As 2009 hobbles out on it's walker, we are preparing to celebrate the birth of 2010. I'm not a huge fan of New Years Resolutions. This is probably because I, like most people, tend to aim just a little too high. You know how it is...get in shape, stop eating junk food, exercise every day (who are we kidding with that one?), save X amount of money, ...the list goes on and on. Let's face it, by the third week of January, the resolutions are out the window and life is back to normal. All good intentions are laid to rest. It's a shame, really. This year, I'm going to try to do a little better. I'm going to try to pick more attainable goals...things that I should do every day anyway, but sometimes I just need to be nudged to remember them. So here goes...
- I will try to remember the hubby's motto of "Is there any added value...?" This is really a great thing to remember. It relates to just about everything. Before I react to situations (or people) that irritate me, I will stop and think for a minute. Is there any added value in saying or doing something rude in return? Will it change anything? Will it make anything better? Probably not. Best to just let it go.
- I will try to add just a little less sugar to my morning coffee, eat one less piece of delectable Belgian chocolate, get a slightly smaller serving at mealtime. The little things add up.
- I will try and visit the gym. I hear it's a lovely building with interesting and educational equipment in it. If I'm lucky, I might even climb on one of the machines and ...exercise. Baby steps...baby steps....Remember, the key to success lies in attainable goals.
- I will try to learn a little more Nederlands (Dutch). Apparently, being able to order basic items off of the menu and saying "please", "thank you", and "the boy is reading" in Nederlands is not quite enough to successfully carry on a conversation with the locals. Who'd have thought?
- I will buy one less item at the antique store. Well, maybe not. Let's not get carried away here.
That should just about do it. I think these goals are more than reasonable. Attainable. Easy to remember. These are my kind of goals. I wish all of you well on this fine New Year's Eve. It's been a good year. 2010 promises to be just as enjoyable, only with a little less sugar. I'm just saying.
We started the year in our traditional Alaskan way...an 
Technically, I met these 
The new year in Alaska brought out all of the regular visitors. This 
March trotted in on canine feet, with the Last Great Race...
March held a couple of surprises for us as well. Not only did we have the normal amount of earthquakes, we also had some trouble from a cranky volcano. Mt. Redoubt decided to blow her top a few times, and one of the eruptions ended up with clouds of ash heading into Anchorage. That's not snow on the truck. That's volcanic ash. We were lucky that it didn't do any real damage. Other than bringing all traffic to a standstill (including the airports) and keeping all humans stuck indoors, you'd hardly notice anything was amiss. Well, 
In May, I was very fortunate to be allowed to meet the 
Todd Palin. Yep. Feel free to pause here a minute. No rush. I totally understand. Once again, you're welcome. 
A very sad occurrence happened at the end of April. Ashley and Tink boarded a plane and flew off to spend a very long "vacation" with Grandma and Grandpa. The Grandparents were kind enough to babysit them for us while we took a little detour overseas. For 3 years. Poor kitties. Well, poor me. The kitties are being spoiled rotten, and have both doubled in body size. Let's just say that Grandma is not adhering to the strict diet that I had the ladies on earlier this year. They are now both roughly the size of this ottoman.
May brought a big truck and a group of burly fellows who proceeded to pack up all of our worldly possessions and ship them off on an ocean liner. We had been trying to go overseas for our entire military career, and had pretty much given up. We were in the process of trying to decide where we were going to retire when the orders came through. Belgium. Go figure. 
Early June had us flying into the glorious country of Belgium. There aren't words enough to express how excited our whole family was about getting this opportunity to go explore Europe. I won't bother re posting pictures of our adventures here so far. Feel free to browse the blog if you care to. In the 6 months that we've lived here, we've traveled around Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. We've explored castles, toured breweries, and visited amusement parks. We've experienced things that we'd only seen in books in the past. We're crossing some things off of our "bucket list" and are adding more all the time. I'd like to thank everyone who had a part in getting us over here. We really appreciate this opportunity, and are definitely making the most of it. 
We decided to do something special for our first Christmas Eve in Belgium. To start off the evening, we went to a candlelight service over at 
The town of 
The pilgrimage ended at the city gates. The Romans opened the gates and let the people into the city. The entire evening was narrated in 
We had a fantastic Christmas morning. I'll spare you the pictures of everyone in their 
The wind is really whipping the snow around. It build up this little drift against the sliding glass door. When I opened the door, it was still standing. 
It was a beautiful day in Belgium, and we all loaded up on a tour bus at 
The first thing we did when we reached 
Here is Sid, the sloth, carrying the dinosaur eggs out so he can be a Mommy. 
Ellie and Manny are nearby. Trying to figure out what the heck Sid is doing. 
The dinosaur bones trapped in the ice cave wall were awesome. You could see them from both sides of the wall. The attention to detail was fantastic!
You can't blame Sid for wanting to adopt these three baby dinosaurs. They were adorable!
Momma dinosaur wants her babies back! 
Sid doesn't look too concerned with the situation. But then, Sid never does. 
Here are Manny and Ellie with their baby. 
I just thought this wall was beautiful! Again, the attention to details was amazing!
Brandon went up the ice stairs to the back of the giant dinosaur. They made the back and tail into an ice slide for the kids. 
Now Brandon can say that he's slid down the back of a dinosaur during the Ice Age!
After you go through the ice maze, you end up in the ice bar. Everything was carved out of ice. I loved the bookshelves with their nicknack's. Very elegant. 
The flowers were beautiful. 
This is the ice bar. The bar, stools, and tables were all ice. I think that even some of the glasses were ice. Can you imagine how cold the bartenders were at the end of their shifts?
The polar bear was near the exit to say good bye. He was 
A beautiful canal at the edge of 
When we were through touring the ice sculptures, we headed toward the center of town where the Christmas market was taking place. The old buildings and cobblestone streets were beautiful. There is a lot of history here.
There were several small markets tucked here and there in the city. They sold everything from Christmas decorations to food.
This is 
This statue in front of the Cathedral was so pretty with it's light covering of snow.
This is the main part of the square called The Market. There was an ice skating rink in the center of the square, and lots of little booth selling their wares all around it.
I think that these buildings are on just about every tourist pamphlet about 
It was getting late, so we started wandering back down the streets and to the bus. This was a pretty little are down one of the streets near the Market. It's a nice place to relax with a cup of coffee and just people watch.
This is Belgium, so here is your chocolate picture. This chocolate fountain had both white and dark chocolate, and I found that pretty impressive. If you are like some of us and haven't finished your Christmas shopping yet, I'd like one of these. What? I'm just saying...