Monday, December 31, 2012

Breathing Out (2012) and Breathing In (2013)

I think perhaps New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are my favorite holiday. We rarely leave our home on New Year's Eve and are often in bed by 10 p.m.; New Year's Day is typically camped in front of the TV watching our favorite sport - football. But these magical two days for me are like a deep breath inhaled and released. It's like a clean house. A new beginning. A letting go. A heart-felt "I forgive you." New. Wonder. Opportunity. Mystery. Adventure. That's 2013 for me. Tomorrow.

Today, I have memories. And here are a few of my favorite things from 2012.

Music:
Live Like That, Sidewalk Prophets
A Way to See in the Dark, Jason Gray

Books:
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, Ann Voskamp
Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee

Movies:
The Hobbit - oh how will I wait until next year for part two...might just need to do a Lord of the Rings marathon!
Lincoln - brilliant

TV:
Scandal - a guilty pleasure for this public relations veteran watching a smart, saavy crisis communications professional like Olivia Pope.
Homeland Season 1 - we broke down and got Season One (thank you ebay); it took a bit to get into but now I'm hooked.

Theater:
Fences @ DCPA
Memphis @ DCPA

Creative Pursuits:
Learned how to knit
Discovered the joy of spray paint
Zumba with Todd - it was creative and filled with laughter

Travels:
Banff, Canada
Calgary Stampede

Work:
Strategy and smart people...thank you GHX, what a great year!

Events:
Teaching the ODF Women's Retreat and leading the Saturday Bible Study
Defined By God Conference for pastor's wives (San Diego, Ca) - if you have the chance to hear Lisa Chan, do it!

Happy Memories:
Cheering on Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos
Trips to San Diego to visit my parents
Finding a great tutor for Matthew
When Health Clean housecleaners rescued me
Putzing around the gardening

(Thank you Gary Mullins for your amazing picture at the Grand Canyon!)

Sunday, December 30, 2012

New Year Resolve

 

New Year Resolve

The time has come
To stop allowing the clutter
To clutter my mind
Like dirty snow,
Shove it off and find
Clear time, clear water.

Time for a change,
Let silence in like a cat
Who has sat at my door
Neither wild nor strange
Hoping for food from my store
And shivering on the mat.

Let silence in.
She will rarely speak or mew,
She will sleep on my bed
And all I have ever been
Either false or true
Will live again in my head.

For it is now or not
As old age silts the stream,
To shove away the clutter,
To untie every knot,
To take the time to dream,
To come back to still water.
"New Year Resolve" by May Sarton, from Collected Poems 1930-1993. © W.W. Norton & Co., 1993. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Year-End Inventory

It's been several weeks since I blogged. My journey has been full of work assignments (always a good thing) and frankly I haven't had anything to say. But today I have been doing some self-employment tax planning, figuring out how to secure healthcare for our family in 2013 without bankrupting us or putting us at financial risk by not having enough or the right insurance, and so on, and so on.

And while I pondered these weighty topics I came across this blog by Barbara Winters, www.joyfullyjobless.com. Her latest post is about taking a year-end inventory -- exactly consistent with my type-A, list-obsessed personality. I actually already do something like this every year, in the same way that Todd and I have always done financial planning and goal setting around January 1.

So I share with you Barbara's inventory list and hope it provides you with some food for thought about 2012 and perhaps some prompts for goal setting in 2013: 

° What can you do now that you couldn’t do (or hadn’t done) at the start of the year?
° Where have you been that you hadn’t been a year ago?
° What have you learned?
° What problems have you solved?
° What has inspired you?
° How have you celebrated?
° What investments have you made in yourself?
° What new profit centers have you created? Launched?
° What new books have you read?
° What new connections have you made?
° What did you instigate?
° Which of your ideas are coming to life?
° What are you proudest of?
° Where have you made the most progress?
° What disappointments have you overcome?
° What unexpected gifts appeared?
° What would you like more of next year? Less of?

For the entire post: http://www.joyfullyjobless.com/blog/2012/12/end-of-the-year-inventory/