A New Year...

"I cannot go back to yesterday 
                         because I was a different person then."
                                   -Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
     

I'll be honest, coming up with resolutions for this year has been a little difficult. I feel like I have a lot of self improvement to do, but I'm not quite sure where to start. There are holes in my life that need filling. I feel the need for greater spirituality, better self-control, and more creativity. Frankly, I don't know how I am going to accomplish filling these holes, so my 2015 goals are going to be malleable and may change throughout the year, but this is where I am going to start:

Spirituality

1. Say my personal prayers every day. 
I believe that having a personal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Chris leads to greater self confidence and a healthy respect for life and for those relationships we create during this life. Prayer helps set the tone for our day and gives us a greater perspective. So I created a good, old-fashioned, paper calendar where I will mark off my progress. It is helpful to have something so concrete to look at. I don't want to see any blanks squares amid all of my X's.

2. Read the Book of Mormon as a family.
Hearing the stories in the scriptures reminds me of the "great things the Lord has done for [my] fathers" and also helps give an eternal perspective to this life. We have recently started to incorporate reading the Book of Mormon into our bedtime routine with Liv. This has been helpful for the whole family because as we strive to teach Liv, we learn ourselves.

3. Go to the temple three times this year.
The temple is the closest place to heaven besides our own homes. The closest temple to us is the Washington DC temple. We have never lived so far away from a temple (which is still pretty close compared to many of our brothers and sister around the world). Although three times a year doesn't sound like much, I feel that it is going to be enough of a challenge for us while we work with a med school schedule, one car, and two kids. :)

Self-Control

1. No senseless media after 10:00pm on weekdays.
Right now a lot of my nights are wasted on Facebook, Pinterest, and phone games. Generally, after 10:00pm nothing productive happens. I just stay up really late doing silly things and pay for it the next morning. So, the phone goes off at 10:00pm SHARP! I won't watch movies or shows after 10:00. I used the caveat of no "senseless" media after 10:00 because I believe that I can do some productive or useful things on the computer. Blogging, for example. :)

2. Get healthy.
I don't really want to detail my health plan here because this often has the opposite effect for me. The more people who know about my diet/workout/whatever plan, the more likely I am to fail. I had to put this goal out there, but just don't ask me about it. :)

Creativity
Now here is where I really struggle. Being a stay-at-home mom has its challenges in this regard. I am not going to school every day but I still want to expand my mind. I am not working outside the home but I still want to feel productive. So far my creative outlet has been in decorating my home (which many of my friends can attest, is still pretty pathetic). So this section of my goals is where I will be most flexible. I would like to take this year to discover a new (or rediscover an old) talent that I can foster inside my home. So that is my first goal. I have a few other creative or fun goals as well.

1. Discover a new talent.
This will require me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things. Possibilities include: quilting, sewing, sign language, interior design, and anything else that comes my way!

2. Observe, then serve.
What does this have to do with creativity, you ask? I think it takes a lot of creativity to know how to serve someone. It takes more than the rote "Let me know if there's anything I can do" statement. It takes a good amount of thought to do something really helpful to another person. This was a goal I had last year and I failed miserably at it. To help me this year I am going to include another person or family in my personal prayers each day. Hopefully this will help me listen to the spirit to discern how I can best serve them. Then I am going to try to do at least one act of service a week. This could be something as simple as a phone call or as elaborate as helping plant a garden. Who knows what kinds of things I can help with this year!

3.Go on at least four day trips to visit historical sites.
This is a "just for fun" goal, but I think we all need at least one of these! There are soooo many amazing things to do near where we live and I don't want to miss out!  I've already made a list of some of the great places I want to visit: Amish town (Lancaster), Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York City, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Falling Waters (for you, Linds), Reading Terminal Market (America's oldest farmers' market), and Strites Orchard just to name a few.
*If any of you east coasters have any suggestions for my list, please let me know!

These goals aren't as concrete as many of my 2014 goals, but I feel that if I keep them in my mind and measure what I can, then I will accomplish many of my goals and develop myself in important and needed ways. Wish me luck!

2014 in Review

Last year I made 14 New Year's Resolutions and put them in writing on this blog. I will say that even though I did not complete all of my goals, I think it was very helpful to have them "visible" and have easy access to review them. So here is my report:

1. Go to the gym at least three times a week.

With my new gym membership to Planet Fitness and high resolve to live healthy, I'm hoping to create good habits that last.

I did a really great job of this while we were living in Utah. I found that I enjoyed going to the gym and having some time to be alone, be active, and work on my personal health. I'll admit when we moved to Pennsylvania (and I was six months pregnant and without a gym) my habit quickly died. This is something I will revisit in 2015, although I will need a new game plan with two kids!

2. Get into med school! 

I see this journey to medical school as a joint journey, so it's one of my resolutions as well. 

Chris was accepted to Penn State's Hershey School of Medicine. We have found this first year of med school to be difficult but also very fulfilling. Chris is doing very well in school and is involved in ophthalmology research with faculty. 

3. Visit parents in Italy. 

Chris and I have talked about going to Europe together since we got married. If it's going to happen before we turn fifty, it's gotta happen now! Plus, what better motivation to have than to see Grammy and Babbo?

After we found out Chris was accepted to medical school, we decided to take the big European trip we had been dreaming about. It was our last hurrah before our grueling ten year med school journey began. We spent two weeks in Italy and France, six of those days with my wonderful parents. It was epic!

4. Read 28 books

This was inspired by my friend's goal last year. 28 books because I am 28 years old. I used to love reading and I haven't done much of it lately. So, first on the list is The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. 

