Goodbye 2009, hello 2010!

Really? Can it already be 2010? Why is it that the 90's just don't seem like they were that long ago?!? Am I really getting that old? lol.

2009 was a crazy year. Sometimes crazy good, sometimes crazy bad. But crazy all the same. But I find myself at the end of this year in good health, with a healthy family and wonderful friends, so it was a good year.

2010 brings about so much potential, so many possibilities. I don't like to think in terms of resolutions, but instead in terms of goals. I think about the goals I have for the upcoming year, the things I hope to accomplish. And granted, most of them are the same ones I have year after year, partly because some of them I just can't seem to focus on as much as I would like to, and some of them are those never-ending kind of goals, the ones that you can work on for the rest of your life. For example I want to be the best mother that I can possibly be, so I always work on that, year after year. I want to be the best friend that I can be, the best wife that I can be, the best daughter that I can be, etc, etc. I just want to be the best person and do as much with this life that I have been given. So those things are my goals year after year. But then there are the goals like finally losing all the weight and getting into shape and being healthier. And goals like finally finishing my novel and submitting it for publication. And learning to be organized and learning how to keep my house clean and organized. I want to be more involved with volunteer work, and giving of my time and talents. I want to make sure I am always looking for ways to make someone else's life easier, or put a smile on someones face, or give them an unexpected surprise.

I need to get back on track financially and get our savings back where it needs to be. We had been doing so well with the financial peace program, and doing what we needed to be doing. But then somehow this year, I just stopped focusing on money, on saving, on being financially responsible, lol. Partly it was the stress of school, I just didn't have the energy or focus to sit down and write out my budget and focus on it. Part of it is because I look at money as just paper, and because I don't take it too seriously, in the end I don't treat it how it should be. I bounce back and forth between the mentalities of "Save for a rainy day, be thrifty, live simple" and "You can't take it with you, experience everything you can while you can!". I always think what if Alan, or I, or one of the kids were to die (I know, morbid, but it's always in my head) would I want us to have had all of these fun family experiences that cost money, or would I want a bunch of money in the bank and we didn't do very much? I go overboard though, and I realize this. I buy too many things for the kids, we are always doing things that cost money, but I never think of it in terms of money. I just think, wow, this will be so special for my kids or my family, and I do it. So I need to stop and become more thrifty and learn to take money more seriously. So this year, for 2010, I will learn how to be frugal, learn to pay attention to the price of things, learn to stick within a budget.

These are the things I will work on and focus on for the new year. 2010 will be a good year.

I hope 2010 brings you blessings, faith and love as well. :)