2012

I'm not gonna pretend this year was easy.  We had some incredible joys- we welcomed baby Lewis into our family and participated in 2 big family reunions.  We also had some incredible sorrows - lives lost and some  major health struggles, as well as seeing many people we love go through enormous sorrows of their own.  There have been many changes, our fair share of frustrations, and a lot lot lot of hard work.  One thing I know for sure; sorrow and joy come hand in hand.  We feel incredibly blessed, all in all.  And we are.

I'm honestly having a hard time looking very far forward.  Today and this week are pretty much enough for me at the moment.  I want to focus on today's issues that need resolving, and sink into today's victories and joys that we get to experience.  It's good enough for me.

So, even though I'm not a resolution person, and nothing about that has changed, Tyler and I did come up with something a few months ago that we felt we needed to improve within the walls of our own home - something that can help lift all of us up and sustain us during the inevitable ups and downs of regular life.  It is the theme we hope to focus on and use to refine us over the next year.

We are planning on choosing more carefully the media we welcome into our home and what we exclude, we plan on incorporating more positive hobbies and developing of talents and abilities, we want to listen to music more often throughout the day and allow it to help us cultivate the mood we want in our home, and we want to actively find ways to support those we know and love who are achieving and pursuing these values in their own lives.

I fully believe that when we look for the good, we find it.  It is all around us, and abundant and plentiful!  We don't have to wait for perfect moments to feel peace, we can feel it in the midst of our busy and even sometimes chaotic lives.  I love this!  This is a wonderful truth that is a gift from our loving Father is Heaven - one I can't imagine living without.

So, I wish you many good things in the coming year.

Do you have any new year goals, resolutions, or themes?  I love to hear what other people are up to!