So here we are

Here we are, staring 2011 in the face.  Wow. 

I'm not one to make "New Year's Resolutions."  I've tried once or twice but I've never kept to them, so I gave that up a long time ago.  Instead, as I wrap up another year, I tend to get a bit sentimental.

2010 was a good year! 

In January we welcomed a new nephew, Doddles.  He's a little sweetie pie, cute as button, miracle baby. 

February started off with a bang...quite literally!  Bugsy and I were on our way to join the rest of the family for Michael's birthday dinner on Feb 5 when we were hit by an out of control minivan!  Praise God for seat belts and car seats.  Three short weeks later we welcomed Stinky into our family!  He is a delight.  Rotten as the day is long, but he brings joy to our every day.

May brought us a nephew-cousin!  :)  My little sister-cousin Ashlee gave us a sweet little boy to love!  This family won't stop growing!

In July Thing 1 turned 5 and Bugsy turned 3!  We can still hardly believe we're old enough to have kids that old!  We celebrated our 7th anniversary in July as well.

August saw the start of a new era...PTO meetings.  :)  Thing 1 started school and I started in-home childcare this month.  Both of these events have made huge impacts on our lives!

In September, we were graced with yet another nephew!  Michael's sister gave birth to her second little cutie.  Unfortunately, he lives in Alabama and we don't get to see him (or his adorable brother) very often.

Last month I turned 30!  I know, I know.  Hard to believe for some of you.  Hard to believe for ME some days!  I'm up to the "challenge" though.  30 doesn't scare me.  It's a number, you know?  I've got all these kids running around me all day long.  I don't have TIME for it to get me down!  I'm actually loving it so far.  (I don't really think the numbers make any difference, to be honest.  Plus, Thing 1 told me you aren't old until your skin is wrinkly and saggy.  I don't have wrinkles yet...)

And it's Decbember already.  Nearly halfway through!  We've had ups and downs.  Really too many of both to count.  But we've (almost) made it through another year!

And this year, I've decided I'm again not going to make resolutions.  Nope.  I'm going to make a DECISION.  You see, the way I look at it, a resolution is an intention.  I intend to do this or that or the other.  It's a good idea.  I mean to do it.  But wow.  How many times have I intended to do something only to set it aside or lose sight of that goal?

This coming year, I have DECIDED I am going to learn to love myself more.  What do you think of that?  That's my only plan.  It certainly means I will need to make some changes, but they won't be set in stone, and if something's not working for me I'll be allowed to scrap it and try something else.  I figure I'll start with some "easy" ideas:

I want to love myself more as a child of God.  I'll probably have to spend more time with Him.  What that looks like may change over the course of the year.  That's okay. 

I want to love myself more as a wife.  That means I'll probably have to pray for my husband more.  I'll probably have to be more intentional about spending time with him.  I'll likely need to help him more with the things he needs to accomplish, support him better, and ask him what I can do to show my love for him.  Wow...this one may be difficult, but I think it's necessary.

I want to love myself more as a mom.  I will need to look through my kids' eyes a little more often.  I'll need to ask them more questions.  I'll need to be more available to them.  I'll need to be more kind and loving and show them a godly example of what I hope they'll grow to be.  No pressure there, right?

I want to love myself more as a friend!  For starters, I'll probably need to BE a friend.  I've become a little reclusive these past couple years, and I want to change that.  Watch out, world...I might just be calling you to come hang out!

I want to love myself more as a person.  I think, all in all, this will be the most difficult one.  Sometimes I am too hard on myself, so I might need to learn to lighten up a bit.  And speaking of lightening up, I need to do that, too.  So, starting tomorrow--Yes, TOMORROW--I'll be moving more.  (I'd start tonight, but it's already after 10...)  I'm going to try to learn something every day, because I love to learn!  I'm going to put myself first sometimes, because I'm a mommy and I tend to allow myself to be pushed to the rear and walked on and brushed over and forgotten.  This momma's gonna learn to respect herself, though!

So, that should be easy, right?  ALL I want to do this entire upcoming year is to learn to love myself more.  I think I can handle it.  I hope you'll come alongside me and ask how I'm doing.  I hope you'll pick at least one of those areas and be my support, my accountability, my backbone.

Hello, 2011!  I can see you up there!  I'm on my way.