2017

Hello! It sure has been awhile. For some reason, I've felt like blogging again. I have no idea how often, or what I'll come to this space with, but hopefully there will be a bit more going on here!

It's a new year! I love any chance to reflect - the new year, new season, a birthday, a big life change. While I've never been a huge resolution person, I do always have a list of goals. I know some people choose a word or theme for the year - and for some reason that has resonated with me this time around.

My word for this year is HOME.  With another baby coming to our family in just six-ish weeks, this will be a year when we will spend a lot of time at home. No vacations are planned and I want to take things easy and do all I can to simplify.

I want to create a home that is joyful, creative, engaging and safe. I want to create a house of learning. I want to be more proactive at teaching my kids about everything - the gospel, money management, life skills, reading, etc. etc. Here are a few concrete goals I have to achieve this:

we brought in the new year among southern utah's beautiful red rock

- Plan family night ahead of time. Usually my alarm goes off on Monday evening reminding me to do FHE and I haven't thought of much. We usually end up watching a video on lds.org, or singing a song and talking about it, or picking a short lesson from the nursery manual. While I'm glad we are somewhat consistent, I want there to be more thought on my end. What do my kids really need to learn? How can we really connect as a family? What principle could we all benefit from? Trevor and I do weekly planning on Sunday nights, and I hope to add FHE prep to that. 

- People before messes. I do best in a clean, organized environment but with two young boys and a new baby I'm going to need to learn to let things go. Reading with them is more important than rinsing the dishes. Making sure they feel loved and safe is more important than tidying up. Those messes will (annoyingly) wait. 

- I want S to have consistent jobs around the house and start earning a small allowance each week. I have yet to find a system yet, but I hope to start that soon. 

- Scripture reading each morning at breakfast. We have worked our way through several of the illustrated scripture books, but I want it to be a more consistent part of our morning routine. 

What about you? Do you have new years resolutions? Goals? A word? I'd love to hear.