2009 in Review

I love the blog because I can look back in time to this time last year, and see what my resolutions and prayers were for '09. Here's a link to my post about hopes and prayers for 2009 that I wrote about a year ago... http://lynaesthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/01/2009.html

I hoped that we would get a good routine going, setting aside time each day for God's word, for James to learn and work on PT goals, and for Seth and I to routinely hit the gym. Well, we've done really well with the PT goals, and James has made some significant progress in this area! With the help of Marilyn, our friend who walked with James on a weekly basis at our house for a while there, and then of course, him being in preschool where his PT works and getting more PT than ever.. plus, James' motivation has kicked in suddenly in this area! yeeeees!

I was consistent with filling up with the word of God for several months in the beginning, and teaching James spiritual principals and precepts, too.. that was a precious time.. but have slacked off a ton the past few months - and it has shown in my short temper, low tolerance, and all around ugly attitude lately... hmm, it's good to remember these things!! ...

As for the gym, well we don't have a membership anymore, but Seth and I are both lighter and healthier than we were this time last year, which feels great, so I really want to keep that up this year... I guess the health kick started when I was about 8 months pregnant with Joey, and Seth and I started walking together every night to prepare for the birth and stuff.. Then there was the new life insurance policy, which was another motivator. And then losing weight and feeling good is a motivator, in and of itself! ...I just discovered Trader Joe's boxed vegetable soups - they are surprisingly delicious, and I think soup, salad, and bread is going to become a staple meal for me through the rest of winter... the greatest challenge is going to be keeping myelf from binging on the BREAD. I love bread! Actually, I love carbs in every form... and then when I stop nursing, that is going to be the REAL challenge....

I wanted to get organized, rearrange and redecorate the house to better accommodate our growing family... Well, I made James' room in to James and Josiah's room, changed the whole theme in there, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! It's totally my fave room in the house! The guest room is ok... I would like to work on that some more... Seth finished the storage room in the garage, and we've filled it with junk. haha. but, seriously - it has helped tremendously with the clutter in the house.. he's working on a "man room" in the garage now. when he gets that done, he will move his music equipment and some of his other stuff out of the guest room and into the closet in the new man room. He will also move the hide-a-bed couch that we have in our guest room out into the man room, and we will get a new full size bed for the guest room.. which will be a LOT nicer for guests. I will probably keep the bedroom set that is in there now. It is nice. It's the one i had as a kid that my dad made for me.. we still have a ton of organizing and cleaning to do in the garage this spring.

I had hoped to focus on our budget and work toward financial goals. We've done pretty good in this area. We actually paid our quarterly taxes this year, which we've never been very disciplined about in the past. That will feel really good come April when we file! We might actually get a return for once!! unfortunately, we usually owe.... anyway, when the economy took a major dive this year, seth was sort of forced to take about a 30% cut in pay, and this REALLY made us start looking closely at our budget! We cut all of the luxuries that we realized we didn't need anymore... we sort of went on a spending freeze for a while there... Lately I haven't been as careful as I could be.. we've adjusted to the new income. it's not as bad as we thought it was going to be. so far, the work has been consistent. that is what we were afraid of - days and weeks and months with no work... thankfully, this has not happened to us (yet?) !!!

I wanted to be prayerful and take advantage of my down-time with the new baby to make spiritual progress. I am sad to say that I did NOT take advantage of my down-time.. actually, it didn't feel like down-time at all. I think it could have been if i would have let it... i am learning that it is ok to say "NO" to things... this is going to be a lifelong thing for me to learn... sigh... a newborn baby and an older child with special needs are just 2 of the many good reasons i have to give myself permission to say no. it's hard when i want to be a part of everything, and i want everything to go my way. ok, i admit that i am a control freak... anyway, i'm sorry, Lord, for taking the gift of down-time with a newborn for granted this time around. please give me the wisdom to simply rest in YOU more often in 2010.

I wanted to work in the yard this year... this didn't happen AT ALL.. maybe in 2010?? sigh...
I hope we can get a patio in the back yard this year, at least... Seth did re-side the garage and paint the whole exterior of our house though, and it is gorgeous!!

I had hoped to make a family trip sometime in the fall this year... and we did it!! We went to The Lord's Land in Mendocino, and it was GRAND.

For Christmas, I wanted to find ways to lift Jesus up and teach our children the true meaning... and I wanted to start some new traditions. Well, James must have sung happy birthday to Jesus a zillion times this Christmas season, and every time there was a Christmas party, we called it a "birthday party for Jesus." James gave me the gift of having a sweet, innocent, pure, loving, Christ-like attitude and demeanor this Christmas season. He reminded me that it was all about Jesus, more often than I reminded him!! I let the stress get the best of me... sigh... but I think James got the picture - overall... God, CHANGE ME quick! before my kids turn out like me!!!

We did start a new tradition... and i think it's a really fun one! This year we had our "first annual" Christmas eve eve celebration! On Christmas eve eve (yes, you read that right -- not the night before Christmas, but the night before that...) we had breakfast for dinner, drove around admiring the Christmas lights in Paradise, talked about how Jesus is the light of the world and the light of our lives, and then had a family slumber party together in the living room, next to the tree (more light). It was sweet, and I know we'll continue these things as a tradition next year!

I had hoped to sneak in some "me" time... and I didn't really do this too well.. I'm beginning to think this is part of my problem in life... I want to do it all, be super-woman, no one else can do it the way I can, it would be better if i just did it myself, and all of that hoop-la.... well, there's always next year.....

the things you learn from your new year's resolutions..........

ta-ta for now...