Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all! I love the feeling of a fresh start and taking time to reflect on all the past year's joys, blessings, and even trials. However, this also brings up the inevitable "R" word. Resolutions.

I'm terrible at them. I half heartedly think up about ten of them, but never put much effort into keeping them because they usually all just fall apart within the first week... or day. This year I'd like to take a slightly different approach, and I gained inspiration and encouragement from my dear friend's blog post today, "Hopes, goals and resolutions".

This year I'm going to make realistic goals. And, to everyone else they may seem a bit small, but with the baby coming along, I'm figuring a lot will be changing. I could start the year out resolving to wash all the dishes every single darn day (we don't have a dishwasher), sew dozens of cool projects, and keep the house immaculate. Those sound like nice resolutions, but they probably won't happen and will it all make me happy? When I don't keep the resolutions, I'll probably just feel depressed, or if by some miracle I did keep them, I'd probably still be miserable because I'd be exhausted.

I want to set goals that put God and my family first. For example, waking up and saying a few prayers right away to get the day started. Or saying a decade or two of the rosary while nursing. I know I'll have the time for these things and it will only help me love and serve my family better.

Don't worry, I'm still going to try really hard finishing all the housework, but I encourage you to set goals for yourself or resolutions that will help you truly live your life better during the time God has blessed us here on Earth. I promise you won't be disappointed with your results ;)