horizon

When I was young, I lived in Virginia and was good friends with a girl named Annie. She was kind and fun. Her dad drove what I thought must be the coolest car ever (a red convertible Mazda Miata. I'm sure it was the nicest car I had ever seen.) and she had a big cardboard cut out of the Land Before Time in her basement. Her birthday party was the first time I went to Chuck E Cheese, and her name is listed as someone who came to my baptism when I was eight. We both moved away and wrote letters for several years. After a while we lost touch.

Enter Social Media. I think it's only redeeming value is the fact that it brought me and Annie in touch again after years of separation. Today she is just as kind and cool as she was when we were 8. She is also a very talented artist. She paints homes and communities and mountains. Last year, she did these pie charts where she explored how she spent her days.  Every November she does a painting every day for the month and the theme for 2016 was "Where will you go." It was a series of Horizons and I fell in love. They reminded me of her pie charts and I couldn't get this idea out of my head. This idea that daily acts and the lifelong journey are inextricably connected. And then day 20 she summed it up so perfectly, it went right to my heart.

"What sets our direction if not the things that make up our days."

I've thought about this so much. I've looked at how I spend my days and have wondered where I could do better.  Where do I want to go? Do I spend my time on things that will get me there?

So this is what I resolve in 2017: I resolve to spend my time on things that get me where I want to be.  Not just by the end of the year but the summation of a life. A life of choosing to be a student, a creator, a nurturer, a friend, and a disciple of Jesus Christ. That is where I want to go, and what I do on a daily basis is what will get me there.

So my goals this year are to that end - exploring how I spend my time. 

I do have some specific goals too. I am studying prayer in my scriptures this year. I have books on my shelf that I have had for years and I am determined to read 3 of them. And I have been doing yoga every day so far this year (except Sundays). I didn't set out for that to be a goal, but it has been really good for me. I am spending significantly less time on social media, too.

I don't anticipate 2017 being particularly easy, with the house-buying and moving and what not, but I think it will be a learning and growing and stretching year. It will be good.

(I bought this print from Annie and hung it up in my hallway. I love it so much!)

looking back, moving forward

2016 was rough, which has been somewhat documented. But there were some good things, like that Dave signed his first job contract. Hooray! Light at the end of the tunnel.

November and December passed as uneventfully as the holiday season usually does. Dave was home a lot more, which was wonderful. We went to Rupert for Thanksgiving; it was the first time in 8 years that Dave spent Thanksgiving with his family. We went back a couple weeks last for Grandma's Christmas party - always a good time. Dave had a week off in December and we bummed around the house, celebrated his birthday, organized and decluttered cupboards, went to a movie together, and all around remembered how much we like we each other. Christmas was quiet and good. My sister joined us, the kids all seemed happy and then Dave had to work that evening.

And now it is 2017. It's going to be a good year. We are excited about the changes that are coming. As I have been thinking about resolutions, I admit I have been a bit discouraged this year. Most years my resolutions are variations of the same things. Most years I do really well for a while and then life happens and I forget or get out of the habit or go into survival mode with little energy left for change. Sometimes I look back and think that the only changes I see in myself are not for the better.

But we can't just focus on the past. All there is to do is move forward. And though it can sometimes be discouraging when we don't see progress that we want to see, that can't stop us from trying and reaching and striving. I do have a theme for the year, and I think it will be a good thing. I will write it down soon. Until then:

Happy New Year! Jan 1, 2017

Christmas Eve jammies

A picture I found on my good camera from homeschooling. Ana spent a day taking pictures and then made a slideshow. I must have snapped this one of her working on it.

Photo by Ana.