Faith, Family, Fun…

I love to read…as a child I read all the time.  When I graduated from college it seemed like I stopped reading.  Maybe 5 years of reading text books did me in for a while.  Then came infants and toddlers and finding the time to read was almost impossible.  But in 2009 my love for reading came alive again.  So I spent some time this past week looking at all the books I have in my mini-library.  And yes it is a mini-library.  I have to box alot of them up because I don’t have enough room for them.  Right now there are two stacks of books on my bedroom floor.  As a side note…when we finally finish our basement I want to have built in bookshelves so that I will have plenty of room for them all.

As promised, here is my reading list for 2010 (not in any particular order)…and I already own everyone of them with the exception of “So Long Insecurity”.  It releases on February 2nd but I have already ordered it.  A few of them I have read before, but most of them I have not.  They have been sitting on my shelf, some for years.  So I have decided that I am not buying any new books in 2010 because I have plenty to read.  I just have to check them out. 

Five Love Languages of Children – Chapman
Have a New Kid by Friday – Leman
90 Minutes in Heaven – Piper
What Every Christian Ought to Know – Rogers
Simplify Your Life – Ramsland
Simplify Your Time – Ramsland
Master Leaders – Barna
The Messies Manual – Felton
Organizing for Life – Felton
Organizing Your Day – Felton
Organizing Magic – Felton
Breathe – Kent
The Worn Out Woman (When Life is Full and Your Spirit is Empty) – Stephens & Gray
Give God A Year – Lewis
So Long Insecurity – Moore
The One Year Bible for Women (NLT)

Check back in December to see how far I get…if I get half way through this list I will be happy!

2010 – another year (and decade) is upon us. One of my resolutions is to blog more…I still have our family blog but this blog is about the changes that I am trying to make, with God’s help, with me. The changes I am working on in 2010 center around spiritual, emotional, mental and physical. I will be focusing on my role as a Christian, a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend, an employee…

My list of resolutions is very long as it is each year but I am planning to document them throughout 2010. I won’t be able to start them all today and I wouldn’t even begin to try but I will keep the list in front of me everyday so that I can focus on what God would have me do that specific day. So here goes…

The first resolution is to organize my house (a better term is probably declutter) which is no easy feat for me. I am not by nature a domestic diva, far from it actually. I am a perfectionist and so it is easier for me to not do something that to do it half-way. I chose for my first project my desk in the kitchen.

Here are the before pictures…

And the after…

Don’t ask me where all that stuff went…some did go in the trash (yeah!!) but some went in a box in my basement. In about 6 months I will go through that box and if I haven’t needed or used any of it by then, then it has to go.

The next resolution is to read more (with a lot less TV)…I will share my reading list tomorrow.

I don’t have the heart to take down the Christmas decorations today so it will have to wait until tomorrow. As I looked at the kids’ tree yesterday I reflected on the many wonderful Christmas’ we have had already and the many more to come. Each year, since my kids each were born they have received a Hallmark dated ornament. Last year we had accumulated so many that they we needed a new tree just to hold them all. Their first 5 Christmas’ were a series and then after that I pick a special one for each of them. As Daniel gets older it gets harder but it’s still fun to shop for them. I took pictures of their very first ornaments and then the ones they received this year.

Daniel 1996/2010

Dalton 2000/2010

Olivia 2003/2010

Snow in Virginia…

We are slowly getting ready for Christmas. Normally we are completely decorated the Friday after Thanksgiving but we ended up going to the beach for the long weekend and we are still trying to catch up. So we finished up the kids tree late last week and we finished up our main tree tonight while watching “White Christmas.” Finished up Christmas cards this week as well.

Now to start shopping…

We spent four days at the beach (Nags Head) for Labor Day weekend. Had a great timeof fun and relaxation.

We spent the day in Washington DC yesterday after visiting the Lego Store in Potomac Mills (for Dalton’s birthday shopping). It was a nice day but hot! Fun family day.

Spent the last week in Schroon Lake New York taking Daniel to Word of Life Camp. This is his second year and was much better for him this year. He had great counselors and cabin mates. George and I spent our days going back and forth between the Island (teens), the Ranch (1st-6th graders) and the Inn (where we stayed). We would get up and have breakfast with Chris J and Chris P. Then we would head to the Island for their morning bible hour with Mike Calhoun. We then went to the Ranch for Daniel’s bible hour with Ric Garland. We would eat lunch at the Ranch and then spend the afternoons at the Inn and having dinner there. The weather wasn’t great…cloudy, rainy and chilly but we still had a good time. Now it’s back to reality tomorrow.