Resolved: 2014 Will Be The Year That...

I've decided to make some New Year's resolutions. (Shock! Amazement! Surprise!) Then I decided to post them on the blog so you could all hold me accountable, because you guys are pretty good at that :)

1) I want to do a Project 365 364 this year. Why am I not doing a Project 365? Why am I already giving up on completing a full year right from the start? Well, there's this little trip we're taking in April and April 3, 2014 won't exist for me. Well, it might for a little bit, but I'm hoping to sleep through it :) I've decided that every Sunday I will do a post of my pictures from the previous week. If you have any amazing ideas of things I should photograph, let me know.

2) I want to read through my entire Bible in one year. I started this last year, got through Deuteronomy and 1 and 2 Chronicles and got stuck in the Psalms. Who gets stuck in the Psalms, I ask you? Besides me, that is. sigh.

3) I want to read through my devotional every day. I picked up "Jesus Calling" on a great sale in September and it's been sitting on my desk since then. Time to crack it open. I'm ready to be challenged.

4) I want to read more books. I've gotten stuck in a rut when I read the same old books all the time. I need some new ones. On Monday, when I was at the library, I picked up some random ones and I've decided that I need to do this every time I'm there. Just pick a random book off the shelf. I want to try and do some book reviews this year. After all, I love all of your book recommendations -- it's time to give some back to you.

5) I'm going to go to the gym 2-3 times a week. If I'm not doing this by the end of February, I'm giving up my gym membership. For someone as frugal as I am, it really bugs me that I waste it by not using it. And the only person who can change that is me.

6) I'm going to invite people over for supper more. I love hosting people and I want to intentionally do more of that. Maybe I'll try to have someone new over every two weeks.

7) I want to be more patient with my kids. These years are crazily short. Rachel starts Kindergarten in a little over a year and a half. I don't want to waste this time I have with her. Sam is already in school and he is so funny and so wise and I miss it half the time because he's not doing what I want him to be doing so I get frustrated. I need to show him more grace. Parenting is hard but that's no excuse not to try harder.

8) I want our family to have more fun. The five days over the Christmas break showed me that our family can have a lot of fun together but we need to be intentional about it. I'd like to do something "just for fun" with my family once or twice a month. Something spontaneous. Something we'll all enjoy.

So that's what my 2014 is going to look like. I hope.

And the pictures in this post are from our New Year's Eve. We went to Toronto and celebrated by having fondue with a group of good friends. Marika knit each of us women a cowl for Christmas. She is so talented and I am so thankful for her gift. Donny made cosmopolitans for the women. Yum yum yum! And while we were there, we booked a cottage for a week at the beach together this summer! I can't wait!