Happy Holidays 2010

2010 is over…finally! I’m not gonna lie... 2010 has not been a banner year. I don’t recall ever wanting a year to wrap up as much as I do this one. Although 2009 certainly had its share of challenges, I could have never imagined where 2010 would take us. Unemployment, financial setbacks, and health concerns plagued our family this past year. While I am thankful to be on the road to recovery, I would have happily skipped October thru December and all of the insurance co-pays that came along with it. The up side is that at least I am lucky enough to have health insurance and although I hate paying that premium every month, we finally reaped the benefits this year, having never previously met a yearly deductible.
So, now that we are looking onward and upward to 2011, I’m not going to bother to complain about what we don’t have, didn’t get, and can’t afford. What I hope this year brings to us is not only an employment opportunity for Steven in his chosen field, but one that offers him challenge and personal satisfaction at the same time. I definitely would like to work a little less and be with my kids a little more. I want my kids to remain the happy, healthy, hopeful girls that they have continued to be over this last year. At times they have asked difficult questions that I didn’t always have answers for, but they continue to be non-bratty, non-entitled children, never verbally asking for more than they already have, willing to sacrifice for the greater good of our family.
I look forward to 2011 to be filled with more love, more compassion, more gratitude, and more resilience (not that I am asking for any more reasons to BE resilient, of course). 2011 will contain more gratitude for good health, and living life more fully; less stress and juggling to complete the things that don’t really matter; more listening to the frivolous chatter of my children after school; more walks outside (hopefully runs soon), taking full advantage of every blue sky; more acts of service to those less fortunate; less idle time and more quality time with my family and a greater appreciation for my sisters, parents, and extended family members. I want to give more love to those that I love, doing more for them than they do for me. To the one who knows me best, has made me laugh until I cry, wiped away my tears, and loved me at my worst, I want to make happier every day and count each day we are together as a blessing. Most importantly, I want to enjoy every single day of 2011 with the people I love most.

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