Here are my New Year's resolutions (yes, I made some), dear reader:
*Calm and Kind (totally recycled from the last few years because I'm not there, yet)
*Caring for myself every day (doing three things I love that bring me joy as I do them)
*Talk Less, Smile More (not in a creepy Burr way, but in a listen-to-people-and-be-kinder way --a lot like "Calm and Kind"!)
*Having a love affair with my scriptures
*Exercising (cliche, but absolutely necessary and desired)
How will I accomplish such a thing? Routine will help. Weaning the toddler will, too.
I already have a yoga program set up to start doing tomorrow (or today?! Who knows! I may go crazy and start this afternoon), I'm doing myfitnesspal app, I have a scheduled time to read my scriptures and exercise once the kids go back to school on Thursday, and I'm going to buy a muzzle. Haha! Just kidding! But seriously, I'm gonna try to listen more.
Do you have any resolutions?
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20 years ago, I was starting my final half of my senior year of high school. I am officially old.
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Remember this line from that song (the one feminists hate and yet is full to the brim of true doctrine?):
"God gave us families,
To help us become what He wants us to be.
This is how He shares His love,
For the family is of God."
Well, it's true. Because I think families give us our absolute greatest challenges, and at the same time, our absolute greatest joys. I've been thinking about this a lot because we're facing some pretty rough family decisions (extended, not immediate, and it's not anything we haven't dealt with before) and I realized that from one perspective, I probably look like a crazy woman. From another perspective, however, I look like a friggin' saint. I guess it just depends on which perspective you're going to choose to believe, eh? I can't control the outcome, but I can control my response to it all. And y'all better get ready, because we've got some huge boundaries going up very, very soon.
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In two weeks, we'll be celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary. We've had our ups and downs, but I can honestly say that I'm incredibly grateful I married the man I married. Life has never been boring with Brandon, and he's a very good man! I think our challenges have been good for us --they've taught us so much about how to serve others, re-think our priorities, and make frequent decisions about whether or not we will choose each other. I love Brandon, and I'm happy I keep choosing him every day!
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Since #1 got a ukulele for Christmas, it's been nothing but happy ukulele sounds all day long (from her and Brandon). It's awesome!
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The kids just turned on Season One of "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I may have to watch. Because it's the best animated series of all time. We've only watched it 78 times.
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We had a great family over for dinner, last night. I love, love, love good friends! I have been so abundantly blessed with many good friends throughout my life. I regret how many I've offended, hurt, rejected, ostracized (inadvertently), or ignored. I'm not the greatest reciprocater because I tend to be selfish and forgetful (I'm gonna get Alzheimer's --or at the very least, dementia --dear reader, mark my words. I already forget so much. It's kind of scary and sad. 😓) I also have a very big family that demands a lot of my time and energy. I'll blame most of it on them. Yeah, it's them, dear reader! It's all them! It's totally not my personality or character at all.
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We finally moved the cats downstairs to the big laundry room (and my amazing husband moved cabinets, drilled holes, cut things, and made adjustments) so we could reclaim the sun room that is off the kitchen. I deep cleaned it and now it is usable and comfortable! Yay! It was christened last night when the kids all ate in there and played board games with our friends.
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These are the things that make me happy and I will try to do three of them every day (as per my new year's resolutions up there):
*Drinking herbal tea
*Reading books (times a million)
*Write things (journal, poetry, essays, posts)
*Chopin (playing and listening --all classical music, really.)
*Enya (listening --I love the Enya Pandora station for cleaning. Sounds counterproductive since it's slow, melodic, soothing, but the truth is the mood in our home changes drastically when I have that or classical music on. We actually get along better AND I get more accomplished. Go figure?!)
*Piano playing
*Reading my scriptures
*Flowers! (buying or arranging or planting or smelling)
*Going for a walk in a park or trail or mountain or meadow or plain (way better than sidewalks and streets!)
*Yoga
*Creating something
*Connecting with people I love
*Chocolate
*Long, hot showers
*Hugs (lots of hugs)
*Meditation (prayer) that is uninterrupted. Rarely am I uninterrupted, but it happens.
What makes you happy?
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Photos of Christmas!!
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