Time for a Lengthy Blog Post...

[the photo is a comic strip Eli drew and I just thought it was adorable]

So here is my long awaited New Year's post. I can't believe it's already the 8th and I'm just now doing it, but I'm starting to believe that our life in Baytown is just that way. For all my retentiveness, I still can't get things done on time because I'm just doing too much! :) But it's all good and I am grateful! I have a big old list of resolves to share, and I'm not sure how far I'll get on any of them, but that is the beauty of the new year - you always get a chance to start again. In case you want to check up on last year's resolve, you can linky back to it, but I'll tell you now I didn't do so great. We've had a very big year of turmoil and change in our household and while I didn't necessarily make progress on some of those goals, I've definitely grown a ton in 2007 and I am very excited about what God is doing in me already in 2008!! Oh, and if you want to go really old school, you can go back to 2006's resolutions. he heh.

So starting on a hard note and ending on a funner one (in my hubby's words)....


Be it Resolved in 2008:

1.) I hereby give up Dr Pepper. (wah!) I know, I'm an adult, and it's an addiction, and I know all the reason's I should. But yes, I'm still emotionally attached. But I am convinced that the five pounds from last year's resolution that are still here for this year's resolutions could be easily misplaced permenantly if I just gave up that sweet elixer. So as of today I'm on the wagon. Pray for me if you think of it. :)

2.) Daily Bible study. I was up to about 3 times a week real faithfully, and daily prayer this year. But I'm making an empassioned effort to raise that. I guess as a pastor's wife everyone is probably shocked that I admit my failure at that, but you would not believe how many people in a day steal my time. I have to do it first thing in the am or last thing before bed or it just simply doesn't happen. So far this year out of the 8 days, I've done my study 6 of them, that's pretty good for me. And I fell asleep last night watching Joel Osteen, so that's cool! I had a dream a few night's ago that I had left my oven on, at 675 degrees (which it doesn't even go to) and I walked into the kitchen to find blue flames shooting from the vents and the handles and the burners and the door. So I'm frantically trying to put out this fire because I don't want to call the fire department, I think it will be too expensive!! I woke up in a sweat and told Rob about it, and as soon as the words fell out of my mouth I realized what the dream meant - that I can't do this on my own and it's just silly to try!! That dream has stuck in my head this week and I keep thinking, my oven's on fire, I need to call for help! God's just waiting to rescue us and it doesn't cost a dime! wow.

3.) I will truly invest myself in my church. I read this on 2006's resolutions and I thought "Wow, I really did that at Hartford." And I feel like I am doing that here, and I want to continue. I want to maintain a right heart and attitude and a love for the service of God. I am so excited about all that we are doing at Trinity. I see the 20's and 30's group needing to grow and take off, the youth group needing to really explode this year, and I'm starting this scrapbooking small group in a few weeks. All of things have been placed on my heart and I think they are all valid investments of my time and effort. I need to uphold them in prayer and trust them to God. Also, we are hosting the Power Force here at the end of the month and Rob and I have taken on a lot of the responsibilities for that. We are praying that it will bring a lot of young families to our church and that we will be prepared to minister to them.

4.) This will be a year of financial responsibility. We made oodles of progress in this department last year. I think we took more steps forward in the area of our family finances in 2007 than we did from 1997-2006!! But we bought a house. gulp. And a car, which in hindsight was not our best choice. So we are selling the car. I have an ad in the paper and an interested buyer, so hopefully that will pan out. I love how God always gives you an out. I can remember Pastor Craig preaching about that back in the day. Anyway, with that car payment gone we will be in a much better place and able to make some progress again. Not sure that a blog is the best place to be so vocal about that kind of thing, but I think our country as a whole is in a very precarious place with money and these are things we shouldn't be afraid to talk about! Things left in the dark only get scarier, right?

5.) I will rock the Grocery Game this year. I know I just said we will be saving money, and this has to do with spending, but it's how to make our money go the furthest. And I won't be slacking in this department for the next 12 months. I know that this is one of the important keys to our family's overall success.

6.) We will tackle our house in 2008. There are so many things about this house that are not me. I can't believe I've let 6 months slide by without changing them! The entire interior needs a coat of paint. I've got to at least start this year, it's driving me nuts! At least remove those ugly vertical blinds! barf.

7.) Deal with my paperwork. My office has become such a mess, I can't hardly find anything. Ever since we moved in, things have been piling up. One good day at home uninterrupted and I could make a clean slate of it.

8.) Take on more photography. I think I'm getting to a point I need to make some decisions with my photos. I need to talk to an accountant and figure out what has to be done with all of that. I'd like to take a class to learn some more. I'm starting a free online class at 2Peas that I just discovered today. Pretty thrilled about that.

9.) I will come back and check in on my resolutions on the first of each month of 2008. I wrote a 'resolution check-up' apt in my date book, which I am very faithful to. One of the reasons my resolves have failed in the past is because I haven't checked back in.

