New Years 2009

It's always a treat to be with Kit and Basil and this New Year's was no exception. I think I'm starting to feel my age though because this year as soon as we took this picture at 12:00 I thought, "ok, let's go to bed!"

We ate ourselves sick with tons of great dips/ hor d'ouvres, and a HUGE load of spicy chicken wings from Wingers. Yum (and what a mess).

So as we ring in the new Year I'm always frothing with plans and resolutions, ideas and goals. I get my calendar out and I try to plan the whole entire year. On one particular car ride with Paul I was driving him nuts with all of my "planning" and he finally had to say, "woman, would you give me some peace please!" I realize I'm a little obsessive... so my new years resolutions, in an nutshell:

Confessional:

I hit a spiritual slump in December. I was just not feeling it, and I think being in Utah made me feel sort of rebellious. I can’t explain it yet, but I was a cynical sassy molassy. I let some of my doubts and questions surface and I let them fester fester fester until I was just sort of stewing in ickyness. My sister is one of those straight down the line, black is black, white is white, kind of girls. I spewed some of my verbal garbage on her and she said, “If I ever have questions I just read my scriptures.” So here is my official thank you to her. In the face of my BAD attitude, she lovingly bore her testimony to me. I know she has been really diligent in reading her scriptures everyday and she has the spirit with her. So, I took her words to heart and got back on the scripture train. I swam back to the surface and I feel the sun again. I think there will always be questions I can’t answer and things I don’t understand, but what’s great about the gospel is that it makes me a better person, and it’s founded on principles that regardless of anything else always lead to more happiness than sorrow. We had a great ward conference this week. I was reminded that reading the scriptures is not an admonition, but a commandment. We also got very chastised for our poor temple attendance as a ward. Our bishop gave a talk that was outstanding. He reminded us that we covenant to give the Lord everything we have, but he promises that he will give us everything in return, and he started by giving us His only Begotten Son.

My new Year’s resolution last year was to take a dose of hope and get more optimistic. I’m glad to say that it was an appropriate goal and I have worked on it all year and I need to keep working on it. I am keeping this goal for this year and adding a goal to stop allowing myself so many sins of omission. My scriptures are sitting right there by my bed. I commit to open them every day. It’s really the least I can do.