2009 Word

I have been thinking a lot about goals and what I want from this upcoming year. This year (and the end of last year) has been so crazy busy that I haven't really gotten the opportunity to set my New Year's Resolutions. So this year they are going to be a "rebirth" instead. I stole an idea from a blog I follow. This woman chooses a word for each year. She had some great words she was considering, and three of them stuck out to me. SIMPLIFY, FOCUS, and CHOOSE. I have chosen "Choose." I loved the 'Good, Better, Best" talk by Elder Oaks. I have definitely experienced some of this in my own life recently with everything that's gone on with my health as well as Micah's, and with Kolton's intense need for structure and down time. This also was the reason Wes cut back at work and I was released from Young Womens. Up to date, these were some of the harder decisions in our lives, but also the most rewarding. Our little boys are growing up so fast, and I don't want us to miss it. We got so used to working so hard because we both had to work above and beyond our capacity to put Wes through school, that we never really stopped working so hard after he was done until recently. There's always an excuse to work more, and it's always a good one, but usually it makes it easier to lose our focus. Cutting out the important but less important than family things has given us so many blessings already. Blessings like being able to be there when needed, for one another, the boys, and friends and family. We've been able to focus on what's important - put more energy in those things. We've paid off a LOT more debt, and also been able to save for a vacation and fix up our house a bit. We've been able to really actively create our family routine and infrastructure. The best blessing is actually freeing up more time to add more back into our lives. It's been easier to prioritize and make room in our lives for more good things. Or "best" things. We are getting closer every day to what we want. What a huge blessing that is!