It's Friday, I'm in Love

Christmas was great this year. Darren and I had a nice time visiting with family and spending time together. My gifts this year included a new ski coat and a Presto pressure cooker. Darren got a shotgun. I took tons of pictures, but because of the kids in the pics, I can't share most of them. I'll look through and see what I can find. For now, though, because the New Year is fast approaching, it is time to start thinking about resolutions. I am still contemplating mine for the coming year, but here is the Friday Five list of past resolutions I've made (and some that I've subsequently broken):

1. Keep room clean (age 10). I honestly had every intention of becoming the type of person who couldn't go to sleep with my room even a little dirty. I think this resolution lasted maybe one month. I still don't keep my room clean all the time, but I'm a good cleaner...


2. Be on time to school (age 17). This came about mostly because I was late for art every morning the first semester of my senior year. I don't know why, I just seemed to push the time limits every morning -- for how long I could stay in bed, for how long it would take me to shower and get ready, and for how long it would take me in traffic. My poor freshman sister suffered the consequences of my tardiness. I'm not sure how long I kept this resolution. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it might have been only days.



3. Workout regularly (age 19). This was my sophmore year in college, and I actually kept this resolution pretty well. I think the motivation came from the fact that I felt like I had to get my poor college student's money out of the gym membership. My roommate Kelli (another great motivator) and I would walk to the gym at 5:45 every morning through the snow or rain or whatever.


4. Buy a car (age 22). Before I tell you about this resolution, I just have to add that the New Years when I was 22 (almost 23) was also the turn of the century -- or better known as Y2K. I remember being at a single's dance and waiting for midnight to hit and chaos to break out and... there was absolutely nothing. Kind of disappointing. Anyway, I made the car resolution the New Year after I started my first job out of college. It took me until October 2000 to actually save and buy a car, but I kept the resolution. So, the first car I offically bought was a green Jeep Cherokee Sport. Man I loved it -- it went everywhere. This picture is similar, but there wasn't that much rust...



5. Meal plan every two weeks (age 29). I made this resolution just last year in hopes that by being better at meal planning I could relieve some of my stress with dinner. I would have to say I'm about 50% with this resolution. Some months I'm better at meal planning than others, but I haven't given up yet. Darren and I both started taking lunches this year as well, and I do like sending leftovers in our sacks, so that encourages me to be better with planning. It may make another appearance on my list.

I didn't add any of my spiritual resolutions because if I'd kept them it would seem like bragging, and if I hadn't it would just seem sad; though, I think those are the best kind of resolutions because you get something back just by trying. I will say that my Sunday School resolution went pretty well -- not 100%, but I am pleased. Now back to planning for next year...

Happy New Year and Happy Resolution Making!! Keep smiling and remember to be happy.