Well, I thought I had more, but that's quite a bit. And if I can just accomplish half of them, I'll be pretty happy. So on to a lighter subject. This is a little survey I found a couple years ago and I just think it's fun to mentally review the year. This one was a biggie for us.



50 Year End Questions:



What are your resolutions for the next year?
See above.

What happened in your life that you never expected to happen?
We moved to Texas. wowsers.

What is one thing you did that you have never done before?
Walked the boardwalk at Kemah.

What were your biggest achievements?
Purchasing our house. Not because becoming $100,000 in debt is a brilliantly amazing thing that you should pat some one on the back for, but because it was such an act of faith for me.

What were your biggest challenges?
Deciding to leave Hartford. Putting Eli in public school, but that's totally worked out. Learning to balance all that I want to do at church with all I want to do at home. Trusting God in the area of finances. Trying to help steer Sarah's very strong personality on to the right track.

What is your biggest regret?
Buying a used car for too much money.

When were you happiest?
Interviewing for the job in Texas. That was an awesome experience. Photographing families and couples. Thursdays home with Rob. ;)

Who was your best friend?
gosh, I guess I'd have to say Lori. I wonder if she'll ever fall off that list. But I talk to Kimmie a ton too. And Rob holds me when I need holding. I'd be a miserable person without any of those three in my life.

Who surprised you this year? In what way?
My mom and my sister, a surprise birthday party. That was pretty cool.

Who did you admire most this year?
I really admire Linda, my senior pastor's wife. I think she is me in 30 some years. She's smart, accomplished, totally retentive, overachiever to the max. I love seeing a woman who's super successful being a pastor's wife. That is cool.

Who were you in love with?
Rob wins that one. He amazes me. We did that photo shoot last week and I am just in awe of him. He so gets me. So few people do. I love that.

What was the most important lesson you learned?
God gives us awesome second chances. And third, and fourth and fifth and sixth....

What was your favorite TV show?
LOST. Comes back January 31st on Thursday nights. But I really like Grey's still, and the Office is hilarious. I don't get a lot of time for tv though.

What was your favorite film?
Dan in Real Life. go see it already.

What was your favorite book?
I can't remember. I read a lot this year, but I guess nothing that amazing. huh.

What was your favorite food?
Steak Diane from Perry's. wow. Pretty much the only *amazing* food I have found in Texas so far. no offense, just not my style.

What was your favorite song?
I've shared it before, but here you go again! :)


What were your favorite phrases?
Y'all.

What did you do for your Birthday?
surprise party with the fam. awesomeness.

Which was your favorite holiday?
Christmas. It was quiet, but nice.

What was the best gift you gave?
an ipod nano to Rob.

What was the best gift you received?
An ipod nano from Rob.

What did someone say to you that surprised you?
"So y'all are yankees." what is that? We are from Iowa! sheesh.

What was your hobby?
Scrapbooking, when I have time. Blogging. Surfing. Travel. Photography.

What new discoveries did you make?
Grocery Game. yes. and Red Box.

What was your guilty pleasure for the year?
Peanut M&M's.

What did you do on an average day?
phone calls, quick clean ups, pack lunches, drive across town, visit with church people, lots of CVS/Walgreens trips.

What was your fashion like?
funkier this year. Lots of color and bright design. Loving flats and a dark jean.

What was your career/job like?
different. More time at church, less at home. Kids starting school. We are in a new stage of life. but good.

Did you make more/less/same amount than the previous year?
More. Thanks to Expo.

What new skills did you learn this year?
How to deal with one way feeder roads. (grumble)

What do you think was your most valuable contribution?
a good attitude. 90% of the time.

What lesson(s) did you learn about yourself?
I can't do it all. Wish I could though. and I'll still probably try. :) Cause I'm five like that.

What were the most significant events of the past year?
Moving to Texas, Rob's licensure at district council, buying a house, Sarah starting school.

What were you afraid of?
Not paying our mortgage.

What was your most memorable journey?
Flying to Houston, wading in the gulf with the kids.

Which did you do more of? Smile or cry?
Definitely smile.

Did you make any new friends?
many.

Did you lose any old friends?
I'd like to not think they are lost, just out of touch.

Did you have any births/deaths in your family?
My grandfather passed away in September.

Did you fall in love/out of love?
Loving the Texas winter. Love my new scrapbook store in Clear Lake.

What is your newest tech item?
My nano.

What was your most extravagant purchase?
Our house.

What should you have done more of?
ironically, last year's answer still applies.
Asking God for help. He's right there, waiting to fill the need.

What should you have done less of?
worrying.

What made the biggest difference in your life?
cable internet.

What gave you joy?
My family. Photographing people. Scrapbooking, when I can. Blogging. Doing ministry. Just loving on people.

What made you sad?
the evening news. A general apathy in people. A lack of change on my part. My flesh. Oh, and discovering some new wrinkles this year. bummer.

What is your motto for the year?
Do I really need a motto? I don't know, what's the motto with you?