A Turn of a Decade

We welcomed in the new year 14 hours ahead of most of our family and friends. In fact, as I sit here right now it is only 9:14 pm on December 31, 2009. So Happy New Year to all my family and friends!

This New Year's is special. Not only is it a new year, but a new decade as well. Hard to believe that 10 years has gone by. And what a ride the past 10 years has been.

• We have moved 3 times. From DeKalb, Illinois to Decatur, Illinois. Then from Decatur to Fuquay Varina, North Carolina. And then from North Carolina to Kobe, Japan.
  
• I went from working at a small PR firm, to staying home full-time and running my own consulting PR and technical writing business to giving it all up to be a trailing spouse.
• Matt and I went from two children to three. We have watched our kids grow from little babies and toddlers to having an almost 14 year old, a 10 year old and a 6 year old.
• Matt went back to school and got his MBA.
• Matt has traveled the world with his job. And now the kids and I are getting a taste of our own traveling adventures.
• This decade seemed to have been full of loss. We buried Matt's mom, both of his grandparents, his aunt, my aunt and our own daughter.
  

I've learned alot the past 10 years about myself, family, friends and life in general. It has been 10 years of change and of growth. I am not the same person I was 10 years ago. Not even close. But that isn't necessarily bad.

I think about this new decade and wonder what it will be like. Where will we be living in 10 years? At the end of this new decade our kids will be 23, 20 and 16. What will each of them be doing? Where will Chris and Emily be living? Where will Matt be career wise? What will I be doing? Life will be completely different from what it is now. Hopefully the different is good.

New Year's Resolutions

I have never been one to make a bunch of New Year's resolutions. They tend to stress me out. Like some black cloud hanging over my head. But this year I have decided why not.

So here are my 2007 New Year's Resolutions

1. Get ready to run a 5k on April 29. I may come in last place, but I WILL run.

2. Keep my van clean and organized. I am horrible at this.

3. Send my grandma in Texas updated pictures of the kids. I have been horrible about correspondence with her.

4. Keep my receipts organized from Day 1. I have done better from last year, but they still are just thrown in a file folder and need to be sorted out. If I sort them from the beginning it will help tremendously when doing my taxes.

5. Get my scrapbooking stuff out and use it! I am going to set a goal of 5 pages a month. (okay so that is very little, but that is 5 more a month than I did last year)

6. Work on expanding my freelance business. Really start on my book besides for brainstorming. Start putting those ideas down on paper.

7. Get my bible out and actually read it. Make it a priority instead of a side thought. (I wonder how many books the bible would count as on my reading log? ha ha)

8. Actually get the pictures that I have frames for printed and hung.

9. Do not go to the grocery store just because I am bored.

10. Realize that there are some things that won't ever change, no matter how much you try.

So now I am challenging you. What are your resolutions?