A New Year, A New Resolution

Over this holiday break, I have been learning to feel comforted by the small, meaningful rituals that make this time of year especially special. A few of my favorites are:
- curling up and reading a good book
- having a cup of coffee while chatting with a friend
- baking goodies, especially with Eva
- walking through the neighborhood to admire all of the lights
- singing along to my favorite christmas music

All this got me thinking about the rituals I want to incorporate in my day to day life. One of the rituals I enjoy most is writing. (A close cousin to reading.) I am making a new year's resolution to blog at least once a week. I think this will be a good starting place considering my current blogging rate is zero, nada, nuthin'. I also realized I wanted to incorporate not only parenthood topics, but crafting, funny inspirations, and thoughts on marriage, work and home.

My first order of business is to share a new holiday tradition that my family has begun this year. From now on, after Christmas day, we will create a memory jar for our favorite memories of 2011. We will add to it the whole week after Christmas and New Year's Eve will be the perfect time to remember, laugh, and feel grateful for all the things we did the previous year. My hope is that instead of feeling sad the holidays are ending, we may feel excited and hopeful about the coming year. I got the idea from Kiwi magazine: http://www.kiwimagonline.com/
Here is a sample of some of my favorite memories of 2011:
Signing the mortgage on our first home
Celebrating Eva's first birthday
Eva's first steps
Coming home after a long day of work to find Kyle painted our bedroom to surprise me
Going horseback riding on our sixth wedding anniversary
Swimming at the neighborhood pool
Landing a wonderful job
Having all of our family visit at one time or another
Sleeping all together in our living room during Hurricane Irene (and not having any major damage)

I know this year will hold so many more wonderful surprises. I can't wait!