New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

Last year, some of my official resolutions were to get more prepared for emergencies, organize family photos and scrapbooks, and hike Four Peaks.

Well, I did add a few items to our food storage that I didn't have before, like apple slices, diced carrots, dry milk, and dry eggs. I also put together some very rudimentary 72-hour packs, which I'm sure will seem totally inadequate in a true emergency, but it's better than nothing!

I have made tons of progress on Brandon's baby book and added a few pages to Kallie's. They are almost done! The family photos are still in Costco photo processing envelopes, but I did buy 4 photo albums, so I hope I will get those filled up by the end of this year :)

Alas, I didn't hike Four Peaks. This year, I don't have a nursing baby, so hopefully I can do it!

It seems like I always start off the new year with lots of optimism and hope, but then... life gets in the way, kids need me for one thing or another, distractions take too much of my attention, problems and trials are put in my way, and sometimes just plain laziness catches up to me.

At the end of the year, I read all these glowing Christmas letters, and my friends and family seem to have it all together. How do they pull it off, and are their families really that perfect, or do they just leave out the bad stuff? This past year has been a real challenge for our family... lots of trials, tears, and sacrifices. It's been difficult, but I'm feeling stronger now, and triumphant because we are still okay, we are still a family, and we still love each other.

So, even if 2011 wasn't perfect, I am happy to celebrate the things that are good and the accomplishments I have made, even if I didn't accomplish everything.

Today is a good day.

Happy 2012!!