Happy New Year!

Who is excited to start a New Year?  

I AM! 

2012 has seemed like a long, bumpy road to me and while I think the beginning of 2013 will be the same, at least I can see the end in sight! 

Things I have learned this year, some lessons are new and some are just more of some old ones.

• Stop trying to please people.  Either people will like you or they won't.  If they don't, it's okay.  
• Real friends are not that easy to come by the older you get.  Treat the friendships you have with love & quick forgiveness. 
• Having a child who learns differently than the pack of sheep at school is a blessing, it has taught me patience and admiration for brilliance of doing things outside the box.
• Never turn down the invitation to snuggle with your son.   
• Make overs done by a 4 year old will turn out better than the time you wore full make up with blue eyeshadow at girls camp .
• Losing weight is fun.  Hard, but fun.
• Noticing your neck is aging is not fun.
• Getting the giggles when you're supposed to be quiet never gets old.
• I need to keep my mouth shut and listen more than I talk.
• Feeling closer to God happens more outside of church than in it.  Enjoy those moments no matter where & when they happen. 
• Be grateful every day for the amazing and handsome man I married.   
• Be grateful every day for the family and life we have made together.  Glamorous or not, it's ours.  
• Stop wasting time. Wasting time doing things I don't like to do.  Spend time doing things that I want or are good for my marriage, my family.  In my head I am still 20, but the reality is, I need to do things now before the opportunity passes by and I'm too old and it's too late.  I have never once regretted kissing a stranger on top of the Eiffel Tower. Would I do that now?  Of course not, but I am so glad I did when I COULD!  

I wish you the happiest of New Years!  We are celebrating by finally having our Christmas dinner with my dad now home from the hospital, the kids are busy baking the New Year a cake and we might get crazy and play a new board game Santa brought us.  Perfect night to me! 

What are your New Years plans?  What have you learned this year?