First post of the year

Not that anyone has been waiting with bated breath for me to post in 2012, but the reasons for not posting anything yet this year are many, including but not limited to...

- I am just now recovering from Christmas travel to Chicago and staying up past midnight with friends on New Year's Eve. Old, I'm seriously getting old.
- Since New Year's Day nothing has happened worth writing about. Nothing. Thank goodness.
- We just recently took down our Christmas decorations. How could I blog when I should be taking down the tree?
- I'm T-I-R-E-D, and frankly don't have many thoughts running through my head lately.
- MOPS is starting on Friday and any energy I do have has been directed toward preparing for our first meeting of the new semester.

But since I don't want to get totally out of the habit of writing, and since it is that time of year again, I will share a rough version of my New Year's Resolutions. I could write about 20 New Year's resolutions every year (I'm that kind of person), but I am going to limit myself to 5 for now.

January 5th sunset

Embrace the ocean and beach more. What's the name of this blog again? Be All There...wherever you are..."live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." Well, I believe moving to CA was God's plan for our family and I want to embrace the beach more...'cause that's where I am. I also want to grow in my love for the thing that my husband loves so much. I have brought the girls to the beach twice so far this year to watch the sunset and play in the sand (which always turns into playing in the water). It was a lot of work, not relaxing, messy, and way more tiring than putting on a TV show for them at 5pm, but MAN OH MAN watching the sun set over the ocean is a spiritual experience that trumps all of the aforementioned inconveniences. Not to mention that watching my kids at the beach is an extremely joyful activity for me. The beach and the ocean are spectacular works of art that I am incredibly blessed to have access to, and I want to get to know them both more. No Chris, this does not mean I am ready for surfing lessons quite yet. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Read more. I had good momentum with reading last year and want to keep it up. Right now I am reading Moloka'i for book club and I want to read One Thousand Gifts for myself.

Find a workout/exercise I love...and do it often. It might be yoga or pilates...or it could just be walking...I know it isn't running...and I don't even have to try Zumba to tell you that's NOT it. I want to keep experimenting and find a way to move and be healthy that I truly enjoy. I want to workout because it makes me feel good, not because I feel like I should do it or because it burns a lot of calories.

January 9th sunset

Keep dating. We managed to do 2 dates a month in 2011 and I think that is reasonable to strive for again this year. 2012 is the year we celebrate 10 years of marriage, after all.

Be more peaceful.  On the outside I may seem pretty peaceful to those who know me, but inside things are usually going a million miles an hour. I want to slow down. I want to be more present with my kids, more OK with a messy house, more at rest with myself and my daily circumstances. I really truly do want to be all there...wherever I am. I want to pray more and read the Bible more. I want to rest more on the inside and the outside. I want to have better margins in my life. Margins could be a resolution in and of itself, but I will lump it in here with being more peaceful. I want peace even in this crazy exhausting toddler/preschool stage of life.

2012 has a nice ring to it and I am really excited for this year.