2016: the year ahead

Resolve.

"...to decide firmly on a course of action."

A couple of wise little owls on our tree.

I don't know about you, but I make resolutions each year, and then have varying degrees of success actually achieving them all. Never mind, I've actually never achieved them all. That's because, in some ways, I'm kind of a pie-in-the-sky person who believes that if I try hard enough, I can do anything. The wisdom of my resolve is debatable, but I keep on trying.

My brand of aiming high is not always a bad thing, except when you beat yourself up for failure. But I digress.

I have a nice long list of resolutions for this year, but my true main goal is to Choose Joy - in the big things, in the small things, in the daily grind and when I don't wanna. So, while my list includes things like growing a big garden, writing something each week, spending one-on-one time with my kids and menu planning, I want each of those things to fall under the guidance of joy. 

Here are a few of the little things that I am going to be reminding myself to do in 2016: 

New Year's Resolutions 2016

• Become more generous of self - with myself, with J, with kids, with others.
• Wake up each morning with positive self-talk and prayer.
• Cook with creative abandon.
• Write something every week, whether it's journalling, article writing, blogging or working on a novel. 
• Minimize clutter and distraction in my home, my head, my schedule.
• Embrace the habit of a consistent schedule; go to bed earlier than 11 and get up at at the same time every day!

Making these sorts of promises to ourselves will only bear fruit if we have a way of implementing them. One of the books I've got ordered is Better than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin. This book was recommended by several of my fave bloggers of late, including GOOP and The Modern Mrs. Darcy. The latter writes, "Rubin’s much anticipated follow-up to her happiness books is all about habits: how we make them, why we break them, and how we can improve them." I'm looking forward to reading it! 

Meanwhile, I'm making good on my resolution to cook with creative abandon! We bought a new freezer last week, and it's a teeny bit smaller than the huge 1950s monster that is sucking electricity keeping my garden offerings frozen. So, what do I have to do? CAN! I froze around 40 cups of raspberries, 30 cups of strawberries, a ton of chicken carcasses, heaps of marrow bones and oxtail, applesauce, pumpkin, etc, etc, etc.... so now I'm working on some fun kitchen projects! 

More to come on that in a few days, because THIS is an uncensored look at my kitchen right now.