the new decade

As I sat and watched my kids all play on the floor yesterday, I teared up just thinking how blessed I was.

They are all so perfect and unique in their very special way. Of all the blessing I have received in my life my most favorite gift from God is the gift of their live; Ty, Ava and Ali. This past decade brought upon a new phase in my life, a phase that will never end, being a mother. At the end of this next coming decade they will be 15, 12, and 10 and I have a feeling at that time I will love their ages and phases just as much as I do now, but in this moment, I'm in love with a 5, 2, and 7 month old.


As with all New Years I've made a few New Years resolutions. In no particular order they are

#1. Lose weight. This one has become pretty repetitive every year, but I'm determined to stick with it. As an accountability to myself, next year at this time I will post my weight right here in blog world. Yikes! That has me motivated already to jump up and do some exercise.

#2. Read through the Bible. I've started and failed this one numerous times. My goal is to wake up before the kids and spend some quiet time reading my Bible and keeping my prayer journal. From 6th grade to 12th grade I kept a prayer journal that I wrote in several times a week. It's humorous to read back on some of them now. My teen years had alot to with boys, and how I wanted God to magically make them like me. At the time it was hard to see the grander plan in my life. Occasionally when I reread through them I thank God for all the thing he said NO to. The part that makes me smile, is all my thoughts and prayer dedicated to Jeff. We started dating when I was 17. Having recently come out of a long relationship I wasn't looking for anything serious...but boy did he and I turn serious fast and within 6 months I knew he was the man I wanted to marry. Which leads me to my #3..

#3. Be a better wife. This one is emotional for me to write about. Yesterday, Jeff and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. Call me naive but when everyone told us marriage was hard and you have to work it, I kinda chuckled and honestly couldn't think of a thing we would struggle at. My parents had/have such a beautiful marriage and I was witness to it growing up, and in my innocence marriage didn't seem that hard.
As a lesson I wish I could have just read about it instead we experienced it and had our share of marital issues wading through those rough years struggling with money, time management, time for each other, Jeff finishing school, starting a family on one small income, ect. So now 8 years later things aren't perfect but whose marriage is, I've even realized my parents don't have a perfect marriage, imagine that. All in all I want to be better, I know my faults as a wife yet, it's easier to settle into them then to make myself better. I challenge myself to be better.

#4. Similar but not related to the wife thing in my book is to be a better homemaker. You know the whole buzz of keeping the house clean and hot healthy meals on the table at night. While Jeff is awesome to not put those expectations on me, I put them on myself. I fail miserably. I'm more of Mary then a Martha. I like to savor the moments with my family (that and avoid cleaning ). The dishes, laundry, bathrooms, ect, can wait until tomorrow because today/tonight we are spending family time together. Except that tomorrow turns into 3-4 days. And I won't disclose the amount of weeks I can go without HAVING to wash clothes.
In dedication to my house one of my favorite sayings is, "If you want to see me come on over, if you want to see my house, call first (at least 24 hours)." I would like to think I did a better job at house keeping pre-children but I think my college roommates would probably disagree. Seriously, do you know how fast children can destroy a freshly cleaned room. It's a cycle that never ends!

#5. Finish decorating my house. This is one goal that will be fun, my only problem is finding time to do it. It seems to come up last on my list, but I want to make my home cozy. I did some decorations over Christmas and turned my front room into a play room. I can't wait to share finished pictures. It's still a work in progress. I still want to take down all wall paper and paint my kitchen, fix up the kids bathroom, and then my bedroom and bathroom need some help. I can only go as fast as the money and time allows.

#6. Finish my Masters. I started my Masters degree about 4 years ago and speed through all my courses except one before we moved to Texas. I only have one 6 weeks course left but that one course is only offered in the summer. And for the past 4 summers I have been busy. This summer I won't have a newborn so I WILL finish. My 7 year timeline is running up. I would HATE to lose all of my HARD work.