New Years Resolutions

I know that it is pretty much the end of January and I should have made my resolutions about 3 weeks ago, but hey, it is still January and I still have a whole year to "self-improve." I decided to finally write this post because of a Relief Society activity we had a couple weeks ago.

We had a speaker (I wish I could remember her name), but she talked about "bloom where you are planted." She compared us blooming in this harsh Idaho winters, that even though there is usually multiple feet of snow, that we can still pop through. Well, she hit some key notes with me that night, probably some things that I needed to hear. She has inspired me to do better. Which you will find out, as well as myself, that it takes a little at a time. You can't be 100% overnight. As long as you are doing better today than yesterday, or doing one more thing today that you didn't do yesterday, you are self-improving.

Ok. Here it goes. I decided to come up with 12 resolutions, appropriate because this year is 2012. If the world does really end this year (which it won't.. my Old Testament teacher in college proved it to me..lol) I will have made a life that I am proud of and can look back and say I did all I could.

1. Write a blog post every week.

This does not sound like it should be a new years resolution (to me anyways). I am changing my attitude about it. I write in my blog about Hallie, photography, and pretty much life. It is pretty much my journal for myself and the world. I would be so sad if I ever lost anything that I wrote about. I write about the event at the time, and it is so cool to see the feelings I had, time frame, and what was happening in life. So at the end of the year I am getting all of my blog posts printed into a book. So, if I have only 10-20, it won't be a very impressive book. This will be my 4th post of the year, which is already 1/5 of what I wrote last year! Ah!

2. Read through the Book of Mormon at least 1 time.

I am sad to say that at my ripe old age of 23, I have only read through the entire Book of Mormon (cover to cover that is) a couple of times. By couple, I literally mean that. There are all these people that I know that are so well versed and know all the stories very well. I want to be one of those people. So I need to read through at least once.

3. Have family prayer/scriptures/family home evening.

Jordan and I have been terrible at this since we got married. It is groundbreaking if we do it once a week, so if we can make once a week not a rare occurrence, and possibly add up to three, four or five times a week we will be golden. Baby steps people. Baby steps.

PAUSE

Isn't great that I am admitting my embarrassing flaws to all of my friends and family?? Just a side note. haha.

4. Read 20 books this year.

I am a reader. I feel like my mind thrives off of it. Last year was my downfall. I think I read maybe 5 books. That is less than one every two months. I get my inspiration from my sister-in-law, Macy. A year or two ago she went on a reading rampage. She came over and was like "I think I have read 25-30 books in two months." Well needless to say, that has been burned into my memory. All those books in 2 months?? She has 4 kids! And a husband! And in the Young Women's! So I am making 20 books in my YEAR. So any book suggestions would be amazing... I am talking to you Cristine, Cassie, Mallory, and Kim:)

5. Learn 20 new things in Photoshop/Illustrator

These programs are massive. Every tab has about 10-20 items, which have pullouts to about 15-20 more items. It is daunting. I want to know more about the programs... I am pretty proficient too. I can get around. But I want to be one of those expert people. The ones that you hate because they can do amazing things on the computer that you never dreamed of. Yeah I want to be one of those:)

6. Living the ABC's.

If you haven't read President Monson's address for this January Ensign, it is amazing. A is for attitude, B for Believing, and C for courage. This is pretty much all my resolutions summarized in three little letters, but hey it's inspiring. Don't you love when you read something and it goes off in your head like a bell, that it is talking straight to you. Well, this is me. Right here. haha.

Here is the link if you want to read it.
http://lds.org/ensign/2012/01/living-the-abundant-life?lang=eng&query=*+%28name%3a%22Thomas+S.+Monson%22%29+%28publication%3a%22Ensign%22%29

7. Run a half marathon

This one comes from Tiana. So T if you are reading this I am totally doing it with you. I basically have stopped all physical activity/working out since I got to college. Crazy huh? The only reason that I haven't gained weight is because muscle turns to fat and fat weighs much less than muscle... get the picture? lol. Lat year after I had Hallie, Jordan bought me a pair of Nike's (which I customized them pink and gray with my name on them) and I have yet to wear them working out. I have worn them. But not for the purpose they were bought for. So now that I have the shoes and a partner (Tiana will you be my running partner??) I want to run this.

