2009: Bring It On!

Our life in 2008:

2008 was an amazing year. 100% the craziest year ever, and most of the craziness was wonderful. Quite obviously, the best example of this was the birth of Levi and Asher, who have been the most satisfying and rewarding addition to our lives...EVER! And I am so excited to see what 2009 is going to bring!

I suppose this is the point where I list out my New Year's Resolutions. But somewhere (I forget where, forgive me, it's not even 7 am yet) I read a bunch of people who wrote down what they will NOT do, instead of what they will do. Oh, I think it was in Real Simple magazine. Best magazine ever. I really liked what a lot of the people had to say, so as a change of pace, I'm going to list the things I'm not going to do in 2009.

I will not:

• Take my life so seriously. That means laughing more, smiling more, and focusing on wanting what I have instead of having what I want.
• Get frustrated so easily, whether it be with Nathan, work, or the boys.
• Take any time with Levi and Asher for granted. Every moment is a new discovery and joy.
• Procrastinate. As much.
• Allow myself to be as effected by the people around me, especially in a way that makes me into a negative person. A majority of the time, I am a very optimistic person but when I'm around negative people on a regular basis, I let that rub off on me. Not cool.
• Give myself excuses to not get back into a more healthy life style. This year, before getting pregnant, I managed to lose 11.5 lbs in 5 weeks. There's no reason I can't do it again!
• Forget to show Nathan how much he means to me. It's been a nutso year and that has often been pushed to the background, which is no good.
• Forget how amazingly blessed I am.

I really can't even begin to list all the millions of ways that we were blessed in 2008. More than any other time in my life, I was reminded of the depth of peoples' generosity and kindness, which shines so brightly when you're in some of your darkest hours. I will never forget the support of our family, the giving spirit of the people at the Ronald McDonald House, the friendship and skill of the nurses and doctors in the St. Luke's NICU, the giving spirit of the people back home whether it be the donation of leave time hours that made it possible for us to pay our bills and not have to declare bankruptcy (yeah, it would have been that serious otherwise) or the constant prayers offered on our behalf.

Part of me is sad to see 2008 go...as hard as it was at times, it was a wonderful year. But our pastor last Sunday talked about something that really hit home with me (when I could ferret out his point from all his rabbit trails). He said, "Do not look back and dwell on what is past. You may remember it with fondness, but it's gone." Basically, if you are constantly reliving the past in your mind, you can't grow, can't move forward, can't become the person you are meant to be. Live in today. Live in the now. And with these two beautiful babies, I don't have a problem with that.

Things to look forward to in 2009:

• The boys growing and becoming more and more interactive. Every day is a new discovery and a new joy.
• Our trip to Portland in March to go see WICKED!!!! Courtesy of my MIL who is also providing babysitting services for the night. Yay for date night!
• My parents getting back from the boat in June after being gone for 5 months, and watching them enjoy all the changes in the boys.
• Nathan and my 3 year anniversary.
• The boys turning one year old!
• Getting a wood fence put up around our yard so the boys can play out there without the fear of creep-o people coming up to our current cyclone fence to talk to them!
• Expanding our circle of young parent friends...can you say support network?! Ha ha ha.
• Continuing to work at Dispatch in a job that I love. Who knew that a spur of the moment job application, brought on because I had quit my previous job and needed ANY job offered to me, would turn into a career I'd want to stay with? It just took me a while to realize that.
• Seeing how our lives are going to evolve as the boys get older.
• Being able to take the boys up into the mountains this summer, especially since I didn't get to go into the mountains once last summer...you know, that whole being put on bed rest thing.
• Finding a really great babysitter. Someone we can completely trust to leave the boys with when Nathan and I just need a few hours of non-baby time. Anyone have any suggestions?
• Losing weight. I WILL get back into the groove of things and I will be happier with who I am.
• Being ridiculously happy with my life as it is every day.

Happy New Year, everyone!