New Years 2018

We had a great New Years holiday! We had planned to go to a block party with Justin's siblings downtown and stay at his sister's apartment that night. It worked out because my mom recently moved into a new place and the girls were so excited to spend the night there. They did some New Years Eve celebrations with my sister and the kids before spending the night. They also saw Ferdinand that day which I was cool with because I didn't really care to see that movie. Before Justin and I met up with his family downtown, we went to a little New Years Eve dinner. We were trying to take advantage of the fact that we didn't have kids so we went to Taco Guild. It was really good and they had happy hour so with drinks and an appetizer I think our total bill was like $30. I have been on a margarita kick lately and theirs did not disappoint. The salsas and tacos were super yummy as well. After we ate we hung out at Justin's sister's apartment for a while before heading to the block party. We all pre-gamed pretty well. There were a lot of people out but it was a fun night. Since it was outside, thankfully it was not super cold. I also ran into an old friend who was in town from Chicago completely by random so that was super cool. I know it was a good night because I barely took any pictures. I also actually stayed up past midnight so it was basically a miracle! The next morning I was definitely tired but eventually I got my crap together and ran a couple miles with Everly while she rode on her bike. I had been doing a 4-day running streak that went from Thanksgiving to New Years Day and so it was my last day. Everly did great on her bike as well. I am so excited for all of the fun things coming up in 2018.  Disneyland trip in about a week and a half, 2 new baby nieces/nephews, and a trip to Octoberfest in Germany. Happy New Years!

clearing out Grandma's nuggets!

these three crazies

Give me all the chips and salsa!

She looks little here and I love it.

New Years Eve 2016!

We had a great but very tame New Years Eve. It started off with a hike with my mom and sisters. It was rainy and cloudy but very pretty. We also ran into my brother-in-law on the trail. I almost lost my new Bluetooth headphones, but luckily enough I found them at the beginning of the trail. The rest of the day we got some cleaning done around the house and then we went to my sister-in-law house for New Years Eve. She made some delicious chili and we just hung out while the girls played. Her neighbors must have bought that fireworks kit from Costco because they were lighting off a bunch in their backyard and the kids loved watching them. Everly and Aspen love to play with our niece's son Remi and he loves to play with them also so it was a great night. All kids basically stayed up until midnight, although we went home at about 11:45. Our neighbors also had a bunch of fireworks that they lit off at midnight, although we were in bed so we just listened. It is hard enough for me to even stay up that late so I am calling it a success!

My sister and I jumping

 

loving the fog

 

My brother-in-law running by and where I found my headphones.

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years! I just re-read my post from New Years last year (here) so I thought I would follow up on that for the next year. First a review of 2016. My biggest accomplishment of 2016 and probably one of my biggest ever was running a full marathon (here). I also turned freaking 30 this year and took a trip up to flagstaff (here and here). I went to D.C. for the first time earlier this year and then again in the fall (here here and here). We also had a big family reunion in New York this past summer which was a blast (here). Of course I can't forget about our Disneyland trip for Everly's golden birthday (here). I feel really lucky to have been able to see all of the places I did this past year. We have plans to see my favorite band in Vegas this March and then also I plan on trying to visit my Dad in Michigan for his 60th birthday this May. Other than that, I don't have any big travel planned until fall 2018 (Germany!). I have no real fitness goals on the horizon for this year. I enjoy running and lifting weights and mixing in some soccer and hiking and I plan on continuing to do that. I also am very consistent with my exercise so that is not an area I think I need to set any big goals in. I do need to work a little but more about balancing out my eating, but who doesn't. I am not exactly sure how I am going to do it, but this next year I would like to get more organized. I am sure a lot of parents feel overwhelmed at times and I think if I was a little more organized it would make the busy times go a bit smoother. 2016 has had a lot of ups and downs but I really feel lucky and happy with our life. I love my family, I like my job, and we are healthy so everything else is just details. Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Years! Here are my #2016bestnine pictures from Instagram:

So this is the New Year!

