Moving forward

Our Christmas card this year.

 A little recap from 2012 (I did this back in 2010 as well):

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before? Worked for CPS.
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? My resolutions from last year were the following: 01. Blog more often. 02. Read from the Book of Mormon daily with Wendel. 03. Write in my personal journal at least once a week. 04. Work on Oliver's book regularly. 05. Use my scripture journal with my personal scripture study at least one time each week. 06. Work out 3x / week. I pretty much failed at all of these.  Wendel and I did okay reading scriptures but not perfect, especially toward the end of the year.  I obviously didn't blog more often, I didn't write in my personal journal once a week and I didn't work on Oliver's book at all.  I wrote in my scripture journal a little but not much.  I did work out pretty regularly up until I got pregnant.  Overall, I did not do stellar with my goals.  I do have a few resolutions for this year, which will hopefully be more attainable (to come later in this post). 
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Other than me, I had several friends and two cousins give birth this year.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Wendel's grandmother, Rose Winnifred Pratt Burnham, died in December. We named Joshua's middle name (Pratt) after her (and after Wendel - Pratt is one of his middle names as well).
5. What countries did you visit? None
6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? More patience.
7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory and why? December 24th, the day Joshua was born.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Working full time for CPS while being pregnant and being a mother to a 2-year-old.
9. What was your biggest failure? No big regrets
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing serious
11. What was the best thing you bought? Probably Wendel's Ford F-250.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Oliver's - he is fully potty trained as of a few months ago!
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Political leaders - elections depress me with all of the lying candidates do about each other.
14. Where did most of your money go? Life.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The birth of our son, Joshua.
16. What song will always remind you of 2012? We Are Young by Fun
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Sadder in some ways at this specific time - but I think this is mostly due to having just had a baby and the emotions that come with that adjustment, plus it is quite an adjustment for Oliver having a new baby in the house, which has been hard for me too. But we're getting through it. Overall, I would say I am happy and blessed. 
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter but it's worth it.
c) richer or poorer? Richer, both with money and with blessings.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? I wish I would've had more time to do more family history (scrapbooking, journaling, blogging, etc.).
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Nothing. No regrets.
20. How did you spend Christmas? In the hospital.  We were released at about 7:30 pm on Christmas evening.  We celebrated the next morning with my mom and brother, Tyson, who were in town.  Wendel's mom, Linda, came over as well. 
21. Did you fall in love in 2012? Yes, with my sweet new son, Joshua. 
22. What was your favorite TV program? Parenthood (my answer was the same in 2010 - love this show so much).
23. What was the best book you read? I didn't read much this year.
24. What was your greatest musical discovery? Not sure I really had a musical discovery. I am not very adventurous with music and tend to listen to a lot of talk radio commuting to and from work.
25. What did you want and get? A baby
26. What did you want and not get? Nothing comes to mind.
27. What was your favorite film of this year? I didn't see any amazing movies. Sad, but true. I didn't see many movies at all, so that's not saying much.
28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 33.  I don't recall what we did - probably went out to eat.  Wendel got us a weekend getaway to a place in Scottsdale, which we used at a later date.  My dad and his fiance, Dot, took Oliver for the weekend for us.  We ate at a really great Thai place and were able to sleep in - it doesn't get much better than that.
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not sure.
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? Comfortable.
31. What kept you sane? Wendel.
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Taylor Swift.  I really like her music.
33. What political issue stirred you the most?  Not any one.  There were several issues that I followed and had opinions about.  I was frustrated with the election in general.
34. Who did you miss? My family.
35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012: I can do hard things. (I knew this before but was reminded of this several times throughout the year.)
36. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

"So I'll be bold
As well as strong
And use my head alongside my heart...

But I'll kneel down
Wait for now
I'll kneel down
Know my ground"

From I Will Wait by Mumford and Sons 

Maybe it's a stretch but I apply the lyrics to my experience working for CPS this past year.  I had to learn to be bold (I'm not naturally this way but had to be on my mission and again as an investigator for CPS) and strong (as I saw lots of abuse).  I had to use my head along with my heart - I couldn't just react with emotion.  I view the second part as kneeling down praying, because I did a lot of that as I prayed for strength to do this work and endurance to keep going - not just working for CPS but balancing work with being a mother and wife, as well as my calling at church and everything else in life - all while being pregnant.  

2012 was a good but very busy year.  I am sitting here pumping, listening to Joshua's sweet little cooing noises as he is hanging out in his swing.  I've been thinking I want to post about my goals for this year so I can solidify them.  I had a long list of goals in mind, in several different areas, that I wanted to tackle this year.  But I think I'm going to keep them to a minimum instead, so I can keep them attainable.

01. Become more patient. I never realized I struggled with patience until recently.  Being a parent - and a recent stay-at-home mom with a very jealous and defiant 2-year-old has brought this to light in a hurry.  I find myself getting easily frustrated with how easily frustrated and defiant Oliver gets (hmm - I think part of the problem is we are so much alike) and wishing patience came more easily to me. The plan: Study Love and Logic, study patience in the scriptures, Ensign and other books, and make concerted efforts to practice being patient with Oliver.  Part of this effort might include keeping track of what I learn / how I'm applying it either here or in a journal of some kind.

02.  Read from the scriptures / gospel study daily.  Even if it's just for ten minutes. The plan: read while I pump or at the beginning of the boys' nap time. 

03. Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  The plan: Exercise as soon as I am able (I have to wait five more weeks) and be mindful of what I eat.  This might include joining Weight Watchers or it might not.  I've got 20 pounds to lose and I'm determined to do it. 

04. Give more to my calling.  I want to focus more on my calling - to really do my best and be mindful of the children I'm serving as Primary Secretary.  The plan: Set aside time to work on my calling, do not procrastinate, pray for help and pray for the children and sisters I serve with.  

 Those are the four I really want to focus on, so I'm going to drop everything else off of my list and do my best in these areas. 

Happy 2013!