Our last days in 2010...ready to go into 2011 with a BANG!

Here we are in our last days of 2010! Although it was a fabulous year which included the birth of our adorable baby boy Gaines (Oh, I can't imagine life without him now!), we have so much hope for 2011. I think there will also be lots of changes in the Odom world!

I really can't remember starting a year off so enthusiastic and excited about what's to come! This is a good thing right!?!?!? Just over the next couple months we have Lola's birthday coming up. It's the BIG 3! Lo loves, loves, loves birthdays so we are going to celebrate big this year. Do it all up! Clay and I also have our 10 year anniversary this year....can you believe?!?!!? 10 yrs! Wow...that's a long time. We've actually known each other for 16 years...crazy!!! How will we celebrate??? Do I see Napa in our future??? Who knows!!!

MUSIC!!! Oh the music to come! We're kicking off the year by going to the opening show at new Austin City Limits studio....Willie Nelson baby! This will be a historic moment. If not for Austin City Limits...for us! Then, we definitely plan to partake in all the SXSW events in March and this year I won't be sick (like 2009) or pregnant (like 2010). We're also geared up for a Tejas tour of one of our fav band, The Avett Brothers. We will hit the first show in Houston on Thursday, April 13th and then off to the Old Settler's Music Festival for a second show. The line-up is phenomenal - http://oldsettlersmusicfest.org/. We've decided to go all out...we'll be camping and listening to music for three full days. And, here's the best part...we're taking the kiddos (YIKES)! So excited for them to experience the music too! Just for the sanity sake of it, we plan to take on this challenge with friends that also have kids. That way, the kiddos can entertain themselves and the adults can enjoy the music and fun! Should be interesting!!! Will we survive????

In the big scheme for 2011, there could be new jobs in the works for both Clay and me...hmmmm. Our long-term goal (likely not to happen in 2011) is for Clay to "eventually" go back to work for himself and then I would "eventually" leave my job to work on the business side of things (finance, accounting, PR, etc). We FINALLY have a plan in place to make this work and we're hopeful things will pick up with the economy to help us move closer to this goal. I'm also taking on the volunteer world. Austin is so fabulous and has so much to offer....just thinking about it makes my head spin! With this, I decided to start volunteering. This is two-fold 1) Gets me out in the community...doing good things...meeting new people and 2) Since I predominately work for home, this will help get me out of the house more. Also, lets not forget about running. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to get back into hardcore running soon. I'm starting with the Cap10K in March and then will go from there. I would love to get into the NYC marathon and go all the way with a full marathon but it's a lottery so we'll see.

From an artistic standpoint, we want to do a documentary with our friend Adam - Walk to Marfa. Yes, the title tells it all...this would be an adventure documenting Adam literally walking to Marfa (Just in case you're wondering...that's 430 miles...OH MY!). The idea behind it is great (more to come...maybe???) and we really hope to be able to take this on...can we make it work??? Also, hopefully we'll see more furniture making from MODO in 2011! The Rough Cut show went great and there was interest out there from people to buy. Of course, now that the piece is in my entryway, I don't want to let it go. Even with that, the next step is to get out to the stores (many of which were at the show)...hopefully more will develop soon. As of now, we're in the process of developing the website...more to come! AND, big news...Clay is finally getting back into the music world himself. Yes my friends...there is a new band in the works AND there is already some talk out there about potential gigs (Emo's???). I'm very happy that Clay is finally fulfilling his passion for music and getting back out there. Playing music to him is like running to me. He needs it in his life! I also can't wait to get out there to see him play again...it's been a while.

Finally, the kids! They are growing up so fast and I can't wait to see what 2011 brings. Possibly sleep??? I would love to say we will be trying for a third child in 2011 but not likely to happen. Not that I don't want it to happen....actually, despite the fact that I hate pregnancy, I'm mentally ready to take it on again (even though I still haven't pulled off all my weight yet); however, our pocket book will not allow at this point. We have to get Lo out of daycare and into kindergarten or win the lottery before we can make this happen. So, with that, it looks like I'll have to wait until Gainesy is two before we go there. But, although we won't be adding a third to our family in 2011 (unless accidental of course), we have our hands full with Lo and Gainesy and I can't wait to see what the year brings for them!

Happy New Year to everyone!