Here's to a Fresh New Year in 2014!

I am sitting here, all alone, on New Year's Eve.

Now understand, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Sure, I'd love to be having fun with friends, but I also cherish having the house to myself, and having time to relax, and reflect, on this night of new beginnings is a perfect way to ring out the old and ring in the new.

My daughter is back at school, my husband at work, and my son out with friends for pizza. Leaving me with the fireplace, a cup of tea, and my computer. Not a bad deal in my mind!

I started out today with some fresh starts. Picked up my fun new eyeglasses today - and then dyed my hair to cover that horrific gray. I'm not against gray hair AT ALL - but personally, I'm just not ready to be that person yet. I think I'm getting close, but at 43, I still like to have fun a bit.

I don't really do resolutions. I do make lists though. Of things I'd like to do in the coming year. I've thought long and hard about this year's list, and once it was finished, smiled at how my lists have changed over the last few years. What used to be unrealistic, impersonal "resolutions" like "losing weight, eating healthier, exercising more, being more organized", are now much more personal things. For instance, 2012 included learning to make bread, and 2013 included reviving my sewing skills. Both were accomplished. Because they were attainable. They were personal. They were me.

In 2014, I would like to:

Crochet a prayer shawl for myself
Study simple sauces, and learn to use them more in my cooking
Find a way to play my violin in church
Create a winter garden
Improve my knitting skills

I very much look forward to exploring each of these. They are areas that I think would improve the quality of my life, and I am excited about them. That is what resolutions should be - focusing on improving our lives - living life - enjoying life.

Life is too short. What are you going to do this year to have fun? To live life?

God's Blessings for an amazing year ahead in 2014!