2012 return and report

1. Visit 12 places I have never visited before.  Check. Check. Check. Cabellas, Thai Basil, Taste of India, spiral jetty, Sundance moonlight ride, Canada, Cardston Temple, Waterton, Glacier National Park, Horse Shoe Bend, Cathedral Wash, Cabo San Lucas, Puerta Vallarta, Splendor, Mexican Riviera.
2. Make 12 new recipes.  Check. Some I’ve posted. Stay tuned. I may post more.
3. Meet 12 new people.  Check. New ward made this easy.
4. Reconnect with 12 old people. Check, maybe.  I haven’t done such a fabulous job of keeping track.
5. Run 12 miles. Uncheck. I had some back issues and the doctor told me no running for a little while. I haven’t felt comfortable getting all the way back into it. This year I am going to. 
6. Learn 12 new skills. Check, I am pretty sure.  I didn’t do the best job recording it. I did learn some pretty awesome knitting stitches recently. 
7. Read the Book of Mormon 12 times. Half Check. I started out the beginning of the year doing really awesome. First three months I read the B of M three times. And then in the middle of my fourth month I realized as awesome as that was, I didn’t have time to read anything else, including conference report, other standard works, etc. So I slowed down and made sure I got those other important works in. I did however manage to read the B of M a total of six times this year. I feel pretty good about that.
8. Read 12 books that I already own. 11/12. Unless you count the B of M, then it would be 17/12.
9. Read 12 nonfiction books. 10/12. Unless you count the of B of M, then it would be 16/12. I did reach my Goodreads 2012 goal of reading 30 books this year.
10. Discover 12 new loves. Check. I really love parasailing.
11. Learn 12 new pieces on the piano. Not quite check. I’m sure I played 12 new pieces. But actual focused practice, no.  
12. Find 12 names to take to the temple. No Check. I’ll keep working on it. 
13. Look at this list at least 12 times. Check.

a hallelujah christmas

Normally on Sundays while driving to church I flip back and forth between two local stations known to play "church" music on Sundays. However, due to the recent loss of one station, I was forced to find a substitute while the surviving Sunday sounds station was on a commercial break. I decided to give the Christian Rock station (that I may or may not listen to on a regular basis) a try. I think it was fate because not only were they still playing Christmas music, but this song came on. I am already in love with the original Hallelujah song. But I fell in love all over again with the Christmas lyrics. 

It has already been added to my Ipod and it will probably be one of the few Christmas pieces that will stay there year around. 

a christmas to remember...

Christmas Cruise from sarah.n.dip.i.ty on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas!!

a cruisin’ christmas

I am fresh off the boat and still rocking. No I mean literally rocking, you know swaying back and forth over those swells that aren’t really there. Ok, maybe it is just in my head. This year Christmas came a little early. And it came in the form of 7 days on a really big boat where they treat you like royalty and all that is expected of you is to be there and enjoy yourself. 

Carnival Splendor, here we come.

Yes, life was really rough.

First day in Cabo San Lucas

Snorkeling

Baby Sea Turtles

Day 2 in Cabo

Home Sweet Ship

Beyond all this amazing stuff I spent the week relaxing a lot, eating a lot, and reading a lot. Three books finished. I haven’t done that in a while. My favorite place to hide out, I mean hang out on the ship was in the spa. A bit of heaven a week long. A fabulous Merry Christmas.