2009

We began our New Year with an adventure. We headed to Dallas New Year's Day to watch the parade. It was so much fun!

The weather was beautiful. We had a great spot to watch and the kids were well behaved. Everyone had a wonderful time. Every time a band would start playing Abby would start dancing. Jared, Ayla and Wesley were pretty enamored with the horse poop. Why oh why can't we do anything without poop?

I don't really have any resolutions for this year. I'm not much for them. One thing I know I am definitely resolved to do is to never drink Magnesium Sulfate again. If you don't know what it is be grateful, if you want to know try it, just don't leave your bathroom for the next four days. I have some dreams for this year though. Ideas that I want to surround my days and fill them with intention. We have some big events that will happen this year:

• I will recieve my bachelor's degree in May. If I don't totally screw it up, I will graduate Magna Cum Laude.
• Ayla will be baptized in June.
• I will be off of school for the first summer in three years.
• I will not have a baby. But my sister will, and my sister in law.
• Jared will go to the fourth grade, his last year in elementary school.

All these things will bring with them changes, challenges, life. In yoga when you begin your practice, you focus your breath and set your intention for the duration of the practice. So, I thought instead of resolutions I would set my intention. This year, despite all of the obstacles, adversities and sufferings that lay ahead, I will have fun, live in the present and enjoy the richness of my life. That's it. That's my intention. We say things like "live well, laugh often, love much" but I know that it is difficult to digest those words and make them real. Sometimes you have to live in darkness to really know what they mean. You have to walk a difficult road to feel the power and impact of hope. My new year is full of hope. Hope for all the things which the Lord has planned for me to do. I hope we all embark on a new year with that intention.

Bonne Année!