Changes I'm making in the new year - My new year goals!!

I’m sharing some of my favorite pictures from 2017. 2017 was definitely the Best of times and the Worst of times–personal family health issues which I haven’t written about !! I’m only sharing the best– looking forward to a great 2018!!

Saw this at a train station in England! I love it!!

These are my goals for the new year:

1. I will create a spiritual practice in my life. This will be a daily practice. It will not be dependent on a certain bible study or anything else. It will be separate from anything else I’m doing in my life. Everything else will be “extra” to this practice. I’ve always prayed, done bible studies, read my bible, but since life was so crazy, I never had a specific “practice” like reading a Psalm every day. This will not be a huge thing, but I want it to be a simple, conscious time for Bible reading, meditation/ prayer, and reflection.

Beach in Brighton, England. Not easy to walk on, to say the least!

2. Exercise 4-5 times a week. I will move every day, even if it is just a walk. I have really let up on this and have paid the price by weight gain this past year!! I feel so much better when I’ve done something physical and gotten my heart rate up!!

USS Arizona Memorial

3. Document my days. This is going to be my “Twitter Journal”- only a small amount of characters each entry. I can’t write a lot. Just a couple of sentences documenting what I did that day. It will be in a simple notebook, and each page will have the date at the top. I hope to be able to get at least 5 years in a single notebook.

I had my fair share of beautiful sunsets in 2017!!

4. Read, Read, and Read some more. I have so many books that I want to read. So many books stacked in the house… so many books stacked on my kindle…so many books stacked in my list on my Overdrive app. I must set aside time to read- I don’t want to ever stop growing and learning!!

English countryside!!

5. Grow this blog while keeping it as organic as possible. I am not a competitive person at all, but there is something about having a goal to grow this blog that is exciting. I have learned so much and have such a great time writing and having this as a creative outlet. I also want to keep it as organic and REAL as possible. I don’t have professional photographers to take my picture. I don’t have a multitude of followers to bounce ideas off of, but that isn’t really what I want. I know there are other women out there who are in the same stage of life– who can relate to so many things that I’m going through. It is hard to keep things too real, as I don’t want to infringe on the privacy of my family. Finding that balance has proven to be difficult. I hope to grow as a person and writer on this journey. I have had so much fun meeting women from all over the world who have reached out to me! I want to grow that community! You can help me by sharing posts with friends if you like something you read here!!

Attending services at Westminster Abbey was a highlight of the year!