Happy New Year!

First post of 2010! Woo hoo!

I hope everyone's New Years Eve was great! We were very happy to have a night in and just relax and enjoy spending time together.

Yesterday we took down all the Christmas decorations and cleaned our house. It didn't take us as long as we thought, and even though I was sad to see the decorations get put away, I was happy to have a clean and organized home!

This is where Einstein hung out as we took down all the decorations. The noises scared him, so he managed to find a warm spot where the sun was hitting on the stairs. He looks like he's in puppy prison!

Here's what 4 Christmas trees, garland, 3 wreaths, and many, many ornaments look like when they're ready to go back in the attic. So long guys until next December!

The staircase is back to clean and simple. Bye bye garland!

Tony's office no longer has a Christmas tree in it. We're excited to start working on this room in 2010!

From this view of his office it was so pretty to see the two green wreaths we put on the doors that had clear lights. From here you could also see the lighted garland. Can't you have clear lights up all year long?

Kitchen sparkling clean! Nothing on the island, just how Tony likes it! :) Stainless steel cleaned and Christmas towels put away. What you can't see also makes me happy: tons of tupperware washed and stored that used to be taking up space in the fridge. Bye bye holiday leftovers!

No view of our other Christmas tree from the door. Back to normal!

2009 was a great one career wise, as homeowners, and as a married couple. In 2009 we settled into our new home, began decorating and collecting furniture, took a fun trip to Cancun, kicked up our investing, joined a gym, had my family move to town, and overall just became more comfortable with being adults. It was our first full year out of the apartment life and man have we enjoyed it!

We don't have any resolutions for 2010, but rather just a few goals. Tony and I both think it's easier and more feasible to work towards a goal rather than to keep up with a resolution. We're more goal oriented people, but whatever works for you as long as it works! This year we want to increase our saving and investing, continue to practice living below our means, take a fun vacation (maybe two!) somewhere new, have more date nights, decorate a few more rooms in the house, and continue to stay active and eat healthy. When I look at these goals I get excited because I think they are realistic and achievable. That and who doesn't want a fun vacation or more date nights?

Happy First Day of the Year! I hope it's a good one for you!