(trumpet fanfare).....New Year's Resolutions!

My sister-in-law has inspired me to post my New Years Resolution, thanks jsf :).  I have thought long and hard over the past month, not just about resolutions but more for themes and solutions to my life problems.  So here are three goals/themes that I think will bring more happiness and fullness to my life!

....and that is always the goal right, to set goals to make us happier right?! 

1. Celebrate holidays to their fullest

Okay I am guilt as charged, I am a Scrooge. No not just for Christmas, but I tend to be lazy and just non-caring about many major holidays.  And last year was no exception, last year was really bad.  I did not even dress up for Halloween really...gasp....sad I know.  I don't know if it was just stress about money or having no place to store cette holiday treasures, but it was an epic fail.  It made me realize that the purpose of many holidays is to break up the monotony of life and have something to look forward to.  When we do this, it does help.  We decorate, send cards, do special activities, remember lost friends and family, it helps to give more meaning and purpose to a sometimes dreary existence. 

So I plan to celebrate holidays more fully, make wreaths, cards , cookies, cute notes, food etc. and brighten my day on a monthly holiday basis.  Just in time for Valentine's Day!

2. Effectively relieve stress

I am one STRESSED out chica!  Ever have those years, where you don't sleep at night, you feel ulcers growing in your stomach, you become physically ill because of stress, and you look WAY OLDER than you really are....yep. That is me right now, (not to mention I did run out of my age-defying cream, so I look ancient but remember beauty is only skin deep, haha). SO WHAT DO I DO!!!!????

Well, I need to effectively relieve stress; luckily this can be done a multitude of ways and doesn't necessarily  need to be spelled out.  Mainly it just means, take a minute for ....(insert Miss Piggy voice) MOI  (pronounced MWOI!).  No, this does not mean be selfish, it means staying sane, or as close as we can come naturally.  Meditation, exercise, reading, ....(gasp) shopping, yes all of these are stress relievers for me.  But on top of all these ways of relieving stress, mainly I need to be taking care of myself better.  Getting better sleep, eating my 5 a day (if you don't know what that is....then MAN are you out of the loop :P)...et cetera et cetera.  Okay and if you have made it thus far in this WONDERFUL post...please leave other ideas in the comment area about relieving stress and please no "join a nudist colony" comments.  too much.  haha, for my own personal enjoyment. 


3. I decided I wanted the passage from 1 Corinthians 13 to be my theme for this year.  This is not from the King James Version, but a different version of the Bible.  "Love suffereth long and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

(p.s. we all know that it reads "charity" not "love" in the KJV of the Bible, but I am not up to that challenge as of yet...having the pure love of Christ is hard....baby steps :)

Sorry, long passage of scripture, but you get the drift.  If I could get this tatooed on my forearm, I would, then I would always remember it right?....(I would also get Wash your hands on my other arm...just saying).  BUT I'm not going to, because that defeats the purpose, haha.  It would make it too easy to have it tatooed.
There are times when I get very frustrated and impatient with my son, like when he tossed his shoe out the window onto a busy highway, while I was driving (the retrieval was f-u-n).  Or learned how to take his diaper off and urinated all over the pack and play in the hotel.  Just posting these for your personal enjoyment, I know everyone has stories like these.  That is what I need to remember, I am not alone in this and my child is not the exception, he is the rule. 
When I have times like these and I feel this way, I repeat in my head, "love is patient, love is kind, love is long-suffering" (paraphrasing) and I immediately feel calm. Because I LOVE my son more than anything.  And I remember the times when he tries to sing "I Am a Child of God", and my heart melts and I repeat in my head....he is a child of God. 

Loving the New Year and hope you are too.