re·solve

riˈzälv,-ˈzôlv/

verb

 1. 
settle or find a solution to (a problem, dispute, or contentious matter)

2. 
decide firmly on a course of action.

It’s that time of year for casting off the old and looking forward to the potential possibilities that a new year holds.

2013 will forever be remembered (by me) as the best of times and the worst of times. Glad this one is almost in the books. Can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a new year.

Pressing on.

It’s the time for goal setting and resolutions.  One of the very first habits that my hub and I started as newlyweds was at the beginning of each new year we would have a conversation about ONE THING we would like of the other of us to work on in the coming year. Not in a mean spirited, “you need to be perfect” kind of way, but in a “this is one thing I wish you could be better about.” Asking for ONE annoying habit to change in a loving tone. We learned a lot about each other…and how to really piss each other off.

Like me using the word “piss” just now. I’ll hear about that one.

In addition to what he would like me “work on”…I choose a few things that I want to either improve, learn or stop doing.

Let’s be clear….losing weight is ALWAYS on the list. That’s a given.

So the others are always fun to decide about. Here are just a few of past years resolutions:

-Make killer spaghetti sauce, (check, thanks to my friend, Angie)

-Make bread from scratch like my friend, Gabi does (still a work in progress)

Let’s stop right there and see the correlation between just these first two on the list and the one that never leaves (dieting)……it’s a battle!

Back to some of the other things over the years:

-Learn to dance to Thriller (almost there)

-Grow paperwhites (they stink!)

-Downsize my belongings ( a work in progress)

-Recycle more (50/50)

-Plant pumpkins (nope)

-Really get to understand iTunes (I’m old, OK and they upgrade ALL. THE. TIME. So now I am learning Spotify)

-Start a blog (Hey there.)

-Take an online class (I took 3 this year)

-Learn to paddleboard. (This was on my last years list and I had one attempt in SC when the surf was really rough and even then I was able to get up to my knees and hold…so it goes on the list this year too. Think I might start on a lake or in the Bay)

These are a few of the things I want to make a reality to the best of my ability in 2014:

I resolve to:

1. Lose weight. (Again.)

2.  Sit in front of my living room picture window, in silence and watch the snow fall. That’s the best place to see how the wind carries each flake and the accumulation in the pasture and on the pines. I will be thankful for a warm house and wood for the stove and for the man who provides both for me. I want to practice more gratitude.

3.  To handwrite more of my thank you notes. It’s a dying habit and I would like to give to someone else the joy I feel when I find a handwritten note in my mailbox.

4.  Walk more, sit less. Paddleboard when I can.

5.  Listen more, talk less. With the addition of another daughter in law in 2014 this should be easy.  Gone are the days of me just rattling on as the only woman in the family-now we rattle on together!

I love new beginnings. I love the fact that I can choose to affect change in some things in my world. Or choose not to change.

Happy New Year!

Blessings,

Stephanie