Hello 2011

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It seems like the holidays have been a marathon to the finish of the year. 

We drove 8 hours, spent a week in Ohio, drove 8 hours home, spent 2 days home, drove 7 hours to Chicago, rung in the new year, drove 7 hours home.

*large exhale*

I think this holiday was one of the best yet.

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I've been reading a lot of posts about new year's resolutions. Some talk about creating a whole new you for the new year. Other's talk about being content with the you you already have.

I think I'm going to go for the mixed method approach.

I do want to love me more. I want to be able to smile and say thank you and mean it when my husband tells me how beautiful I look, instead of just rolling my eyes. I want to feel confident in my accomplishments and even more confident in the things I've still yet to do. I want to stop comparing myself to others and own the person I am and was created to be.

That being said, however, I do need to take care of me a little better. After all, this body is a rental, ya'll. It's a vessel to do God's work. It's the only one I've been given, and I've got to make it last.

Resolutions never work for me. By February [the worst month in my opinion] I've given up on every last one of them. 

Instead I need to invest in a few lifestyle changes in 2011.

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1. Finally find a workout thing that works for me and make it last. I feel fat and lazy and flabby. I'm tired. I lack energy. I need to make a commitment to sweating at least a few times a week.

2. Eat better. What a simple concept, but oh my gosh, what a hard one to stick with. Chips and salsa and cookies and candy and ice cream and anything fried and salty is always way better than fruits and vegetables. But I've just gotta do it. Today I had an orange. It felt good.

3. Find balance and stop making excuses. I have a stressful job. I'm a stress-prone lady. I live where I work. I worry. It's not a great combination. I need to make a commitment to turning off work when I get home [or at least when I can] and a commitment to stepping up the work when I'm at work [working smarter not harder as they say]. That way my students and my husband all get the best of me instead of the yucky leftovers.

4. Dive into the Word. I have never really enjoyed reading the bible. I get lost in names I can't pronounce and places I can't remember. But as a believer, it is my responsibility to know my history and the very words that I try to live. I'm not quite sure how to go about this yet, but this year I want to find a home in the bible and develop a deeper relationship with Jesus through His life and story.

So those are the biggies.

As far as other things I want to work on, here's what I've come up with.

- read more books

- stop biting my nails and then paint them pretty colors

- comment on more blogs that I love

- make more stuff and then write about it

- write more about faith/write more substantial posts

- cook more [cause I sure do hate it]

- take more pictures

- buy less crap

- listen to more music

There you have it. My ode to the new year. I have no idea what it will hold, but I do know that God's will sure will be done in 2011. And that is the only thing I can trust, and love, and follow.

Happy New Year!

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