Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Life resolutions


Last year I could hardly come up with one new thing that I wanted to be resolute about. I was never big on making bold statements, even to myself, of what I wanted to accomplish, or undo, as the new year unfolded. But this year.... this year my head is spinning with ideas. Maybe it's that I'm into my second year of my 30's and I'm really happy about it. I've heard that the 30's can be that way... suddenly you realize who you are and how good that feels. Or maybe it's just that I'm not as tired as I was last year with a 7 month old waking often at night and an almost 3 year old who needed just as much attention during the day. Either way... I'm hopeful for 2009 and all the new things to learn.

I've been feeling this strong need to pull back, get back to basics, and to demonstrate that on both an emotional and physical level. I was looking around on a few blogs and Linda's post on her word for the year struck me. I never thought about putting an actual word to it but when I thought about what I was feeling, the word "quiet" came to mind. And it fits so perfectly with what's in my heart. To be quiet and appreciate all we have and who we are.

I think our nation's recession is doing that for a lot of people. You can't spend the money you don't have and for those who haven't lost a job or been directly effected financially by this past year, they are saving. We decided that for us it's a state of being, that we are very content with what we have and that the constant drive for bigger and better that is marketed to us everywhere we look, is not what we want to teach the boys. However, saving money is. I fully believe it works on a spiritual level too... being happy with the things you have makes you appreciate most things in life on a deeper level.

In the end, we are hoping to finally take care of that lingering car loan and to rid our house of all the extras that are still hanging on. What a better time to sort and clean out and get rid of when nothing new is coming into the house to take it's place?

Beyond that... I have renewed plans for my worm compost bin that never took off due to lack of red wigglers (seriously... every place I tried was "currently out of stock"). I'm really hoping to get a recycling system going and get to one garbage can a month like Karli successfully did. And to organize my basement laundry area and to hopefully utilize an indoor drying rack for the winter and rainy days.

We are planning a big garden this year and I'm hoping to start the plants indoors in this next month. I want to finish my crocheted blanket that I've been slowly working on but that has taken a back seat to my new found love of knitting. And I desperately need to organize our enormous 'digital pictures' folder on the computer holding somewhere in the range of 3000 pictures, and then, only then will I even begin to think about printing some out to put in an album.

And as always, being present and aware, taking in all that my day holds with Ian, Sawyer, and Jeremy.

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4 comments:

The Averys said...

Very cool. Michelle and I did something very similar. We came up with our family core values and put them on our fridge to discuss with the boys in 2009.

Faith, Family & Friends
Growth & Generosity
Hospitality & Helping Others
Integrity & Investing

2009 will be a great year.

The Jaggers Family said...

Hi Andrea,

I love your blog. It makes me think you should have your own magazine everytime I read it and look at the beautiful pics.

I thought you might like this website. You can subscribe to a free email newsletter.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/

Check it out. :)

Amy Jaggers

Justin and Julie said...

Lovely. I think that is my word this year ... I want everything I do to be lovely to all around me - including me! I didn't know you were taking up knitting ... Love It!!!

Jeremy said...

Adam... Those are so good. I love the idea of leaving the list some place the kids can see it on a daily basis.

Amy...hello! It's been too long! Thank you, I do love taking pictures. It's just nice to have a place to show them :-). And thank you for link! I can't wait to check it out. Thank you for stopping by and commenting... it's nice to hear from you.

Julie... What a great word! It's kind of nice to have one for the year isn't it? And yes, I finally got back to knitting... so much fun.