Skip to main content

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Matty introduces me to Madeleine for the first time

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

You know what I love about this time of year, aside from playing with all my new Christmas presents?: the lists. I love me some lists, and as the year ends everyone has them - the top news stories, the biggest celebrity breakups, the best this and that. I just can't get enough of them. And so, in the spirit of year-end lists, I present to you my own lists of the top Stefanie-centric things and events of 2011 - enjoy!


Three generations in front of our well decorated Christmas Tree

My Top Ten Life Events of 2011
  1. Giving birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl
  2. Moving to our new home and new neighborhood (Dot Rats for life!)
  3. Watching my husband finish the Boston Marathon (his 1st marathon ever)
  4. Celebrating the first year of marriage to my amazing, loving husband
  5. Getting to tell our family and friends about our bun in the oven
  6. My sister-in-law moving back to the East Coast from Seattle
  7. Buying our first new car together, completely hassle free
  8. Hitting the one year mark at my job and still loving it
  9. Spending two whole weeks with my Mommy and Madeleine
  10. A girl's only sleepover with my best friends (love those women)

Matty and I at the Finish Line after he completed the Boston Marathon

My Top Five Places I visited in 2011
  1. Captiva and Sanibel Island, Florida
  2. Orlando (again) for Epcot and Sea World (for the first time)
  3. Martha's Vineyard (for the 2nd summer in a row!)
  4. San Diego (for the first time in too many years)
  5. Ontario, Canada to see Niagara Falls and silly tourists
Sunsets on Captiva are awesome, just like this guy

My Bump and I at Niagara Falls this Summer

My Top Ten Favorite Things of 2011
  1. The adorable little baby I can't stop cuddling (and don't have to - (she's mine!)
  2. Our safe, swanky, brand new car
  3. The gorgeous watch Matty gave me for our wedding anniversary
  4. My slow cooker, oh how I love to cook comfort food in that thing
  5. A Lululemon running jacket, new running shoes and the Nike+ to help me start training
  6. Delicious Fall and Winter beers that I can finally drink again
  7. (Carryover from 2010) my iPhone, that I love in an unhealthy sort of way
  8. Facials, massages and highlights to pamper my prego self
  9. Maternity jeans from the Gap
  10. Our new King Size bed and ridiculously luxurious sheets

My Five Goals for 2012
  1. To find my passion for running, stick with it and grow in it
  2. To find a yoga studio/classes I can regularly attend
  3. To continue to grow as a wife, daughter and friend and be the best I can be in those roles
  4. To be the best Mommy to Madeleine I can possibly be
  5. To find more time for meditation and prayer outside throughout the day
2011 has been absolutely amazing for me. I got pregnant, had a wonderful pregnancy and gave birth to a beautiful little human (despite a pretty rough labor). Throughout the year friends and family provided endless love, support and excitement for our little one and my best friend threw me an awesome baby shower attended by friends who awed me with their excitement for our little baby. We have been showered with gifts, moral support and endless promises of babysitters (that I know we can actually redeem!) and, best of all, the knowledge that Madeleine gets to be surrounded by amazing people who will teach her awesome things about life, love and friendship.

Personally, my pregnancy allowed me to be the most selfless I have ever been; everything that I did, ate, thought and felt was about growing a healthy little person and I actually had to let myself slow down and be taken care of to ensure that she would be born perfect (which she was!). I was still able to do the things that I love: spend time with my amazing friends, travel, volunteer and be head over heels in love with my husband and now that she is here, I am confident that in 2012 I will get to continue these things and will learn how all of the puzzle pieces will fit around my new role as a Mommy.

Watching Matty be a father is just as rewarding to me as being a Mommy and it takes my breath away to watch him with her; his love, patience and natural talent at fathering makes me love him even more and look forward to the year to come.

In the 52 weeks of 2011 I only missed one Sunday Mass, and that was the day I gave birth to Madeleine (but I did have a Priest visit in the hospital for Communion and a blessing over the baby). Why do I mention this? Because I know I am truly, truly blessed with a wonderful life and surrounded by wonderful, positive people and I owe it all to the faith I have in God, in myself, in humanity and in the future. The secret to happiness? I think I found it.


A wonderful and exciting New Year awaits!

XoXo,
Stefanie of 2011
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Day in the Life: Food Edition

If you haven't figured it out from this here blog, my life is pretty darn busy but I crave routine and do a pretty good job at sticking to a "regular" schedule, even if it does start at 5am and end sometime after 10pm. One of my most consistent things in life is definitely my eating. I love to eat, and love trying new foods and new restaurants but during the week I am the most boring person ever because I literally eat the same things at the same time every single day. At dinner, we get buck wild, but between 5 and 5, I am like a senior citizen. Here is a day in the life of what I am munching on: 5:00am (or whenever I stop hitting snooze) : one cup of coffee brewed at home with a hefty splash of half and half. I recently switched to the "light cream" store brand but that is as low on the fat as I will go - milk just does not do it for me like cream does. Post-run/workout (around 6:45) : second cup of coffee with cream Commute breakfast (between 7:1
Post a Comment
Read more

Monday night and half a bottle of riesling.

You may be asking yourself now, "why the hell does Stef need a blog, she spends too much damn time on myspace/facebook/perezhilton as it is". Well, I have one because I need one. I get writers cramp too bad to keep a journal, and I can drink and type with much more ease. But really, I think this will be a good way to organize my thoughts, and keep my scattered friends better posted on my life. When your closest friends span from Seattle to Spain, it can be hard to keep them up to the minute on the important things in life - like what I'm doing on any given Monday night. (The answer tonight is sitting on the couch watching the Red Sox, while Matty reads the Augusten Burroughs book I just finished, having just ate a super yummy "smothered pork chop" dish that said Matty made, and applying for jobs at the Crime and Justice Institute). I really just plan on rambling on about my life, and sharing things that I think you ought to know like if Matty and I went for a bi
4 comments
Read more

Good-Bye Green Line

Tonight is officially my last night as an Allstonian. Or a Brightonian. I won't even live off the green line after I wake up tomorrow morning. No more 45 minute train rides that stop every block, no more "This train will run express to Packard's Corner". Tomorrow when I wake up I will pack the cat into his carrier, grab my purse and my husband will drive me and this baby in my belly to Dorchester, to our home, where we will have our first baby, our first wedding anniversary, where we will be "mom and dad" for the first time instead of just "husband and wife" or "Stef and Matty". I will use the vacuum cleaner Matty bought last night, the first new vacuum cleaner I have ever owned in my twenty nine years, and I will hang up pictures from our wedding, our trips to other states and time zones, pictures of our friends and our families. And on Monday I will wake up and catch the Red Line into work. It won't take too long, despite being fart
4 comments
Read more