2012 - The Year the World Didn't End

It's time for my annual year end wrap up.  Can you believe it?  I really, really can't.  2012 went fast.  Did it go faster than most other years?  Probably not, but it sure felt like it. 

Well, as we know December 21st, 2012, the world did NOT end.  But lots of other stuff happened in 2012.  In the US, Hurricane Irene threatened to be huge but ended up petering out, then Sandy came and stole the show.  I believe that the east coast is still recovering.  Obama got re-elected among one of the most contentious elections that I can remember (though that's only a few).  There were lots of political scandals but what's new there?  A lot of the rest of the world is fighting, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.  Of course, fresh on our minds are several shootings - Colorado movie theater, grade school in CT.  We lost a few history makers - Neil Armstrong, Whitney Houston, Dick Clark, Andy Griffith, Sally Ride.  Lots of celebrities had babies and named them bizarre names.  Oh remember this stuff - Kony 2012, Tan Mom, Chik-Fil-A protests, Linsanity,?  I didn't till I looked it up!  London had a big year, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, hosting the 2012 summer Olympics and the announcement of a royal baby in 2013. 

More personally, 2012 went fast cause I have two small kids at home.  They grow up quickly, they make each day different and very busy.  I turned 31 this year.  We celebrated our 8th anniversary.  Reed turned 3 in May and Nora turned 1 in October.  I went back to work in January from my maternity leave and changed positions in April.  The following 8 months have been crazy at work, but so enjoyable.  We took a few vacations camping and to visit family.  Though I have very little in the category of "awesome" to report that we did this year, we really did have an enjoyable time doing our little things that we love so much - skiing, dirt biking, spending time with friends, traveling.  I'm trying to reemerge myself in all those things that I love to do but are often difficult to do because of kids.  We went to the City of Rocks this fall and I got to rock climb again, something I haven't done in years. 

We are blessed with amazing family and friends.  We've had several friends blessed with babies this year and already several announcements of babies to arrive in 2013.  We've had some health scares in the past year both in our family and with some friends, we are thankful for the ones that have been resolved and are praying for those that are currently facing difficulties. We love visits and times with friends, they truly shape the people that we are.

The things that define this year for me are immense. In May, Nora faced a very scary health issue.  By the grace of God, it turned out to be pretty much nothing.  We thought we would be quitting our jobs, selling our house and moving across the country to seek the very best medical care possible for our baby girl.  Though it was thought to be lymphoma, luckily it ended up being a very common birth mark essentially, presented in an unusual way.  If that kind of thing doesn't help you understand being thankful, put you on your knees in prayer, then I don't know what does.  We reevaluated a lot during that time.  Several people very close to us are battling cancer.  One is one of my best friends Dad.  Keep him in prayer, he is still working through all of the details and beginning treatment soon.  The other is even closer, Fogg's dad.  Though the news came quickly, we are so thankful that it has been good news so far and seems that it will be a quick solution and recovery.  Dick will be headed in for surgery in the next couple of weeks, please pray for him and the doctors.

I'm really into goals this year.  I know that every year I list a bunch of stuff that I want to improve upon but this year, I'm really going to focus my goals and work hard on doing them.  I generally spend a lot of time worrying, stressing about things like cleaning and laundry.  Though those types of things still need to get done, I'm going to refocus on the things that last.  I REALLY am going to get my body back to as close to pre-baby as possible.  I'm thinking that it may never get back to exactly pre-babies, but I need to lose those final 10 pounds, tone up and hopefully lose 5 more to get into ultimate shape.  I need my strength back, I feel so weak!  I'm going to work hard to be better at spending (or better phrased - NOT spending).  A budget refocus is in my future for the year and I'm going to work hard on it.  We would really like to pay some things off this year to free up money to save for our 10th anniversary trip and/or a deck remodel.  Along those same lines, I need to work on getting rid of stuff we don't need.  I need to sell some stuff!  I'm going to focus on spending some good quality time with my kids.  Though I work full time, I still need to focus on educating my kids in a variety of ways.  They need to know the Lord, learn about what Jesus did for us.  They need to learn to pray and to read the Bible.  Reed needs to learn the ABC's and maybe even to start to read a little.  Nora needs to learn a whole lot of words and even more discipline.  These are important years for my kids and my role in their lives is unmatched and extremely critical to the people that they will become.  That needs to be my priority.  I'm also going to do a better at studying, praying and spending time with God.  Without Him, I am not all that great, spending time in the word will help me in all of the above goals.

More broadly, I'm going to work on being nicer, forgiving more often, being compassionate and empathetic, and generally being a good person.  I need to communicate more with my friends and family that live outside of Utah.  Though I will never be good at remembering everyone's birthday's, I want to make people feel special any time that I possibly can!  I need to continue to be a good wife and mother, there is always room for improvement in those areas! 

So though 2012 wasn't remarkable in too many ways, it's time to learn from what the year was and move into the new one.  I love New Years because it really is a good time to start new goals and projects cause you'll know exactly how long you've been at it.  To you and everyone out there, happy new year and good luck to everyone!