I'm thirty-seven years old and I've never had a New Year's resolution (sort of feels like a confession). But I'm drawn to goals and habits and routine in a way that I never really have been. Maybe its that vague desire to know that all the little things are adding up to big things. Daily to-do lists work most of the time. Even a things-that-need-to-happen-this-week list is useful. With homeschooling I've started writing down special projects for each season - so that the season doesn't pass me by before I've noticed. This natural progression brings me to a list of things that I'd like to accomplish this year. 2009.

It's simple... but keeps me rooted and inspired.

1. Learn to knit - at least a scarf, but hopefully something more.


2. Lose twenty pounds - yikes, now I've said it aloud for all to hear.

3. Make and and hopefully sell enough products to finance birthdays and Christmas.

4. Family scripture memory - one significant passage per month. In December we learned Luke 2: 1-16 and it wasn't even very hard (we are stilling working through verse 20).

5. Invite another family over for dinner at least once a month. Sound easy? In Schweinfurt, this happened every Wednesday night for the last few years that we lived there. At home, in America, people are too busy to get together for dinner. You've got to plan ahead. By the way, this is in addition to our own families, Cadence families that are in town and people we already know well.

6. Go out with Rick, without the kids, once a month.

I really wanted to show you a recent picture of just Rick and I... but it doesn't exist. Just one reason a monthly night away would be wonderful!

7. Experience the bible in a new way. A few ideas are divina lectio and reading one book of the bible everyday for a month.