Happy New Year

2011 flew by, and now we have entered 2012. I love entering a new year... maybe it's because my birthday is around the the new year that it makes me contemplate my life. I love reflecting on the past year, and looking forward to the upcoming one.

Here are some things that happened/entered our lives to make it sweet in 2011:

1) Simplifying our lives/commitments this year. We took the year off from any extracurriculars, and it was oh so good. Ready to join back into society again, but with more discretion this time.

2) This maple syrup. Yes, it has made my life so much sweeter.

3) And with that - so has drinking coffee. Why did I wait until I was 30 to start drinking this stuff? It's magical!

4) Getting out of debt. Thankful for God's provision this year.

5) Going to down to two days a week with work. Loving it.

6) Watching the girl grow and flourish as she entered big girl sunday school and preschool. We got a thank you note from her teacher for a christmas gift that we gave, and the note gushed about how special she is, and how she adds lovely blessings to her teacher's life. I cry every single time I read it... especially when I read it out loud to the girl (and her dad).

7) This chicken recipe. It really is perfect, and now we make it often.

8) Relationships. We are so blessed.

9) The Dave Ramsey class we took at church. You may roll your eyes, but this class did more than educate us about money. It's hard to explain, but God used it to teach me so much (and it had little to do with Dave).

10) Kisses From Katie. Wow. Read it. Oh, and Bittersweet.

11) Answered prayers... and prayers that required a lot of faith and courage. And some prayers that aren't fully answered yet. Grace grace grace in the wait.

12) Parmesan cheese. I think my family would all shout yes to this. :)

And now in 2012, here are some things to add to the beauty that is my life:

1) Family memory verses. The girl told me a verse that she remembered from her christmas play at church and it inspired us to make it a priority this year. Every Sunday we will have a new one. This week is Jeremiah 29:13 (it's my life verse) and she's memorized it already (and my boy is trying too)! Any suggestions on simple ones a four year old can remember? Excited about all of us hiding His word in our hearts.

2) My side of the family committing to doing a 5k together. Is this cool or what?

3) Being more intentional in my life - limiting distractions (television, computer) to embrace actually living. :) God is showing me more and more what this means.

4) Allowing more flexbility in our budget for more fun.... and more giving.

5) Relaxing and having fun with the kids. They are at such fun ages now. We did the pool today, and it was so fun looking forward to our family nights having more "fun" added to it.

Any one make any new year's resolutions?