{ring in the year 2013}

It seems almost unbelievable to me that I’m sitting here writing ANOTHER New Year’s Eve post!  I feel like this year has gone by so quickly, I must have surely slept through some days.  As a child, I never understood why adults always lamented over the fact that “time flies by”.  Back then, I WISHED for time to come and go more quickly.  I couldn’t seem to get to adulthood fast enough.  *Sigh*  If I’d only known then what I know now.

2012 brought with it a lot of changes for our family, most of which were wonderful, some of which were a struggle.  Steve and I finally became a married couple this year (definitely one of the “wonderfuls”).   I quit my full-time job in order to stay at home with our kiddos (a struggle, but still wonderful) and we became a homeschooling family.

Of all the changes that we made this past year, I think this is the one I’m most grateful for.  Our family has experienced such dramatic benefits from this change, more than I even thought possible.  For the first time EVER, I don’t feel like we are constantly trying to keep up in the race of life that most people are running.  We are much more relaxed and have a much stronger bond as a family than before.  We fight less and hug more, and to this momma, that is a huge blessing!  The number of shocking tragedies occurring in the world today is increasing at a speed that has my head reeling at times.  And I truly honestly believe that keeping our kids home was and is the right decision for our family.

With the start of a new year comes the all-too-familiar urge to “start over”.  For me, January 1^st has always signaled a chance to start from scratch and create a new beginning for myself.  Oddly (and amazingly) enough, this is the first year in several that I DON’T have a New Year’s Resolution to “lose weight”.  I am pretty much where I would like to be on the scale and that’s definitely a first for me.  So, this year I’ll be focusing more on ways to simply live a healthier life.

Along with this goal, I have defined a few others for myself that I’d like to share now.  I don’t share these goals for any other reason than the desire to have them documented and easily referenced during the year.

So, without further ado, here are my resolutions goals for 2013.

{Personal}

–           Start and complete the Couch to 5K running program.

–          Run my first ever 5K!!

–          Read through my bible in one year

–          Read 24 books in the year 2013

–          Drink MORE WATER – less soda

–          Learn to knit

{Marriage}

–          Enjoy one date night with my husband each month, even if it’s doing something simple and inexpensive.

–          Read 4 books on the topic of marriage

{Ministry/Friendships}

–          Enjoy one “girls only” date with friends each month.

–          Volunteer my time at church teaching or just helping out in some way.

–          Learn more about ministry in other countries and look into possible mission trip for myself and Husband.

{Children/Homeschooling}

–          Complete 5^th grade with Ryann/Begin 6^th grade

–          Complete 3^rd grade with Kamri/Begin 4^th grade

–          Begin Pre-K with Grant

–          Enroll girls in piano lessons

–          Get Ryann and Kamri involved with local GSA troop

–          Teach girls to sew and crochet

{Blogging}

–          Establish a weekly schedule for writing posts

–          Begin posting about saving money by using coupons and rewards programs

–          Begin posting about organization in the home

{Financial}

–          NO BANK FEES for one whole year (somehow I always end up with those stupid things because of my irresponsibility L  )

–          Pay off credit cards

–          Work on establishing realistic budget for my family

–          Track coupon savings and work toward a goal of saving $3000 in one year simply by using coupons and savings techniques.

{Home Projects}

–          Remodel kitchen

–          Build bedroom for Grant

–          Paint bathrooms

–          Reupholster dining room chairs

–          Work on purging unnecessary items from home and paring down to the essentials

–          Work on organizing chaotic areas and making them more functional

Although this list is not an exhaustive list of goals that I have for myself in the coming year, as you can see, this is quite a list.  But I believe that I can accomplish everything on it with a little bit lot of discipline.

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

May your year be filled with the blessings that can only come from our Lord and Heavenly Father.

Truly,

Melony