New Year's Resolution

I haven't given much thought to a New Year's Resolution to be honest.

There are many things that will be different next year, so I'm not so sure I need one but I'm a believer in second chances and new beginnings so, alas, my inner being compels me to make a New Year's Resolution. :)

But first, we must reflect.

This is a recap of last year's resolutions 

(posted to my personal blog)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Every New Year provides an opportunity to start over.

It gives us a chance to change and become a little bit better than last year.

Ben and I were discussing our New Year's resolutions and I was definitely more into this resolution game than he was....but that was to be expected. :) I found myself being more interested in making a resolution than in previous years. Maybe it's because I have more time to think about it. Maybe I've just had enough. Probably a little bit of both, but either way, I am really excited about my new year's resolution because it is realistic and something I have been working on for a bit already.

Let's check out Ben and Sara's New Year's Resolutions!

I will start with Ben. He is a pretty straight forward guy. When I asked him what his new year's resolution would be, these are the answers he gave me. :D I love him.

Goal #1: To not die

{I can chuckle at this because he's nowhere near that but has felt like he wanted to a few times this past year.}

Goal #2: Go Camping more

{Great goal! I like it!}

Goal #3: Build up his Trucks and Jeep

{Hmmm.....this was a surprise.}

Now for Sara. I have really been focusing lately on becoming who I want to be so that is my new year's resolution this year.

Resolution: Become who I want to be.

Life itself is intended for progress so I don't expect this to be "checked off" the list at the end of the year but I would like to say that I am a step closer to my goal (if not a lot of steps closer). Besides, life would suck if you didn't like spending time with yourself!

To be able to become who I want to be, I figured I should break my resolution down into some achievable goals.

Goal #1: Be Relaxed

I have been working on this for a while and I actually feel I am pretty good (or at least a lot better than I used to be) but I do recognize a few things that could make this even better, which leads into goal #2.

Goal #2: Get Organized

I eluded to this before in my last post. An organized house nurtures an organized mind. This is definitely true for me. I love to be organized but somehow my inate instincts (or as some of my family call it, "the genius" in me. ha!) make me a very disorganized person. My excuse has always been that it's organized chaos. But no more! Goodbye Entropy. Hello finding my shoe!

Goal #3: Make my Home Sweet Home

I still feel like I just moved in. I know I am not the only one who has lived where they are for a few years and still haven't unpacked everything. I just really don't like looking at rooms of boxes and am at the "I've had enough" point. It's time. I want to create an environment that nurtures family and the spirit. I would love to have this done before we grow our little family. I want to create a safe haven and a cozy home. We love our house and it is cozy and warm but I think organizing it and actually setting up the rooms (and putting things up on the walls) would help it tip over into the "We live in a cozy home and love it here" phase rather than the "We move every 6 months so we don't even bother unpacking" phase. My mom always created a wonderfully cozy home for us to enjoy and I want to do the same thing for my family.

Ben and I also decided to have a combined resolution for this year.

Family Goal: Keep the Sabbath Day Holy

I know that we can do a better job at keeping the sabbath day a holy day to give us more time to study and reflect on our being. With all the hubbub and drama of worldly daily living it can be very easy to lose track of our eternal goals and relationships with each other and our Father in Heaven.

I really like the quote, "Be in the world but not of the world," and I know for a fact that taking the time out to study, learn and meditate and make right choices on an hourly basis will help us to easily achieve that goal and will allow our 'body' and 'spirit' to coexist in peace. One thing that has always helped me is the thought below:

"The longer we follow a path, the easier it becomes."

This is true in all aspects of life, no matter which path you choose.

So follow the path that will allow you to become who you want to be.

Happy New Year.

Well, surprisingly, even through all Ben has been through this last year, 

all of his resolutions have come to fruition (whether he wanted them to or not).

#1 Yep, still here.

#2 We went camping up at Huntsville and fished for the first time together!

Ben was also able to go jeeping in St. George.

#3 Ben built up his jeep and his truck a bit

I am glad he was able to enjoy a few things while he could. He deserves so much more and will soon receive it when he passes into the next life and is no longer plagued by a broken body.

I can proudly announce that I have also achieved all of my goals. 

I am definitely more of who I want to be this year.

Relaxed, a bit more organized and Home Sweet Home Achieved.... well, more like Room Sweet Room achieved... I created a little cozy haven in the room where Ben is by decorating the fireplace mantle and walls with notes, drawings, balloons and cards from family and mostly the nieces and nephews. I stuffed Christmas into this room too so it is very cozy for us. Room Sweet Room. :)

We also achieved our family goal by not just keeping the Sabbath day holy but by keeping every day holy as much as possible. We have learned a ton and gained much from this experience. Living holy invites a greater spirit into your home and provides an atmosphere of education and inspiration. Our hearts have been further softened. I highly recommend it.

 

The New Year will bring many changes to my and Ben's life, in sad but good ways. 

This next year will definitely be bittersweet for both of us. 

Since things will be so different, my blog will be a way for me to write down "things" and I might as well share them in case they could help someone else out there that may be in a situation similar to mine. Maybe it could help. Either way I just enjoy sharing things. :)

Anyway, I digress. Resolutions.
Really, there has been one major thing on my mind lately and I think my 2007 New Year's post says it best so instead of recreating the wheel, I would just like to share that post with you.

 This is my resolution.

Well....The Christmas hustle and bustle should be over now for most people. This is the time when we can really focus on Christ, his birth and his influence in our life. We can also look back at the year and reflect on the good times, the sad times, and the accomplishments we have made. We can remember loved ones we have lost and new friendships we have gained. We can also remember those who walked through our hearts and left footprints that may never be washed away. Whether 2007 was monetarily prosperous or not will not matter in the grand perspective of things. What really matters is how many hearts we touched this last year.
We can try to count the number of people we might think we have helped but most likely there are many more we are unaware of. We can never know when a small and kind gesture makes a world of difference to another person. I have been the recipient of many of these gestures that are often performed without thought.
These few people are what make me trust the world a little too much and gives me hope for a safer, kinder world for our children. I want to thank those of you who open doors for others even if they could do it themselves. I want to thank those who help shovel their neighbor's walkways and bake cookies for the new families in the neighborhood. I want to thank those of you who donate your time and money to helping those who are not as fortunate as you. Thank you to those who inspire others and are role models. Thank you to those who spend a little more time with their family. Thank you to those who say "Hello" to a stranger and to those who support our troops. Thank you to those who try to enjoy life a little more. Thank you to those who make this world a better place one act of kindness at a time.
I try to think to myself "If everyone in the world did as I did...would this world be a better place?" I would hope the answer to this question would be 'Yes' for me.
In a few days we will get to make a New Year's Resolution that most people drop two weeks into the year. This year, let's make a resolution that is easy to keep not only for a year but for a lifetime. If you have an opportunity to serve, whether convenient or inconvenient, take the opportunity. It doesn't have to be a huge sacrifice like many may think. It could just be the simple acts as stated above. You never know how many lives 3you may touch or even change.

My resolution is to serve God a little bit better.

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17
Happy New Year.