I didn't quite read 28 books, but I did read more than I have in years past. The 2014 list consisted of:

*Zornan: Peak Crosser, by Adam Mangum

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford

Painted Girls, by Cathy Marie Buchanan  (NOT recommended)

The God Who Weeps, by Terryl L. Givens

Teatime for the Firefly, by Shona Patel 

Paper Towns, by John Greene

Inferno, by Dan Brown

*When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Eragon, by Christopher Paolini

*The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Prospero, by Adam Mangum

Fates, by Kayla MacNeille

Mindless Eating, by Brian Wansink

       *my favorites

5. Go to festival of colors.

I lived in Provo, Utah for four years and never attended this Hari Krishna festival! If there's a possibility that we are leaving Utah this year, I need to check this off my bucket list. 

This was definitely a one of a kind experience. I enjoyed it and would probably do it again. But I would be much better prepared!

6. Finish Olivia's baby book.

I love Heritage Makers to preserve memories. Liv is almost one and I would love to have a keepsake to give to her when she is older. 

This is so close to being finished! I finally got some pictures that were stored on my in-laws computer so it will be finished and off to publishing soon.

7. Get to know four neighbors.

This is actually a goal given to our ward by our bishop. This is something that I struggle with (putting myself out there) so I thought I would add it to my list to better myself. 

This was not fulfilled until I moved to Pennsylvania. It has been easier here to get to know people around me. My next door neighbor, Frances, is an amazing grandma who thinks of us often. There are many people on my street who have been so welcoming to us and hopefully I have been kind and welcoming to them as well. :)

8. Read Book of Mormon. 

Another ward goal and it's been a little while since I've read the Book of Mormon cover to cover.

Unfortunately, this did not happen. However, we have started a new bedtime routine with Olivia which includes reading from the Book of Mormon and family prayer every night. We started with the first chapter of First Nephi tonight!

9. Have personal and family prayer every night. 
It's the last part of the goal that I need to work on - consistency. 

Darn that consistency. It was never my friend. So this goal continues. And to help me with this goal I have printed out a small, one-page calendar that has all the months in the year. I am going to mark off each day that I say my prayers so at the end of the year I will have a completely filled in calendar. That is right, I am resorting to elementary school tactics! I may even break out the smiley face stickers! :)

10. Make a quiet book for Liv.

I know it will be a little while before Liv will need a quiet book, but I also know that it will take me a long time to make it. So, I will start now. 

Nope, not even started. I may try to tackle this this year...or I may just buy one. :)

11. Take Chris to the Mona rope swing.

Another bucket list item before we leave Utah. I had fun memories there and I want to share them with Chris. 

We were so busy the summer before we moved to PA, that this just didn't seem to be high enough priority. But I am looking forward to creating more fun and new memories going forward!

12. Disconnect with the phone to be more productive.
I'm not horrible with this, but I could definitely be better. 

I feel that I did a pretty good job with this. During the summer I took Liv on many outside adventures and in the winter I have tackled a lot of home projects. It has been a lot of fun!

13. Choose to be happier.

Especially when I'm hungry and/or sleepy, when trials come, or when my future seems uncertain, I still have agency and can choose to be happy. 

I think I've done a good job of this as well. Not to say that I have been perfectly happy all the time. But medical school has brought a lot of changes for me and for how our family functions. I have tried to be supportive, happy and optimistic about these changes and the new path our life has taken. 

14. Choose to look out for others (observe, then serve).

This was suggested by my relief society teacher and I knew it was something I needed to work on. Mostly the observing part. 

I'm still pretty bad at this. I think I am the worst observer in history! Even to those I am closest with I can be pretty oblivious. I haven't figured out yet how I can make this a measurable goal, but I will work on it. 

So, all in all, I achieved about half of my goals.  And amazingly, I don't feel bad about that! As I said in the beginning, having these goals written down gives me a visual sense of my progress, whereas in years past I have vaguely tried to work on things without much sense of how I was doing. It is fun to see where the year has taken me! 

Calvin's Blessing

This Christmas we had the gift of being able to be in Utah with our family and friends for the holidays. So we took this opportunity to give Calvin a name and a blessing surrounded by our loved ones.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons) we do not baptize children until they have reached the age when they are considered accountable for their actions. In our church that is eight years old. However, when they are still infants we often give them what we call a "name and a blessing." Usually the father of the child, if he is a worthy priesthood holder, will perform this ordinance. He will address our Heavenly Father, give the child a name, and then give a priesthood blessing as he feels guided by the Holy Ghost.

This is such a special ordinance as it focuses on the potential of each individual child. One of the greatest things of parenthood is seeing how divine a child truly is and what they can become. I know this is how Heavenly Father feels about us. He can see our potential even when we can't see it ourselves. During a priesthood blessing, the giver is guided by the Spirit to help us see just a glimmer of the potential Heavenly Father sees in each and every child.

It was hard this time to jot down a few notes, as Olivia was more interested in climbing under the pews then sitting still, but here are a few things from Calvin's blessing that stood out to me.

Christopher blessed Calvin to stand strong and be an example to those around him. I can see Calvin following in his dad's footsteps on this one. Chris was always an example to the younger boys in his ward and I hope Calvin can be as well. He also blessed Calvin with a drive to succeed in the important things in life. That is interesting wording, noting that there are things in life that are important to succeed in and others that may simply be distractions.  He blessed Calvin with wisdom in his decisions. This will be especially important as Calvin grows up in a continually challenging world. And finally, he blessed Calvin with the desire to follow the Lord's teachings throughout his life. This could be the most important of all, as a desire is the first step to any action or change.

Christopher was surrounded by his father, his brothers, my brothers and a few close friends. We are of course missing my father who is with my mother in Italy serving a mission, Chris's brother, Matt, who is living in Texas, and my brother-in-law, Adam, who is living in Minnesota. Know that we miss you and love you!