Happy New Year!

So...day 1 of 2013 is drawing to a close and I promised myself that I would write a blog post so I better get on that. .

2012 was a happy and sad year for many that I know. Our family welcomed Janessa Faith to our lives so of course that was a huge happy thing. In July, we found out that my brother and sister-in-law are expecting their 3rd child due this March. Libby successfully potty trained day and night in August. We went on a great family vacation to the Outer banks in September. On Thanksgiving, we found out that my sister is expecting her second child and we were just able to spend the last week and a half with the year celebrating the holidays with family and friends. Our family is growing by leaps and bounds and that really is such a huge blessing!

This year also came with many days of loss and grieving  My grandfather went to be with the Lord on June 5th. He really was the Patriarch of our family and we still miss him greatly. We know that he is in a better place, but still wish that he was here with us. Also, our church family lost so many loved ones, including our beloved Pastor, Jeff Fuhrman. He played a huge role in my spiritual walk and learning how to be a "grown up" in a church that I grew up in. Our church still feels a void but are so thankful that we have an amazing church family that has stuck together and even grown during this time. Also, in June, our dear friends lost their precious baby girl well into the third trimester of pregnancy. Such a loss that will never be forgotten.

So...while 2012 was filled with ups and downs, I am ready for this "fresh start" Really, not much has changed since yesterday, other than the fact that I will constantly write the wrong numbers for the date, but still...it is a new year with a clean slate. Nothing super bad or super great has happened yet to fill our memories.

So...do I make a resolution or not? Good question! I would love to say that I am going to blog every day, exercise all the time, eat perfectly, set a perfect example for my kids all the time and so on, but that just isn't  realistic. What I am going to say is that we are going to start a much more purpose filled life. On the top of this blog, I quote Philippians 4:8, "If anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Well...that is what we want to do. I want to make this blog speak volumes on how we are praising God or loving God in everything that we do as a family. More importantly, I want it to be very evident to my children why we do or do NOT do certain things or say certain things.

I will have good days

I will have bad days

I will fail

but I will try try again and continue on. This is not something for 2013, this is something to live by.

So....here we go!