It's begining to look a lot like Christmas....

We are ready for Christmas, the house is decorated, the presents are wrapped, I have watched every Christmas movie we own and I am ready to start baking some cookies.

And my favorite Christmas items....remember the movie A Christmas Story? Check out the leg lamp night light and leg lamp candle holder below...thanks Dad!!

(24 hours of A Christmas Story will be on TV soon....yea!!)

And the number 1 best white elephant gift ever received (thanks to my Aunt and Uncle)

Oh and did I mention we will have a baby with us for Christmas this year? I guess that is the one thing that still has to happen before the holiday. We got the baby stuff assembled and ready to go, now we just need the baby.

And in case you haven't heard he is scheduled to be here on December 16th (unless he comes sooner...but don't count on it). That means we have the OR and doctor scheduled and this is a for sure thing happening in less than 7 days.

Blog Slacker

Yes, I have been neglecting my blog and have been a slacker at posting about our adventures. But during this time of year there are no adventures. I go to work around 9 (sometimes 9:30) and stay until 10 and then of course hit the gym. So while Jeff is enjoying the single life, I am working. Ha not so much!! He does get plenty of time to play video games and watch lots of the history channel, but he also does all the chores and errands. He does the grocery shopping, the laundry, the cleaning, picks up my dry cleaning......yes he is wonderful! I am so lucky to come home after a long day to him!

Goodbye 2007

All about 2007...............

What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Went to Chicago and had surgery

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more next year?
I don't make to many resolutions! I just try to accomplish my goals all year long and focus those. I have been and will continue to study for the CPA exam. Hopefully in 2008 we can celebrate the passing scores!!

Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister!!

Did anyone close to you die?
Jeff's Uncle and my friends Mom

What countries did you visit?
I never left the country but I did visit Chicago and New York.

What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Self discipline and patience

What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
Our trips to Chicago and New York

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Staying at the same job all year!!

What was your biggest failure?
Not passing my CPA exam

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yep, broke my tow in August, had surgery on it in October and it is still broken to this date!

Where did most of your money go?
Property Tax, the Mortgage and Nordstrom

What did you get really really really excited about?
Jacob's birth and my Dad finally owning the business

What song will always remind you of 2007?
Bubbly by Colbie Caillat

What do you wish you’d done more of?
Gotten involved in a Church and small group

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stressing myself out

Did you fall in love in 2007?
I fall more in love with Jeff every day.

What was your favorite TV program?
The Hills and Take Home Chef

What was the best book you read?
Do the CPA study books count?

What was your greatest musical discovery of 2007?
XM Radio

What did you want and get?
A new car

What did you want and not get?
A whole lot, particularly passing my exam

What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 27 and I worked on my birthday! It is in middle of tax season so I am lucky to leave work early to go to dinner with the family, my parents and sister came up!

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Passing the exam

How would you describe your personal fashion concept for 2007?
Brand name snob. I love wearing cute tops with the designer jeans and high heels!

What kept you sane?
My husband

Who do you miss?
My Uncle and Grandfathers

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007?
That I am not in control of the things in my life.
God is in total control whether I like it or not.

New Year, New You...

With the new year, as always, at least for me, comes the dream of making positive changes in my life... new goals that I would like to achieve. So, as 2007 comes to an end and the beginning of 2008 is looking upon us, I have been reflecting on what would I like to see change in my life in this new year. My top 3 things that I would like to see accomplished are:

1) For starters, I really want pass the CPA exam. I want/need to pass this exam so I can advance in my career and begin to start school for my Masters in Taxation. This year I will study more and really work hard on passing this exam!

2) I would also like for us to get active in a church that we can call home. We visited a church but we have been traveling so much we haven't made an effort to attend when we are here. And we want to join the small groups but we always find a reason not to go to church, so how can you commit to a group if you can't commit to church on Sunday. But really, none of that matters... what does matter is that we need to get involved in a church and small group and that is one of my goals for 2008!!

3) I also have the goal of getting up with Jeff in the morning. Normally, he gets up for work at 7:30 by himself and gets ready for work while I am still in bed sleeping. I am more of a night owl so I tend to stay up way too late. But that is going to change, I am going to start getting up when he does and start making it into work at a normal hour!!!

I hope you all have a most beautiful start to the new year!!!!!

New York!

Jeff and I decided to take a trip to New York. He had never been there before and I wanted to go around Christmas time to see the city all decorated. It was amazing! We were blessed with great weather, it only rained on us 1 day! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Ready for a change!

Since we have been in Northern California Jeff and I have both gotten old (just kidding...maybe grew up a little) and I changed my hair color. So whenever we have our "new" friends over and they see these pictures of us, they almost don't recongize us! Therefore we decided it was time to update our pictures. We had a photographer come and take some cute pictures of us just down the street from our house. We really wanted just a casual picture of us to update some of our frames and give us a picture for our Christmas card!

5 years ago - Our engagement picture

4 years ago - there are plenty of wedding pictures

But all those pictures look so ancient to us!
So here are some more recent pictures!!

Saving the Planet

WE'RE GOING GREEN!!

Well, we tried!!! Jeff decided to try out a fluorescent light bulb in our front light of the living room, I came home from work and immediately turned the light off! That was the worst glow of a light I have ever seen. The pictures seem to make it somewhat pleasant but really...it wasn't!!

So until they come up with another way we will continue to use our energy burning bulbs, drive out sporty car and purchase an SUV! But to make up for all our environmental harm I will continue to recycle my wine bottles!!

3 1/2 Years!

Happy Anniversary Jeff!! Today is 3 1/2 years. I just thought I would acknowledge the day and send a little love your way! I Love you!

The Starkels

Welcome to our blog! Jeff & I will try to keep it updated with all the latest news about us and our family. We look forward to sharing our crazy stories and fun times with our friends and family.