New Year--it is still January, right?

 It is still January so technically, ahem!  I can still say
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!


I've thought many, MANY days about catching up on the blog but then doubt would interfere and I'd ask myself, "What do I really have to say right now?"


I am at a crossroads of sorts.  Not quite sure what to blog about.  My life has changed.  My focus is much different than it was six months ago.


Or is it?


I went back to recap on some of my blog entries from the past year.  They reflect a woman who was driven in many ways.  Driven to create the best home for her family.  Driven to feed her family well, AND frugally.  Driven to be a better wife, a better Mom, a much better follower of Christ.


Those things have not changed. 

My daily routine has changed.  But those goals are still there.  Still REALLY there!  With some new challenges mixed in.  As you all know, I work Monday through Friday again.  A new career focus.  New challenges professionally.

But the depth of who I am remains the same.  I struggle to make sure our marriage is growing.  I want to show my husband that he is the head of our family.  I want to get better at giving him the reins in which to lead our family and lead our marriage.  That means that I continue to learn to let go.  Let go of my selfish will.  Let go of my stubborn emotions.  Let go of my need to control!  Go out of my way to encourage him, to support him, to listen to him and to show him how much he means to me. 

I continue to work at this Mama-gig.  There are still numerous lessons to teach our sons.  Many kisses to send their way.  Hugs too.   I still want SH and I to lead their education and growth.  It helps that we absolutely love the Christian preschool that they are attending.  Every day they come home reciting a new Bible verse, talking about how they learned about Christ that day and singing songs over and over and OVER again!!  We are very comfortable that we made the right choice of schools for them to attend.  And they love it so that helps us to feel so very comfortable with the decision.   We are learning more and more every day about their personalities and how that is growing in to the young men they are.  They are set in many ways.  Big Boy continues to be emotional, very sensitive and very thoughtful.  You cannot get a single thing past that boy.  We must carefully choose our words and actions, every day.  Because he picks up on them every. single. time.  Little Guy continues to be the free spirit.  He is goofy and enjoys to be the life of the house!  We must be careful not to assume that means he is silly and reckless because he is not.  He simply does not take any part of life too seriously.  That will help our Type A driven home, A LOT! 

There are goals that I have for 2010.  Every year I try to identify things that I want to accomplish, both for myself and for our family.  This year is no different.  So in no sense of order at all:

1)  Strengthen our family bond with Christ.  SH and I have talked about this and have made some concrete measures to include God in our daily lives.  We pray every day on the way to school with the boys.  We pray at meals.  We pray at other times too.  We talk about our behaviors and how they either please God or displease Him.  We don't attend church as often as we feel like we should.  Let's face it, church is a habit.  And one I feel like we need to strengthen in our entire family.  We are somewhat torn as to what church to attend so that is a journey we must attend to.  We talk about God daily and His sacrifices for us.  We don't talk about our sacrifices for Him nearly as much.  Room for growth in this area, definitely.

2)  Remove ourselves from $50,000 of debt, which will include remaining credit card debt, home equity, student loan and mortgage.  We won't be debt free but we can be closer to the prize!  Definitely something we can do if we really focus.  REALLY focus!

3)  Take charge of my health.  Let's face it.  I'm almost 42 years old.  42 folks.  That is, ahhhhhhh, close to middle age?!  No matter how young I feel.  No matter how late I started with the whole parenting gig (so I feel like I'm 30 with preschoolers, when in reality I'm almost 42 with preschoolers!).  The body is just not gonna hold up like it did 12 years ago.  Time to really start looking at ensuring those healthcare dollars are well spent on prevention!

4)  And as always, there is a smattering of decorating projects, garden plans, weekend trips to plan.  Little things to make family memories.  Those change every other week so I'll keep those on the back burner.

5)  Keep up with the blog.  Even the mundane, inconsequential things.  Because someone may find them mildly entertaining.  And I love going back to read where life has taken us in the past year. 

HAPPY 2010 EVERYONE!