A New Year

Hello, y'all. Here I am, eight days into The New Year, and I'm finally getting around to posting about my New Year's Eve party...along with some resolutions.

On the last evening of 2010, Brookie and I had a handful of gal-pals over. We had a lovely dinner (with lots of giggling/cackling) and played a mighty fun game of 90's Trivial Pursuit. Then we made our way over to our friend Brad's house where there was a big dance party going on, where we rang in The New Year!

All the lovelies:
back: Jami, Kari, Jen
middle: Jeanna, Brookie, Gina, Keri, Allison
front: Lisa, Beth, Janae, Brooker

Seeing double. Times three.
Brooke/Brooke, Kari/Keri, Jeanna/Gina

EYEBALLS!
Me and Beth

Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake made by Jami the Great

Dance Dance!

I'm a horrible dancer
(like unto Elaine Benes of Seinfeld fame)
Someone saw me dance and I ran away and hid.
And Brooker got a picture of my shame.
At least Jami still wants to be my friend :)

Kylee warming up...

Jeff gettin' his groove-thang on...

I do not always love New Year's Eve. I was talking to my pals Callie and Melanie about this, and we all agree that NYE is kind of a let-down of a holiday. (Especially since it comes right after Christmas! I mean, you just can't trump Christmas!)

Having said that, I do like to sit and reflect on where I'm at, and where I'm going as the year winds down. (Or, more accurately, once the New Year has begun.)

So. Here I am. Resolving a few things for 2011:

-Meaningful gospel study! (Do more than read my scriptures daily; I want to really get something out of it!)
-Get enough sleep! I kicked off the New Year with a nasty head cold, and quite naturally, I've been in bed early almost every day this past week. (By "early," I'm talking, like, anywhere between 8:30-10:00.) It's been beautiful, because although I wake up still a bit congested and whatnot, when my alarm goes off, I don't want to throw it against the wall and watch it die. I'm going to do my best to be in bed by 10:30 when possible. (Call me an old fart, see if I even care!)
-Exercise 5 times a week! (I lost all motivation for this once Hawaii happened, so I'm resolving to do this for, like, the first time in my life.)
-Eat healthy: more fruits and veggies!!! Aaaand keep up with the whole grains, too!
-Going hand-in-hand with that: Make time to cook tasty meals! This way, I won't have to live off of sandwiches and canned soup.
-Go somewhere new. (This typically happens for me anyway, but I want to keep up the trend, so there you go.)
-Don't let an entire week go by without posting on the old bloggy-blog. I keep a personal journal (somewhat) faithfully, but I want to keep this thing more up-to-date.
-Try new things! Just to keep me open-minded and stuff.

I've actually already tried something new already this year: Zumba. Anyone who knows me personally, knows that I'm not a dancer. In fact, just talking about it sometimes makes me uncomfortable. I'm just...no good. And the very thought of going to a class where you shake your thang amidst lots of other gals who, very likely, can shake it much better than I can; it makes me feel perturbed just thinking about it!

But guess what? Brooker goes to Zumba and has been trying to talk me into it for a few months, at least! I've told her, "I'll think about it," ever since she first brought it up.

And do you want to know what Brooker got me for Christmas? A really cute little jewelry bowl with a bird on it.

Do you know what else she got me? A ten-punch card for Zumba. From her very energetic and lovely instructors, Tami and Amy.

I had no choice but to go. (I can't waste her Christmas gift to me!)

So we went last Saturday morning.

And it wasn't horrible!

I went again this past Thursday.

And I actually really like it!

I'm still a horrible dancer. Just...awful. But the music is fun, and I'm there with Brooker, and everybody seems to mostly be focused on themselves anyway, so I'm safe from mockery!

Although? Whenever the Latin songs come on, I find myself feeling apprehensive from the beginning beats, because: I cannot move my hips (and entire self!) like that! Not at all!

Anyway: here's to A Happy 2011! (And trying new things!)

PS: A very happy birthday to Janel! And my sweet Sethington, too! Love you both!

PPS: I'm still taking recommendations...