A New Year..

Just the sound of "A New Year", makes me want to try harder and do better in life. Aside from the usual wanting to be healthy, exercise and lose weight, yadda, yadda, yadda. I wanted to share some of my less depressing and more achievable resolutions.

I call these, " THE FAVE FIVE".

#1-The first thing I wrote when I made my list was, " Don't sweat the small stuff."

I want nothing more than to be one of those moms that break out the camera when the entire bag of flour has been spilt, Or laugh when a whole glass of milk has been knocked off of the table onto the carpet. I fear that this is one of those less achievable aspirations of mine, but I truly want to master the art of making lemonade out of those nasty little lemons that life hands our way.

BONUS...This goal comes with a yummy recipe.

Perfect Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)

1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
1 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)
Method:
1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.
2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
Serve with ice, sliced lemons.
Serves 6.

My second goal goes hand in hand with the first.

#2- I want to be more thankful for the things I have, and count my many, many blessings.

I went to the movie, "Marley & Me" last week, and this movie basically summed up my second goal. I loved every single part of this movie. It rang so true to real life and how we can get so caught up in the bad things in life that we forget to focus on what truly matters. It was one of those laugh/cry movies. I recommend this to anyone who hasn't already seen it. It is a perfect date movie with your hubby.

My third goal is one of the most important on my list,

#3- Simplify and Organize.

This doesn't only apply to the physical clutter in my life, but the mental as well. I really want to focus on my family more and make them my priority. I feel like they have always been my main focus in life, but I find myself getting so caught up in the busyness of life that I forget that they are the most important part. I want my days to be scheduled around my family and not the other way around. I want to put more effort into our FHE's, and really put an emphasis on the love I have for each individual. I truly feel that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", and I think that if I can simplify and organize our family will truly benefit from it.




That brings me to my fourth goal. I hope that you know I wrote these in no particular order. I just jotted down what came to my head.

#4- Be Better Prepared/Budget and Save.

I really want to work toward better preparing ourselves. I want to put more toward my children's schooling in the future, and the missions that they may serve. I would also like to put more effort into food storage and into building a better savings. Although I feel that I have inherited my thrifty shopping skills from my father, I think that I could do better to only buy things that we truly need and not just buy things because they have a pretty price...YIKES... I am guilty thrift shopper!

This brings me to the final of "THE FAVE FIVE". This could very well be the hardest, and in order to accomplish it I know that I need to work on myself each and every day.

#5- I want to be the BEST wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend, that I can be.

Happy New Year

If it didn't bring you joy, just leave it behind

Let's ring in the new year with good things in mind.

Leave every bad memory that brought heartache and pain

And let's turn a new leaf with the smell of new rain.

Let's forget past mistakes, making amends for this year

Sending these greetings to bring hope and good cheer.

Happy New Year!

(-author unknown)