Hope everyone had a safe New Years. I am not really ready to be back at work with a full week ahead but such is life (thankfully I get MLK day off in 2 weeks). It was fun to have my carpool buddy back with me again this morning. She did pretty good too considered she has been off from preschool for 2 weeks. She was excited to pick out what to put in her lunch so I am like, hey, whatever you want! I think we were in bed by 10:30 on New Years Eve. I'm not even sad about it. I like to sleep. The kids had fun and when I brought Everly into school this morning she was telling her teachers all about  the balloons that my sister had for the kids on our fake "midnight." There is a little video below of the night which included kids games, scrabble for adults, sparkling grape juice, and some little firework snappers. On New Years morning I slept in until 7 AM !!! We took the girls to the zoo in the morning, put away Christmas decorations, and then went bowling at night. I can't believe the holidays are already over! I ate too much but had a lot of fun and hope the girls did too.

Mae approved of the sparkling grape juice and lots of New Years swag.

Papa and Aspen and scrabble. I killed it in scrabble but then Alex killed everyone in bowling the next day so its all fair.

 

The NYE video:

 

sleeping baby fox and the carousel Aspen was not into

baboon eating a corn on the cob

 

The mantle has been de-christmasified but I have a new lantern and picture of the girls so I am happy.



 

toddler bowling shoes are the cutest!

New Years Eve 2015 and Goals for 2016

 

Happy New Years Eve! I hope everyone has a safe and fun NYE. We are laying low this year and just going to my sisters house so the kids can play. 2015 was a great year. We welcomed a new niece (here) I made my first trip to the Grand Canyon (here), baby Aspen turned 1 (here), and Justin and I celebrated our 5 Year Wedding Anniversary with a trip to Portland, OR (here) among many other fun things throughout the year. I didn't have any serious written in stone goals for 2015 but one thing I did want to get done and finally accomplished was getting confirmed in the Catholic Church (here). It was something I had wanted to do for a couple years and was finally able to make happen thanks to the support of my husband while I took the classes. I also breastfed Aspen until she was 13 months old which was another huge accomplishment for me. Whether or not you agree with New Years resolutions, I think it is great to set goals for yourself and it works for me. For health and fitness I have a couple of goals. I would like to get back into logging my food and start tracking my macros to be better about my nutrition. I have been consistent with my activity so I am not worried about that but I am excited to see where this could take me. I am also signed up to run my first full marathon on February 14th and am currently in the middle of training. Running a marathon in itself is a big deal (to me) so if I do nothing else in 2016, if I complete that I will still be a badass. In my personal/professional goals I would like to continue to read more and watch less TV (but lets be honest I am not super committed to that one. I would also like to pursue a professional designation. I did certified in Grant Management in 2014 but didn't add anything in 2015 so I would at least like to get started on that in 2016. I am interested in becoming a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Government Auditing Professional, and a Certified Fraud Examiner so we will see! For my family/relationship goals, I always want to strive to do better at communicating with my husband. We are not horrible, but we could be better. I would also like to read more with my girls. While I was nursing Aspen I got in the habit of having Justin do all of the reading and I really need to put my phone down more and read more with them.

We have some exciting things planned for 2016 but the biggest is probably our family reunion with my mom's side of the family in July. I will also be turning the big 3-0 at that time so I really have to nail down what I want to do for that. I keep going back and forth between some sort of hiking trip and some sort of beer/wine trip, haha! And of course, I can't forget to include that we are expecting another baby niece this spring!

Happy New Years from The Larkins!

New Years and 2014 in Review

We had a great year in 2014. We moved into a new house with more toy space! We welcomed baby Aspen into our family, celebrated Everly's 3rd birthday, and took a trip to Disneyland. We took it easy this new years eve and just enjoyed some pizza and beers because honestly, sometimes you just need an easy night. We have a lot to look forward to in 2015 as well as Aspen and Everly grow and welcome a new cousin. Also, Justin and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in the fall. The only thing that could make things better is maybe if we won the lottery...haha! Here is a quick Instagram summary of 2014!