A New Year

Well, it is now 2015.

The wind is howling outside and bitter cold. It's quite a change from what we experienced up to Christmas. Probably one of the warmest times I can ever remember! The cold seems to be more severe this time of year then I remember for a long time too. It's always coldest this time of year, but it seems to just be getting colder and colder every year. Brrrrr... Makes me grateful that I have a warm house, clothes, food, and a nice warm coat and boots to wear when I go outside.

The wind has been blowing all week. It is tempting to not like the wind. It is certainly noisy, and makes it difficult to sleep. It also make a cold 14 more like a -10 with the wind chill factor thrown in. Then I think about how usually once it snows, the air gets trapped and all the pollution from cars, factories, and other things, just sits there, and it's hard to breathe, and our air gets compared to Shanghai or Beijing. Well, the wind prevents that from happening, so I am certainly glad about that.

Here are some of my goals for the year. I am hoping if I write these down and make a continual effort to work on them, I will achieve some of them!

1. Organize and clean my house. I realize that it is hard to have a spotless house with little kids, but I would like my house to be more organized and cleaner than it currently is. It's something we need to work on. Baby steps.

2. Less yelling. Again, something that I have to continually work on. It was actually getting quite a bit better and then I had surgery, and that just threw a kink in all the works. Still, I have made it a goal, and my family has made it a goal too. I know that if we can get better at not yelling our house will be a more peaceful and pleasant place to be!

3. Plan menus for our meals. I have done this before, sporadically, but I have noticed that when I do, we eat out less, and we use the food we have on hand more. It's easier to make dinner when you have a bunch of options already written out. It also makes grocery shopping more effective and we spend less on our food budget. All good things!

4. Find something positive and have an attitude of gratitude. I always post this, because I always need to work on it. It is definitely better to be positive and optimistic then to always be negative. It makes life more enjoyable, and I know that when I am positive and looking at my blessings, I really begin to notice how much I really have and how much I have to be grateful for.

5. Attend the temple at least once a month.

I think this a good start. If I think of more, or think I can handle more, then I will write them down.

So, here is a funny thing...I was curious to see what I had written for 2014 for goals...and they were almost identical!! So, apparently I didn't 100% achieve them. Apparently I need to have smaller goals to achieve my bigger goals... so.... okay, here is a revision.

1. Work on organizing one room a month.
2. Create a job chart to help when jobs should be getting done.
3. If I say one negative thing to anyone in my family, I need to notice and say at least two nice things.
4. Create a meal plan for every two weeks.
5. Find one positive thing every day.
6. Attend the temple at least once a month.

All right new year, here we go!