap time!!

It was the Love's birthday so I went shopping for him. Is it me or are guys INCREDIBLY hard to shop for!? I had some really great plans and each one went down the drain either work, no babysitter, or he got himself the present...it was very frustrating but I think he was happy with what he got in the end...

 We camped out at the river. This was an amazing day. My boyfriend is tribal so there is a big (and I mean BIG) reunion at a very nice piece      of land by the local river. It was a hot day, almost uncomfortable... we had breakfast outside and couldn't take the heat. I am always a little worried about the reunion, I am not too familiar with everyone down there and he likes to spend his time on the horse shoe pit leaving me to either awkwardly sit on the side lines or mingle... This year was different though. I floated around the river with some really amazing ladies, they all made me feel so welcome and relaxed. We laughed a lot, drank a little and got tans. I tend to over think situations, how I should carry myself, what I should or shouldn't disclose... to the point that I even talk myself out of going to things. This is something I know I need to work on. Days like the river day help me know that I shouldn't worry.

Work has been a bit crazy, we are down at least two people and have more events than usual. I am very lucky to have my closest friends as co workers. Without them I would probably be in the unemployment line trying to explain that cussing out guests was defiantly necessary and in no way grounds for firing. Haha...

This weekend was a tiring one!!

  We have about five acres of land around the house. By five acres I mean five acres of blackberry bush and six foot tall grass. We recently got a deal on a lawn mower and weed eater, this weekend being the one to test them out. SEVEN HOURS LATER our yard looks manageable, I can drive my low Honda around our driveway without hearing the scrapes of weeds under my car. The neighbors might hate us a little less now too... we have a lot more work to do but I can't stop looking out of the window at our beautiful progress.

 After a long hot shower I took the little to a park with my friend and her daughter. Now I am not the girl you will see at a gym...ever. I stick to my yoga sessions and mini walks, so after all the pushing and pulling of the mower and lugging around a 10 pound whacker... I get a little sore. I couldn't even lift the little onto a swing!!! We swung, we ran... I sat. It was fun, but again.... tiring.

Today was spent at my mothers, chatting outside in the heat. Did a little shopping and came home.

That leads me to now... on my deck sun setting behind the screen and the sounds of cartoons coming from an open window.

Sometimes I forget how awesome I have it. I start to look at others, their lives their plans and lose sight of what I have. A wonderful partner with a polite, funny, little one at his side, looking identical. A little puppy (currently in a ball under a coat on my lap) and a wonderful house to call home. Today though, I recognize these things, and give my thanks for them.

The song was on a CD Rich burnt, the whole CD is great but this one I just could not listen to enough today.

Can you relate? Worried about big groups of new people? Working hard for instant gratification? Forgetting what you really have to be happy about?