A New Year has begun, and with it, a feeling of hope for what this year can bring. I was actually excited to make some goals, and to try and reach a little higher in my attempt at keeping the goals. I haven't been great at always making it to the end of a goal. I've had some successes, and I've had my share of failures.
I was reading our church magazine for the month of January, (The Ensign) and one of our church leaders President Uchtdorf had this to say, "At times in my life I have spent sleepless nights grappling with issues, worries, or personal sorrows. But no matter how dark the night, I am always encouraged by this thought: in the morning the sun will rise.
With every new day, a new dawn comes—not only for the earth but also for us. And with a new day comes a new start—a chance to begin again. " (The best time to plant a tree)
I liked that thought. I started thinking about my goals every year in January. Did I finish them? Or did I think that if I messed up one week or one day, that I somehow failed the mark and had to wait until next January to push the reset button!
How exciting to think that each new day is a reset!
So...with that in mind and with the goals that I have set this year, I am determined to do the best that I can to accomplish them. But if I stumble along the way, I will not quit, I will wait for the sun to rise and the Happy New Day will begin!
One of my goals is to take 365 photos this year that represent my life. I won't always share them, but I will be taking them. This goal will be a bit challenging because my life is somewhat ordinary and is not always filled with the most exciting of events. But I have found out already that you can find beauty and fun in the smallest of things. Here is a sampling of the first few days of January.
Jan 1, 2014. Scott and I stayed in our PJ's all day long! It was so incredibly awesome! We cleaned house, put away the Christmas decorations and just enjoyed our day. Today I felt so grateful for my husband and my home. What a blessing!
Jan 2, 2014. One year ago to this day I started working at the dental office. The past year has brought it's share of challenges as I have learned so much about myself and also about a new profession. As I look back at 2013, I am so grateful for my growth while working with these great people.
Jan 3, 2014. It had been a while since I had been to the temple. Scott had surgery in September and it seemed as though the time flew by as we were working on his recovery. It felt great to be back in this beautiful house of the Lord.
Jan 4, 2014. Scott and I worked together in the kitchen and made homemade soft pretzels for the first time ever! Wow, they were so good! The process was so interesting, did you know that you place the raw pretzel dough in a baking soda water mixture for a couple of minutes before you bake them? I sure didn't.
Jan 5, 2014. I taught today in our Young Women's program at church. These young ladies are simply the best. I feel so grateful to be a part of their lives.
Jan 6, 2014. Before I left for work this morning Scott pointed out the beautiful sunrise that was coming across our neighbors roof line. I loved the colors, and was so happy that I was there at the perfect time to get to witness it.
Jan 7, 2014. Every Tuesday morning you will find me on my computer right before work typing out a letter to my missionary, Elder Chase McKee. We are so proud of him. (P.S. Look at that cute sweater! It was a Christmas gift from Jordan and Madelyne)
Jan 8, 2014. Gold sparkly shoes! What more can I say. These little beauties were a gift from Heather for Christmas, and I got so many compliments on them!
Jan 9, 2014. I stopped by a baby shower for Miranda Clements in our ward (she is seen at the end of the table right by me). She has been a wonderful example in our ward, someone I would call a "doer" meaning that whenever their is some service to give, or something to be done, you will always see Miranda. These are some of the lovely ladies from my ward, I love Fair Oaks 3rd ward!
Jan 10, 2014. This picture is not to illustrate how lame I am at not being able to figure out how to turn this dang picture and make it stay!! ;) This was a Kings game! We were given AMAZING tickets to this game and we had so much fun! Kings won the game and Scott and I got to watch Jimmer play some awesome basketball!
There you have it, the first 10 days of January - things that represent me and my life.
I just hopped on the computer and was SO SO SO excited to see this. Like, SO excited! I love seeing pictures of you and Dad and all of the fun things you are doing, and I am so glad you have this goal--I've been meaning to ask you about it. And I don't think your life is ordinary at all, I find it quite lovely.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love that quote from the Ensign. Thanks for sharing it! Last year I completed some of my goals by doing them all year long, and others I felt like I completed because they served a valuable purpose when I was doing them (ie, I needed to feel like I was creating something beautiful so I cooked a new meal every week...but later in the year than need was no longer there and instead of feeling like a failure I realized that my goal had been accomplished). Anyway, thanks again! Love you and I'm excited!!!