In a Relief Society lesson a couple months ago, Sister Karen Batt (love this lady.. she is so knowledgeable) told the story of her daughter running a marathon. She told about how she was running and of course, people watch. The people started to yell her daughter number telling her to run faster, and that someone was behind her. It was nearing the end of the race and she was so tired. When the person behind her finally past, there was a "awwwwww" sound which came from the crowd. So instead of her celebrating that she was running a marathon and beat her time of 2 hours, she was mourning for her lack of strength. This just reminded me that we are all running and we all need to keep our eyes on the prize.

To continue the story, all the spectators gathered at the end of the race. When the first person went through there was a loud roar of cheering, and an announcer announced the runners name, where they were from, and their time. As Sister Batt was waiting for her daughter to finish, she noticed that as each person crossed the finish line, the announcer would announce each person by name, where they were from, their time, and then say, "You finished!" accompanied by a loud roar of the crowd. It happened for each and every person crossing the line. When her daughter came across the line, the announcer did the same. It brought tears to everyone's eyes. What feat she had just accomplished. Then then noticed again, the announcer still bringing in the runners. It reminded her of how our life is. How our journey through life is. How Heavenly Father will be there at the end of the race announcing us to everyone, with a loud cheer of congratulations. No matter how slow we do it. As long as we cross the finish line.

That is my inspiration for running. Funny sometimes how spiritual experiences make you want to do temporal things:) But I think I will start this year with a half marathon and work my way up. I need some goals for next year too!

8. Give someone a Book of Mormon

I have always been awful at this. When I should be really good at it! I grew up in a city where I had LDS people to accompany me, but a lot of non-members. Sometimes I feel that I didn't make the impression that I should have; should I have tried to bring more of my friends to church, etc, etc? Hopefully I did lead by example, but you never know who is watching and when.

I want to give a Book of Mormon to someone this year. Be a good member missionary. I have given a total of three Book of Mormons away in my life, and I'm pretty sure each one has gotten trashed....

There are a couple of people in my life that if the world did end this year, or we died, or anything, I wouldn't want to face them in the after life. I can just imagine them looking at me with tear filled eyes saying, "You knew?" So, if you are a non-member reading this and you get a Book of Mormon from me, I am not trying to push it on you and tell you what it right. I am asking you to read and hopefully you will find truth and answers like I have.

9. Make 10 fun projects.

This amazing site called "Pinterest" has certainly caught my attention and a lot of my time. There are amazing things on there. A LOT of do-it-yourself and crafty ideas. I pin a ton of them, but I have not tried to do one yet. Well that is going to change. I will do at least ten this year. They can be anything, quilts, sewing projects, picture modge-podging, making bows, etc.

10. Be a good wife and mom.

Hopefully I am giving and teaching Hallie everything that she needs to know. I am hoping this year will go by and that I will given everything to her that she has needed and most of the things that she has wanted. She will be a year old in 5 months... ahhh!!... And I want what is best for her. I hope that I will be everything that Jordan needs from me. This includes things like making dinner and cleaning and things. So hopefully I can get all of those things done.

11. Make a budget and STICK to it!

Jordan and I always talk about budgets and trying to make them and figuring out what to do with our money. Before we get our tax return this year, we are making a budget and a detailed plan of what we are doing for this year. If any of you have used Mint.com, it is amazing. Combines all your accounts into one place so you can see everything all together and how much debt/money you have. It's a great tool and Jordan and I will be using it this year, for sure.

12. Make one new friend.

I live in a place where, to say the least, I have one or two good friends (the rest of them live far away:( ). Going back to earlier when I talked about the Relief Society speaker, she talked about how women thrive off relationships, and if they don't have them they just wilt. Believe me, I love Jordan and talking to him, but sometimes I just need my lady time. Hopefully I will meet someone that inspires me, and makes me thrive to do better. I don't know how I will accomplish this, but hopefully it will happen.

So I have made the goal of making one new friend. I have done this before... a couple of years ago... and now she is one of my very best friends in the whole world. Yes Courtney I am talking about you:)



Wow this turned into one long post. But these are my resoultions for the year of 2012. Hopefully it will pan out and I can do all the things I am setting my eyes on.

I am ready for one amazing year.