Happy New Years!!!

Lastnight was NYE!! And we celebrated by...being asleep by the time the ball dropped! LOL!!! We are SO exciting!! Let's face it, life with a toddler and baking Landon is exhausting, there are very few reasons good enough to keep me up to midnight. Staying up to watch movies with my 13 year old sister last week?? Definitely worth it... Staying up to ring in the New Year... nope...not good enough to me, lol! I know so many that are excited for 2013 because 2012 didn't treat them well. I'm sorry that they had rough years! We've been there. Thankfully 2012 was a pretty good year for our family. While it had its ups and downs it was more ups than downs this time. I'm thankful for the year we had, thankful for the blessings and lessons it taught and looking forward to the year ahead.

One of the things I expect to see a lot of today is everyone's New Year's Resolutions. I don't make them. Why? Because 90% of the time you just break them...so why make a resolution (or promise) that you won't keep?! It's just silly to me. But I do like to look ahead for the coming year and set goals. Because if I don't reach my goals its usually not because I didn't try...I may not have tried hard enough, but I'm pretty good about trying. So I've decided to set 5 personal goals for 2013.

1. To continue to work on my OCD behaviors. I've made HUGE leaps in the past few years. Those who know me will agree that in the past year or two I've made big changes with my ability to give up control and relax more. I worry less, and let far more just roll off my shoulders. I've learned through both life and faith that I cannot control my life. If the past four years haven't taught me that...well I would have missed a huge life lesson. We've had major things happen in the past four years but if I've learned anything from those things it's this... You cannot control everything, worrying about it does absolutely no good because what will be, will be. God is in control of my life, only He knows the plans He's set forth for me and He has a reason for everything that happens in our lives. While some of the things we've faced seemed devastating at the time, they each taught us something, and in hindsight...they were all for the best. That's a hard lesson for a type A personality like me to learn...it took a bit. But I hope I can continue to grow to have faith, to trust in God's plans for my life, and to worry less by doing so.

2. To cook more! LOL This seems to simple but I'm not a great cook. I guess I didn't spend enough time watching my Mother and Grandmothers cook as a kiddo. I remember spending a lot of time in the kitchen with them while they cooked but I don't remember paying attention to what they were actually doing. I want to feed my family better, feed myself better. I need to plan ahead to cook nutritious meals and provide ready to eat, easy, healthy snacks/breakfasts/work lunches for hubs. I'm going to start experimenting with some recipes and when I find things that work I'll stick to them. I want to make bulk items of some breakfast/snack foods that we like and freeze them for easy mornings. I for some reason am getting pickier about what we eat. Maybe because I'm feeding Emilie. I laugh at the nutritious meals I present her while I eat junk. I don't know WHY I don't feed myself as well as I do her...but it's on my list of things to fix. Wish me luck! This one will be hard!

3. To craft more. Ok, I craft a lot. But I keep it to myself for the most part. I have a few select friends and family that I routinely craft for. I see things and make it for myself or one of them and call it quits. I'd like to change that a bit. I'd like to make an effort to put some of my items out to the masses. I don't expect it to do much, but I have SEVERAL of my designer friends that have started "crafting" side businesses and they are all successful! I find myself green with envy when in reality I'm just as capable of doing that as they are...the difference is...I haven't! I want to work on some of my items. Hone them until they are great, and then try setting up an Etsy store. If they don't sell they don't sell, that isn't really the point. The point is knowing I tried. My goal is to have an Etsy store up by the end of the year and to have at least a few sales. We'll see. This one's tricky as this will be a busy year adjusting to a new baby in the house. Lots of changes, but I think its doable. I'm going to give it a good try!

4. I'm going to date my husband! LOL! I know...that sounds ridiculous. But we get caught up in the day to day parenting/working/life madness and I think it would be good for us. I'm going to take advantage of the generous people in my life who WANT to spend time with my child (soon children) and allow them to so that we can get some small breaks. Now as ridiculous as this sounds...it makes me sick to my stomach. I adore my daughter. To the point that I enjoy time with her so much, I don't like to share her. I also have some issues with anxiety and get nervous about leaving her. I want to work on that because it isn't healthy for any of us to not leave her some. And with another one coming...we'll need it even more.

5. I'm going to nurture my relationships better. I have gotten so busy in the day to day stuff that I've not talked to some people who are huge in my life in much too long!! There are people that I care about and love that I rarely talk to anymore...when we catch up its great...but I want to be involved in their lives, not constantly playing catch up! I need to make the time every day/week/month to check in with my friends and family members that I don't talk to regularly. I'm going to be a better friend, cousin, aunt, sister, ect. And I plan to get out of my homebody ways and come see some of you! LOL

So while I'm not making "resolutions" I have set several goals for myself and my family over the year ahead. It's a big year! We'll welcome a new member into our lives and home. I pray that we adjust to this HUGE change with grace and our lives will be richer for it. I HATE change. DO not handle change well...at all. (Unless it's to my house/decor/ect...that I love!) But I'm getting better. I'm working hard at embracing changes. I hope to look back on this blog post next New Years and say whooo hooo!! We did it!!

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years and a wonderful year ahead!!