We bought our first house!
I started working as Alex's nanny, and i love him!
My little tori got married to the love of her life Ruco!
Justin and I celebrated our one year anniversary!
we married ashley off to hamid and it was a beautiful wedding! 
we got Zoe! my cute little kitty that i love so much!!!The year ahead is already promising so much, and then there is always the unexpected. So many weddings, maybe some engagements, some moves, and maybe even some babies. Im so excited about all of it! Of course at the new year you write down all the things that you would like to accomplish or improve on in the year ahead. January just seems like a good time to begin all those things you were putting of the rest of the year because you just kept telling yourself you could start at the new year. Im so sad because last year i looked at all the things i said i would do, and i did maybe one of the 8. I wondered if it were because i was undisciplined, if the goals were too much, or if i took myself too seriously when making them, and am obviously not that serious about it when it gets down to it. I think its the third of those three theories. This year I decided to not take myself too seriously and make little daily goals. Im basing this desire off of Romans 12:1-2. In the Message translation its stated like this.
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
That is simply what I want to do, every day. I feel as though I have adjusted to this culture around me, on the culture that is fast paced. Im scared that over time I may start to care about being successful, having money, and stuff, caring about what this “world” cares about, and I dont want that. I was to realize that was is best for God’s glory is for me to embrace what he does for me. I can be poor and filthy on the outside and be completely satisfied because on the inside God is working in me to bring out the best in me.
Now i still have my silly goals for the year. There is always the goal to be more healthy, and work out, and i also told my self i want to do more creative things with my time this year, i want to engage with strangers on a normal basis, which everyone laughs at that, but i love interacting with strangers on the sidewalk. haha. But mostly I just want to be a better example of what Christ’s love looks like. Nonjudgmental, forgiving, gentle, sacrificial, serving, joyful, patient. That last one is a big one for me. sometimes i think im too hard on Justin, I really have no patience for him ever messing up on anything. which sometimes i elude to the fact that im so perfect, haha, but im not, and i shouldnt expect so much out of him, its not like i never let him or anyone else down. im also really impatient with my parents, mostly the mother! you all know.
i feel like ive done good so far. ive waited to write all this because i wanted to see if i could actually do any of it. i havnt really talked to any strangers yet, but dont worry, itll happen, and ill tell you all the great stories. I know haley looks forward to those stories, haha. Except for I just now realized I never wrote about the black guy that said I had a pretty smile and proceeded to ask, “You brush everyday?” haha, and also told me to get bulletproof windows on my car. that was a fun day!
well i hope that everyone finds themself continuing with what they had hoped to do this year, its only two weeks into the year so i hope you havnt all given up already. well im gonna get back to watching football playoffs, thats seems to be all our weekends consist of. oh and PS. we got our Sports Illustrated last week, you know, that one with the UF Gators big win on it, yea my cat pooped on it, she is awesome.
Have a great week
