For Shame

Alright, I realize I have been severely remiss in my blogging this year.
I don't need to explain myself to you people so we'll just leave it at that.
There's been plenty to say, I just have not said it.
And on this, the morning of the Eve of the New Year, I'm going to take a <long> moment to reflect and recap.
So hang on, or don't.
Whatever.
You're not the boss of me!


Okay for realsies. I know people can get kind of weird around this time of year, I think honestly they are so burned out from the holidays that they cling to the New Year/fresh start idea a little too tightly, but that's just me.
At the same time, I think it is easy to fall into a bad pattern of looking at the negatives of the year - people focus on the things they didn't accomplish, weight not lost, promotion not gotten - but I spent some time healthily doing a rapid walk-through of my pictures from the last year.
I was surprised both by how much I HAD done, and how many cool things I had forgotten.
I also, as per usual, immediately resolved to try to take more frickin' pictures as things I did remember fondly were not documented at all.
Sheesh.

Anyway, a brief (not really) recap of 2012:

January came in with plenty of cold weather but lack of snow was getting severe, so the Husby and I headed out to Salt Lake City to do some real snow shredding. An accomplishment in itself since I would classify myself as less than novice. It was amazing and challenging and I not only had a great time, I was proud of both of us for kicking some serious mountain ass.
PS - Hello, gorgeous scenery!

Come March, birthday madness ensued with lots of parties, fun and well wishing for the newly older, myself included, in addition to nearly 70 degree weather, which made it all the more amazing.

Early April brought stress, drama, and more importantly, serious dents in the ol' bank account when my poor dog had some serious health issues. They were, thankfully, accurately diagnosed and treated. The new regimen we have for him is expensive, time consuming, and takes its toll on him and us regularly, but I am happy he is still with us.

Little nugglet.

We also were able to take our Honeymoon Part Deux out to San Diego which was fantastic.

I kayaked in the damn ocean for crying out loud.

Someone may or may not have tipped over, but I am not pointing fingers.

We used the trip to plan an ultimate birthday surprise for one of our dear friends, driving from the Whale's Vagina over to Las Vegas to party and melt his face when we surprised him at dinner.

I think my penchant for scheming might have been fueled a little too much.

Complete with custom made T-Shirts.

Naturally.

 

The bathroom remodel that began nearly 2 years ago was finally completed and my heart and ass are happy each and every time I get to use it.

It's so beautiful and so many people helped us pull it together. There were many 'thank you's' doled out but not nearly enough.

We took a trip with my parents, brother, his girlfriend and the dogs up north for fishing fun, and unbelievable perfect weather.

Cramming 6 full grown, not entirely sober adults into a teeny fishing boat in what felt like tempest conditions was an experience not quickly forgotten.

The walleye we conquered that evening tasted of victory the next morning.

 

Celebrated Husby's birthday with a Beer Pong Tournament which was actually a blast. Stiff competition though,  we were the runner's up. It wouldn't be fair for the hosts to take home the gold now would it?

We utilized our canoe as much as possible. Picnic lunches, alcoholic juice boxes and warm weather are about all you can ask for in this lifetime.

I mean, really.

Celebrated our 1st anniversary up in Duluth.

That's right. An entire year.

Shit is real now.

We made sure to reenact the more important maritime scenes.

Who zee shit is Kingsley Zissou?

Are you sure you couldn't have shared the door?

In November, Sister and I took a road trip to Chicago, complete with a stop at the Cheese Castle.

I hate to say it, but this might have been the highlight of the trip.

Not because the rest wasn't completely mind blastingly fun, but because I love cheese that much.

 


Other things for you to be jealous of:
My goal accomplishing record was pretty awesome this year.

• I took golf lessons. Epic. And fun. Who knew?
• I started regularly yoga-ing. Also epic and fun.
• After 4 years of gentle nudging I finally signed up for a firearm safety class. While I am not sure I will ever be the uber hunter the hubs is, it's pretty cool, interesting, and hey, we could all benefit from a little safety right?
• I signed up for a 1/2 marathon, to be run in March this coming year. All I can say at the moment is, Eek.
• I actually followed through on my determination to hand-make nearly all of my Christmas gifts this year, for which additional post(s) will detail.

We also sent out a first ever Holiday card.

While I can't say I accomplished everything I hoped in 2012, I can say that I had an amazing year.
My gratitude to family and friends for making it worthwhile cannot be adequately expressed.
And while I have waxed angsty on New Year's Resolutions in the past, there are several things that are primed to get their asses kicked by me in the upcoming year.

2013... Watch yourself.

Happy New Year... or something.

So um, hi.
I haven't written anything since before Christmas.
That's pretty depressing.
I wish I could say it was because I was jet-setting around the world on my new modeling gig, but well,
I'm out of shape and fear having my picture taken.
And those are just two of the countless reasons why that was not the case.
Anyway, we just passed Easter. It's springtime now. One minute I'm crafting Christmas gifts and now spring is sprunging.

So, what's up with the term Resurrection Sunday?
Anyone?
...
...


Well, 10 minutes later, I couldn't find anything written by an apparently well known or reputable source but here is what I have:

"The assimilation of pagan rituals into Christian observances was a common practice. When people took the gospel into a pagan area many would not discourage the local residents to discard their pagan rituals. Instead they would attempt to give the customs a Christian flavor.
In the pagan ritual of Easter they would take the egg as a symbol of life, dye them red to represent the blood, shed by Christ.

The effect of such assimilation eventually neutralized the pagan rituals making them seem harmless. Who would have ever thought of Easter as the name of a pagan goddess, Bunny Rabbits, and colored eggs are all part of a Demonic plan that originated in the Garden of Eden?

It is because of this deception that many people are left with erroneous conceptions and misinterpretations of this day called Easter and the true meaning of Resurrection Sunday."


Alright.
I don't know about anyone else but I was actually raised Catholic and I don't ever, ever recall being told that Easter was the evil misrepresentation of "Resurrection Sunday"
There was never a campaign to smear the good name of Easter. In fact, this year is the 1st that I have heard the widespread use of Resurrection Sunday.
Granted I might be a bit out of touch with a) what they are teaching kids in Catholic schools these days and b) what goes on in churches, but still.

Am I the only one who doesn't particularly see anything wrong with traditions being adapted to fit certain circumstances or cultures? Wasn't that the whole point of proselytizing (at least at 1st)?
I guess I am out of the loop but it seems a bit forced to me.
To quote some HP, "fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Who cares if it's derived from some pagan holiday and goddess? We have lots of things derived from lots of places, that still doesn't make them any more or less real.
I still see churches advertising EASTER Sunday brunches and masses, so who are you out there at your different churches telling people this is not okay?
I grew up aware, painfully aware actually, of what Easter is, what it represents, and why we should celebrate it.
WTF?
If I want my Jesus with an extra helping of bunny, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise?

I don't get it.


Oh, and btw's, I know for a fact there are a lot of churches out there blessing eggs for this holiday. Do they know they are blessing pagan sin ball's in disguise?