Resolved

Happy New Year! 

I'm not sure whether to write that 2013 was good to us, or that 2013 was rotten.  Unemployment was miserable, and our bank account is pretty pathetic right now, but I feel like we witnessed miracles for our little family.  We were blessed in a million small ways, and I came out with a more firm conviction that God hears and answers prayers, and that He has a plan for me.  So can I really call that a loss?  I don't think so. 

Last year I made a few resolutions.  I'm pleased to report I wrote something I'm grateful for in my journal every single day of 2013.  It was a year of thankfulness.  Oh, that made all the difference when life was launching grenades my way.  I don't plan on stopping, either.  I have so much to be grateful for, and every day brings new blessings.  That resolution was a resounding success.

I also kept track of all the books I read. I read 38 different books (2 were unfinished as of December 31), for a total of 10,703 pages.  Clark got up to 11,675.  I think those numbers are quite impressive.  We're readers, people.  READERS.  Now that I know about how many pages I read in a year, I can set a new goal to surpass that number.  11,000 pages, here I come!

Progress report on reading Book of Mormon as a family: we are almost through Alma.  While we didn't finish the whole thing, we read fairly consistently, and I'm quite pleased.  Sure, the girls aren't getting everything, but they are getting some things, and that's important.  New goal: finish it this year.  I feel confident this will happen.

As for the other goals, I am afraid I wasn't more patient, nor did I spend less time yelling at my kids.  We're putting those into the "Roll-over" category.  Or, more accurately, the "Never Ending Battle" category.  And yoga didn't really happen either.  Maybe those things are connected?  Hmm...

So what about 2014?  What lofty goals am I setting?  Well, I'm glad you asked.

•  Reading 11,000 pages was already mentioned.  
• And finishing the Book of Mormon as a family.  
• It's high time I read Jesus the Christ by Talmage.  I'm not sure how I've made it to 32 years as a Mormon and not read this book.  Time to change that.  
• Remember my 30 by 30 challenge?  Remember how I actually completed 25 by 30, and then one more by 31?  I am thinking it's time to chase down those last 4.
• We're now an hour closer to a temple.  Monthly temple trips are a bit more feasible.  Time to make that happen.
• Learn Portuguese.  When I say "learn Portuguese" I basically mean "learn some Portuguese."  And I'd love for the girls to learn along with me.  It's hard to say what I hope the end result will be.  We'll see how this goes.  
• And finally, I want to blog more.  I have no family close by, and very few friends in this new place.  I need to tell my stories to someone!  And so, fair blog, you are the recipient.  Or at least, I hope you will be.

All written down like that, this seems like a long list.  But I think these are all things I can do, and in fact want to do. And since one of those goals is to blog weekly, you'll get to read all about my progress!