new year promises

it's 2015. i cannot believe it. so much happened last year, yet it still flew by. i won't bore you with the details because, well, you can read the entire blog for all those, but i will say i have made some promises.

my husband and i were talking about goals on new years eve. normally, i would make a list of them, post the sheet on my cork board or wall or something. i would glance at it a few times for the first few weeks, and then it would basically be invisible because i knew my goals without even looking. but, here's my problem:

my goals used to be big and lofty...like "publish a book", for instance. even though i happen to be doing that very thing this year, it's been on my list every year since 2011. clearly, that didn't happen. because clearly i didn't realize what i was doing. and there was no way to know until i went through those years, knocking on this door and that, editing my butt off, learning the lingo, the language, the little rules i never knew as a consumer.

every close of the year, i would say "oh well"...i know why i didn't publish this year. because of this and this, and that and that. i'd shrug and move on. but what did that do to my list every year? it made me not really want to make them if i was going to be half-disappointed!

so! here's my new plan. i am not writing a list–even though i adore lists. our lives might be sectioned off into years, months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes, but my professional (or personal for that matter) life doesn't follow the rules...like ever. instead of a quantifiable list of goals, here is my new years promise.

*in the year 2015, i want to see forward movement in my life. it doesn't have to be a giant leap, but i want to go forward, whatever that means. in writing, in my marriage, in my faith. i promise not to be stagnant. and i promise to listen.*

what about you? have you been trying to nail down numbers and dollar signs to your januaries only to be disappointed and defeated in your februaries? it's easy to do. almost inevitable. try not to set exacts this year. try to keep your door open for opportunities you haven't even dreamed of yet. God has a better imagination than you, you know. :)

we went out for new years...it's a miracle. 

my hunky new years date

i've never had so much fun with a group of people.