Years Ago...

I enjoyed reading the past reflections that Kelly at Sketching Life shared so I borrowed (or is it "stole"?) the idea and thought I'd share my own reflections of years past.

20 years ago…

1. I was a Freshman and a cheerleader in high school
2. My big bro was a Senior at the same school (my parents called me his "biggest fan". Whatever.)
3. I was riding and showing my horse a lot

10 years ago…

1. I was almost done with grad school though my thesis still loomed
2. I was the Y2K Project Manager for a healthcare system
3. I drove a dark purple Dodge Neon (don’t judge me too harshly, it was much better than my first car, a Subaru Brat)

Five years ago…

1. I’d just moved back from the Seattle area
2. I was a Director of Information Technology for the healthcare system I’d worked at previously
3. I started dating my future hubby

3 years ago…

1. We were married and were thinking about starting a family
2. We bought our first house
3. We spent our first Christmas in the Midwest with Mr. Wagner's side of our family

2 years ago…

1. Our Little Miss was almost 4 months old though she was supposed to have been only 1 month
2. We were HUGELY blessed by God during the biggest trial of our lives to date
3. We were not getting a lot of sleep

1 year ago…

1. Mr. Wagner started a new job and we were thankful he would now have a short commute
2. Little Miss was learning to walk
3. I was (and still am) working part-time as an IT Manager

Today…

1. I absolutely love being a mom and am really enjoying the toddler stage, however…
2. I am not looking forward to potty training and admit I have been procrastinating
3. We still have the same horse I had 20 years ago and I am excited that our girl now enjoys riding him

This Coming Year…

I don’t yet know the rest of the story but as for me, “I will trust in the Lord and say, He is my God and my times are in His hands” (paraphrased from Psalm 31: 14-15).

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the West Coast Wagners!

For our part, we aren't even going to try to make a New Year resolution (we're still working on ours from last year!). I didn't even make my half-marathon goal so maybe this coming year? If not, as long as I get to it by the time I'm 50...or 60...

We're Home!

Just a quick message to say that we made it home safely from our Hawaiian adventure. We had a great time on the Big Island with my side of our family. We'll share more about it later after we catch up on our much needed zzzzz's. After a "red eye" flight late last night and not getting to our home until this afternoon, we're greatly lacking. PTL that all of our flights went well and the Little Miss was a terrific traveler!

The True Meaning of Christmas

We have been blessed with an unseasonably early "White Christmas" this year. We love the snow so it's been a refreshing change from the typical rainy weather we get during the winter. The most exciting event this month however is not the snow or visiting the lovely Storybook Land or even a fun family vacation (though we sure are looking forward to that). It's not about the holiday dresses or the Christmas tree (or lack thereof) and is certainly not about a heavier-than-average stranger dressed up in a white beard and red velvet tights. Most importantly this month, we are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. The Little Miss loved this nativity scene craft project that she got from her Aunt Tonya and Savannah. She often asks to hold it by saying "Baby Jesus!!!" (though once in awhile she gets confused and asks for "Noah". We're still working to get her biblical facts straightened out). When you ask her "What is Christmas about?" she replies excitedly "Jesus!!!". That's our girl.

Merry Christmas from the West Coast Wagners!

Evolution of the Christmas Dress(es)

There are many things I love about having a girl, one of which is getting to dress our Little Miss up in a special Christmas dress. Of course the real reason we celebrate this holiday has nothing to do with clothing, however it sure is fun to find a dress (or "dresses" as it may be). It's amazing to think how much our girl has changed over the years when we look back on her fancy attire:

Yes, I realize that she has more dresses than the number of Christmases she's been alive for, thus far. We were blessed with three beautiful dresses from two of my aunts and our friend Mel last year. That made it extra fun!

This year our girl will have a special "sun" dress for the holiday itself. Considering it's been really cold here lately, we'll save that one for later. For now, here's our Little Miss in her pre-Christmas 2008 dress (I sure like quality second-hand store finds).

Doesn't she look like a porcelain doll in this picture? I'm biased but I think she's simply adorable.

Date Night

Mr. Wagner and I joined the Booths on a double-date this weekend. My hubby and Janelle both work at the same company so we all got gussied up and attended the big event together. As you can see, my manly man sure cleans up well!

(P.S. A big Thank You! goes out to Janelle's parents, Wally and Carolyn, for watching the kiddos!)

O' Christmas Tree

Not to brag but I must say, the West Coast Wagners have a Christmas tree that gives the Rockefeller Center tree a run for it's money.

Their tree may be over 75 years old, but our tree will last for that and much longer! Their tree may be grandiose and well lit but our tree is unique in it's own way (aside from the mere fact that there are thousands of others that were mass produced at the same time). At 72 feet tall, you would have to have binoculars to clearly see details at the top of the Rockefeller tree. At 1.5 feet, the star on top of our tree is easily visible. Our tree even sits gently upon a bookshelf, I bet their tree couldn't do that!

Yessiree, I think our tree is the clear winner in this contest. Don't be too jealous, dear Readers. Next year, we plan to lower our lofty standards and will just get a REAL tree (ha, ha).

(For those of you wondering why we have a plastic potted plant as our tree this year, let's just say that the only live tree we could have for the holiday would be a Palm tree).