that's what i meant

every year i make "new years resolutions." i usually have about 5-10 and this year is no different. often times, they are things i meant to do, not things i actually accomplish. i mean to do it, but i usually can't keep it up. for 2009 i knew i would not be able to "keep" many resolutions so i strove for two - to workout about three times a week and to read the Bible all the way through in one year. i did pretty well on the working-out, and have lost all my "baby weight!" woohoo. i also finished the whole Bible. pete and i read the same schedule and we finished on time, dec. 31st. i am glad i did it, and we decided that we would read the whole thing about every seven years (that's how often the israelites had to). my favorite old testament book is probably genesis, joshua, or ruth. i enjoy the stories. i have a least favorite which is ezekiel - it was hard for me to comprehend, and it was long. new testament favorite is probably acts or philippians and new testament least favorite might be philemon only because it is more personal and hard for me to apply to myself.

so, for 2010, i have 5 categories of resolutions with a few goals each. i would like it if you could keep me accountable to them or at least some of them. if you don't care about my goals for twenty -ten then do not read on...

here we go:

1. family

- continue using e-mealz (i cook at least 3 times a week now)

- teach jane as much as i can in this stage of her life (shouldn't be too difficult since i am with her all day)

- focus on being the best wife i can be (which is also related to being spiritually close to God)

2. physical

- workout (at the gym or otherwise) 3 or more times a week

- eat less sweets (so if you see me eating lots of cookies at church, don't let me)

3. Bible and prayer

- for my "devos, quiet time, God time" what-have-you i am going to study the passage that corresponds to the sermon that week. we started 1 corinthians at church this sunday and we will study it in Bible study on wednesdays so i will hopefully understand it well by the time i am finished.

- pray for a different person/family/topic each day. i'm hoping that will help get my "prayer life" on track.

4. mental/professional

- i want to read 12 books this year, one a month is the goal. so send me some ideas because i need about 8 or 9 more. all varieties of genres are okay. i have a fiction book and Christian "self-help". i would like a parenting/discipline book, maybe a classic, and anything else that is not too long.

- i am still working on this one, but i want to write/finish writing a professional article and submit it for publication.

5. personal/fun and friends

- practice guitar more often and challenge myself to learn more

- get out of my comfort zone and talk to more people at church besides just friends and connect more with friends i don't see often enough

there you have it, and a happy new year to you!

my Christmas shoes

no, this is not a post about the song, but i thought that sarah and kelli would enjoy the title. anyway, for Christmas this year, pete and i bought our own gifts for each other to give. i choose to buy some shoes i have wanted for a while now. they are from a company called TOMS shoes. the actual shoes are different from any pair i have ever owned and i like them, but i like them more because for every pair you buy they give one pair to a person who doesn't have shoes (usually a child.) the style i choose is called habitante and they are perfect for me, being a geography teacher. also, they remind me to pray for the less fortunate around the world. i leave you with the words from my shoes:

if the world was a village of 100 people:

1 has AIDS

3 are slaves

14 are illiterate

20 are malnourished

23 drink polluted water

25 have no shelter

30 are unemployed

33 have no electricity

40 - have no shoes

43 live on less than 2$ a day

48 have no sanitation

58 have parasites

remember your Creator - Ecclesiastes 12: 1 - 8 and pray for the hurting in our world

"you see, wendy, you're too grown up"

my jane is six months old, december 10, 2009. she had her six month checkup and immunizations too. she is 26.25 in. long and weighs 15 lbs. 13 oz.

jane is growing so quickly and she changes every day. i feel like peter pan when wendy grows up but he doesn't. i have been in the same six months as jane, but i don't really feel different and she has gone from a newborn to an infant. i love my baby and someday i will write a poem about her. i will write about her hair and how long it is getting, about her eyes and how i can't tell what color they will be, how her smile is the best smile i have ever seen. she truly is our greatest blessing and i will love her always.

jane - God is gracious: and He truly has been gracious to us.

this is a video of jane's happy personality about a month ago:

why are so many of my posts titled - update? this is henceforth titled - keeping you up to speed

yes, the title is a synonym for update, but i am in a blog funk still and not wanting to write in more than small paragraphs and bullet points. so, without further waiting (instead of ado) .....................

we hung out with our bike shop buddies at micah's house. micah made a great meal and we got to meet jane's new friends for the first time.

the dads and their girls

the moms and the girls - 5 mo, 3 mo, 6wks

also, jane has started practicing her cheer kicks (don't tell pete) she is progressing nicely (and no, i am not going to force her into cheerleading just because i did it)

our new house is almost ready for a before and after blog post; just waiting for a few more decorations to come in the mail before i take pictures.

we are having both our families and some friends over for thanksgiving this year - the first time at my house. i am very excited, my grandparents are coming and pete's nebraska grandparents too!

in december, i get to be a part of a presentation to the faculty at bear river high about writing across the curriculum. i am a part of the wasatch range writing project and currently the only active non-english teacher in the group so they chose my presentation from the summer institute to present to the faculty. the only problem is the fact that i will have to leave way early to be there at 7:30am. please pray that jane will sleep most of the time and my feeding her (a bottle) won't conflict with the event.

lastly, i love eggnog lattes!

it is harder than i thought to live without constant internet access

i think i just wrote the longest blog title i have ever written. anyway, we moved 2 weeks ago and still don't have internet (the guy comes tomorrow) i can check things on my phone but updating is not practical. i thought that living without tv and internet would be a good break but i did not do anything more productive than i usually did when we had tv. i still wasted time (maybe not as much) i didn't read any books or clean more. i did listen to more music than i normal, which was nice - jane has now listened to all my johnny cash songs.

our new house is so nice - before and some after pictures coming soon. i drove from my house to villa bella in 15 min. today! i think that is a record, and i wasn't even speeding. i didn't have many red lights.

okay, i have a lot of plans in this small window of internet time i have, so i bid you farewell for now