2012

Resolutions:

I spent the last few weeks thinking about resolutions. There are the typical ones like "lose weight" and "get out of debt" and "grow in my faith" (the last one has become a trend for me over the past few years) but I think it would be a mistake to make those my New Years' Resolutions (yet again). My weight has always been an issue, so to say that I can spend one year "losing weight" and not have to worry about it in 2013 or '14 etc would be a little delusional. The same with my desire to improve my walk with God. And debt. These are some elements of my life that will probably always be with me. I imagine that I will always struggle with weight and finances (self control, really) and faith/fear/questions, these are not things that I can say I will conquer in 2012 & never have to think about again... All of this to say that these very important items are not my resolutions, but they are things that will be with me throughout the next 12 months (and beyond). Just because they aren't on the list does not mean I will not attempt to do something about them this year.

But I digress.

2012's New Year's Resolution:

To have at least one new experience every month. This could be learning about something new or something from my 100 in 1001 list. The goal of this is mostly to make me step out of my comfort zone. It's so easy to get bogged down in the day to day junks, and sometimes I use that as an excuse. But not anymore, I will force myself to expand my horizons through this easy to keep resolution. (I also like that it doesn't automatically set me up for failure.)

May 2012 be exactly what we make of it!

2011 Review

2011 was a big year for us!

January: We said goodbye to J's brother & his family. They moved to Guatemala to be missionaries. This was taken the night before they left.

February: Worked, mostly. My school's homecoming happens in February, so I got to spend a weekend visiting with the Alumni from the 50's & 60's. Those ladies are awesome (& their husbands too)!

March: Spring Break with the Nerds! Instead of the traditional beach trip, we chose to go to a cabin in the mountains about 30ish minutes outside of Ashville, NC. This was the view from our back porch.

April: We focused on fixing up the house & getting ready for my graduation, then tornadoes ripped through our state. I count myself so lucky to not have been affected by these, but I did see the devastation they caused across this beautiful state of mine, and I was awed at the sense of community this disaster created. If nothing else, I learned that we know how to be tenacious in the moment and unite in the wake. Even now, 8 months later, we are still united in picking up the pieces.

May: I graduated & began my first real big girl job. We moved the same weekend of my graduation. One brother graduated high school & another

turned 15. May was cuh-ray-zee.

My graduation!

Joe's graduation!

Watch out guys. This one will be on the road next year!

June: Cruised to Mexico with my family & celebrated our 2nd Anniversary.

July: Participated in SCT's production of "The Curious Savage" and we finally finished all the house details & threw a small housewarming bbq (complete with burgers, hot dogs, bon fires, & a slip-&-slide!)!

August: Spending time with baby Adley Mae (who was technically born in the last days of July).

September: My 24th (eek) birthday. I'm definitely feeling like a grown up now... My nephew got me a cute toy cat.

October: J's 38th birthday! And I got a new job. It was sad saying goodbye to all my friends, but it had to be done. He really wanted to recreate a picture of his grandparents... so we did.

November: Was mostly spent adjusting to my new job. We (my office) hosted a Veteran's Day event & it was so humbling to be a part of that.

December: We are enjoying spending time with J's sister & her family before they move across the globe (also to be missionaries)!

It's ironic & a little sad for us how the year 2011 is bookended with goodbyes (but we know it's all for the glory of God). This was definitely a year of change and growth here on Self Lane. And I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store!

Excuses... excuses...

I have been ignoring my blog lately. The truth is that I have thought about blogging, said I really need to blog, and just not made myself blog.

I guess, after working at a computer all day the last thing I want to do when I come home is get on the computer. Plus, I don't have any kind of strict schedule to make myself do this blogging thing.

Which is why I'm trying something new. I am going to blog before work. And I've made a schedule... starting small. First, I'm going to try a month of blogging on Wednesdays and Fridays and see how it goes from there.

So here is my promise to blog more.