All Things New Year 2018 One Word: Live

Goodbye to 2017. As I sit here, I am recovering from an almost week-long sickness that had me drained and then eventually feverish, slightly and mostly just doing nothing but messing up my week off that I had hoped to get a lot of work done in. But, here I sit. My temp is down to 99.4, but it was normal earlier, so I'm hopeful. Plus, I feel pretty antsy at trying to stay in my bedroom away from the kids so they don't get sick.

Anyway, normally New Years Eve for us is spent with just me and the kids playing games and eating and ringing in the new year while my hubby performs 2 or 3 shows and arrives home late after midnight. This year, I'm really missing that as I am texting them from the bedroom, and they are sharing with me their home-made pizza and such.

I'm not trying to be depressing. Just that I guess as of now my word for the new year will be LIVE.

I simply feel like I just want to live.

For me, 2017 brought a lot of health issues for my parents. It started with my mom undergoing a knee replacement which was somewhat unexpectedly followed by my dad undergoing surgery and treatment for cancer. Let me tell you, I really think the treatment is worse than the cancer itself. It's tough to watch your parent go through it. The year is ending with my mom returning from the hospital after an emergency gallbladder surgery. I'm sure they will be happy to kick 2017 goodbye.

Being sick makes you appreciate feeling well. It makes you appreciate the ability to live.

I want to make the most out of every second of every day and really live it to the fullest.

I'm sure I'll come up with a more uplifting 2018 post soon, but for now. Live! And Happy New Year!

My Word for 2014

If you has one word to describe your entire year, what would it be? If I were to wrap up 2013 in one word, I'm not sure what I would choose.  We had some amazing road trips, but also had some heartaches of loss and the financial situation in our household never seems to nudge to where we want it to be.

For 2013, the word FRUSTRATING comes to mind when I think of how it often seems to be one step forward and two steps back in reaching our goals.  But, we also had an amazing 4-week musical tour in WI and MI. The entire family came along, and we saw beaches and lighthouses and toured a submarine and rode across Lake Michigan on a 5-hour ferry steam engine ship that's the size of a cruise ship.  We had a blast.  So, in that regard, I would have to say my word would be ADVENTURE.

As we face another year, my word I choose to sum up the days ahead is:

HOPEFUL!!!

This word has so much meaning to me for a variety of reasons.  Of course, as a Christian, my hope is in Christ for eternal life.

HOPEFUL - What does it mean?  It means to be full of hope, or positive expectation.  It's like being pregnant with the knowing of what you have believed for will happen. At least, that's my paraphrase of what the word means to me.

The word also holds a fairly humorous meaning between my husband and I.  When we attended a marriage encounter weekend, there were many exercises in letter writing where we had to express our feelings.  I would delve deep and try to be honest with how I really felt.  When I would ask to see my husband's feelings in writing, he would always have one word:

HOPEFUL!

This year I hope to attain more of our goals, mainly to get out of debt or at least a step or two closer.  But, I also hope to see my husband fulfill his goal in his musical pursuits.  In addition to that, I hope to see my children grow deeper in their understanding of how much Christ loves them and has a plan for their lives.  Along those lines, I hope to spend more time with my kids and hubby in the days to come.  And, as a homeschooler, I of course, hope to see my children excel at their desire to learn.

See what other homeschoolers chose as their new word by clicking on the image below. Then, tell me in the comments: What is your word for 2014?

Welcoming The New Year

This year, when December 31 rolled around, I found myself just  ME AND THE 3.....3 kiddos that is.  My hubby is a musical performer (he plays saxophone, guitar and vocals in a solo act).  He had 3 jobs booked on New Year's Eve, starting at 2:00 in the afternoon and working his way to midnight.  This left me with the kids to celebrate the new year together, without him.

As sad as this sounds, I've become used to giving up, or postponing, holidays and special events due to his career choice.  It doesn't bother me in the least.  The kids usually roll with it too.  So, there we were on New Year's Eve 2012.

How did we spend it? 

• We tried to build our 2nd gingerbread house of the year.  This one was a post-Christmas freebie, and not one I will buy even though it is a top name brand one.  I won't mention the name, but she is a popular maker of cookies.  When the icing didn't stick well, we gave up and decorated the pieces of the house as if they were individual cookies.  Then, we discovered that they were too hard to actually bite into.  So, we set it all aside and moved on to more fun.
• We mixed up some sugar cookies.  When they came out of the oven, we decorated them as our 2012 cookie designs (see above picture).
• We played a Cranium game called Conga.  By the way, if you want a fun family game (this is the one).  We had a blast wading our way through this game for our very first time.
• We put some pizza in the oven and gobbled it down when it was ready.
• We pulled our party poppers at midnight and hopped and hollered while watching the neighborhood sky light up with fireworks like the 4th of July.
• Daddy called at midnight....We missed his call since we were outside celebrating for just a moment....So, I called him back.  He had just finished his last gig.
• I talked with the kids about what they enjoyed most about 2011 and what they hoped 2012 would bring....  We then, thanked God and prayed for the new year.

If my new year celebration sounds boring or uneventful, that's because I wanted it to be a quiet evening home enjoying my little family.  The days of big party crowds are in my past.  Though, if someone would have told me (when in my 20's) how I would be celebrating New Year's Eve 2012, I'm not sure I would have believed them.  But, you know what?  I much prefer my little non-eventful New Year's Eve.

And, my goals for 2012?  I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, because a promise to me is a serious matter that I never want to break.  However, I do make plans and set goals.  I'll share with you some of my 2012 goals, if you like:

• A deeper spiritual relationship with Jesus
• Make a dent in our debt
• Attempt to blog more (This is going to be a difficult challenge, but I hope to attempt to post something almost daily)
• More time with my kids and hubby
• Lose my writer's belly and hips (get healthy)
• Plan some awesome summer vacations (my parents have paid for a beach house in Isle of Palms this year for our family, and we hope to go on tour again - John booking gigs in one of our favorite states - Wisconsin )
• Publish my e-books
• Enjoy life more (Less serious, more laughter)