Happy New Year!

I usually have mixed feelings about New Year's. I feel like, because I'm in my 20s, I should do something big and exciting but all I really want to do is just be near people I really enjoy and just "be" with them. This year I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with people who really mean a lot to me. It was a low-key event - dinner and watching the ball drop with Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest, and the ever-so-talented Kelly Pickler. At one point in the night, when everyone was sitting around commenting on Katy Perry's wardrobe choices, I smiled to myself and thanked God for the blessed life I live. I am a fortunate girl. I love my life and am so thankful for what it is right here and right now. I am thankful for the people in my life, how I get to spend my days, the house I live in, the physical security that I possess, the possibilities for the future, and so much more. This is exactly where I want to be. I am content here. I am also so thankful for the events of 2008. I was able to be a part of some incredible things, learn good (and sometimes hard) lessons, laugh, love, and wrestle with who I am and what I have been called to do/be. I have felt this way for quite a while now but in that moment it came flooding over me.

The one thing I do not have mixed feelings about is New Year's Resolutions. I LOVE THEM. YAY for goals! I made a list of the goals I want to accomplish in 2009 in the little notebook I keep in my purse. This notebook is full of good quotes, lyrics, books to read, inspirations, and lists. Although it is not exhaustive, here are a few of the goals that I have jotted down for 2009. These are just little things and I specifically set them because I don't feel like they will get in the way of being open to whatever comes along.

• Visit all Smithsonian Museums, Monuments, and the Botanical Gardens
• Read 3 books in French
• Finish a triathlon
• Finish a ten-miler with a personal best record
• Write at least 1 hand-written letter per month (I've done two so far this month and it's still the first!)
• Keep a balanced ledger (this will be my toughest one)
• Pay off my credit card (See above. The point is that I want to be free to do whatever God calls me to do and to be able to use my resources to bless and equip others for His glory)
• Plant an herb garden
• Be a published writer (I'm okay with just an article)
• Get straight As at GWU
• Learn more about and apply being a Locavore
• Eat more naturally (no more surviving off of caramel-covered marshmellows like I have the past week)
• Blog at least one time per week
• Follow politics/economics more seriously
• Do 100 push-ups in a row
• Build in regular times of silence - including a 3 day retreat

More than anything though, I want to know my God more. I want to fall more and more in love. I want to be shaped, molded, broken, healed, and used. I want to dig into the Word more, have a more active prayer life, and boldly live out my faith. Why settle for paper plates when you can eat off of fine china?!

None of my resolutions or goals are too lofty. I firmly believe that they can be attained and I am so excited for them to come to fruition! I can't wait to see who and what will be a part of this year!