New Year's Resolutions - 2012

Well, I need to do a Christmas post, but thought I'd just go ahead and do a resolutions one instead.  LOL!

Last year at this time, I had no idea what was ahead!  I wrote my resolutions post here, and I talked about how busy we were going to be, with building a house and Morgan being in school.  Having a baby wasn't even on my radar then!  If I look back on 2011, I think what sums it up are these words:

Unexpected Blessings!!

It's like all of our dreams that we didn't even realize we had came true last year.  We built a home on the water, which was a dream we never expected to come true.  We had the little boy that we never dreamed we would have.  I got to meet my very best friend that I never thought I'd get to meet, Veronica!  So many people blessed us in so many ways last year.  I was telling Veronica the other day that I was watching Joyce Meyer and she said that when God has us bless people, it has nothing to do with what we give them; it's more about them feeling God's love through our giving.  I thought to myself that is so true!  Through every note, comment, gift, prayer, and action that others showed me last year, the one thing I felt from all of it was God's love.  What a blessing!

So, I like to look at what I had hoped to accomplish and see if I did.  Then, I also like to make some new resolutions.  Here goes!

Last year's resolutions:

1.  Open up Summer Suzette Couture again. 
Well, this one never did really happen.  I realized that I love using the skills I've learned to make things when needed for the girls or for gifts, but I just don't enjoy sewing enough to do it every day.  I think that's okay.  Maybe one day, when I have more time, and can learn more, I will do it again.

2.  Lose 30 pounds.
This one makes me LOL, since I ended up getting pregnant.  Ha!  I gained 18 pounds, but lost 26, for a net loss of 8 pounds.  Not too bad.....I probably wouldn't have been able to lose that much if I had tried.  :D  I don't know how it happened, because since I've had him, I'm hungry all the time again!

3.  Finish clearing everything out before we move.
I was pretty successful at doing this and we did end up moving a bunch of stuff that we didn't really need, but Morgan cleared it all out a few weekends ago, so we're doing pretty good.  This house we built has no extra storage, except in the attic, so it helps that we just don't have space for a bunch of extra stuff!

4.  Try out new recipes.
I think this one went pretty well.  I added a few new meals to our rotation, thanks to the good ol' crock pot that I had never really used before.  Yay!

5.  Take more trips to Houston.
Still working on this one.....just didn't have much time last year to do it!

6.  Learn html so I can do my own blog design.
I bought photoshop elements last year and I like it okay, but I already had Publisher and I think it's way more user friendly for making my blog header, so I use it instead.  I just don't have time to learn much more than that.

New Resolutions for 2012:

1.  Learn to listen to God and be obedient to the ways He would have me bless others.
Going back to what Joyce Meyer said, it just really has stuck with me.  Often, I will feel in my spirit that I should do something for someone, but then I'll write it off because it's just something insignificant or small.  Well, what she said made me realize that it's not up to me to decide.....I want to be obedient when God whispers those things to me so that He can show His love to others through the ways He chooses to use me. 

2.  Make church a priority again. 
I just really haven't made church a priority lately and I really miss it.  I was going to bible study on Wednesday nights, but quit going toward the end of my pregnancy and so I'd like to start that again when they start a new one.  It's so easy to just not go to church because I'm tired or because it's so hard to get everyone ready, especially with a newborn, but it's so important and I know I need to be there.

3.  Read my bible.
When I was going to bible study, we were studying Galatians, and I remember being amazed at how we could talk an entire hour about just one chapter.  I doubt I would have ever gotten that much from one chapter if I had just read it on my own.  I was thinking the other day how much I love the Lord and I talk about Him all the time and I feel like we have a great relationship, yet I don't even have the books of the bible memorized and haven't even read most of them.  And you know what?  That's okay, because we can come to the Lord right where we are and we don't have to know all these things before we can come to Him.  BUT, His word is life and it is Truth, and I am missing out on growing in my faith with Him if I do not access the incredible gift of it that He has given me!  Besides that, regarding my anxiety and fear issues that I battle, I have felt for a long time the Lord telling me that it's so simple.....if I would just read my bible, it would be like medicine to my soul.

4.  Get in shape.
I'm not really concerned with losing weight.  I'm learning to just accept myself and the way God made me.  I'm not going to be a size 2 or 4 or even 6 or 8, for that matter.  Haha!  But, I would like to eat healthy again like I did when I was pregnant, because I feel much better when I do.  And I would like to figure out something I can do, exercise-wise, to get in better shape.  We will see what I can come up with that I will actually stick with.  LOL!

Well, that's about all I can think of this year!  I don't want to go crazy, because having a newborn and 3 sweet girls takes up most of my time these days!  I have been loving reading everyone else's posts on their goals for the new year.  I pray that 2012 is a great year for all of us!