My New Year's Resolutions

As I previously posted, we've had a few up's and down's over this holiday break...more down's than up's though unfortunately. We had Grandma Clark's funeral this past Thursday, it was such a great service! The weather was cold but it very sunny, a lot of good memories were shared, and I met a lot of family that I hadn't met yet. The funeral slightly reminded me of my Mimi and Poppy Ladner's funeral a few years ago. Although, I'm still not too sure if it had anything to do with all the "cowboy attire" most people had on.

I LOVED and still do love my grandparents very much and think about them quite often. Through thinking about them and then hearing of the kind of woman Grandma Clark was, really made me think of what people will say about me at my funeral (hopefully quite a few years down the road...)
I know I can be short-tempered, slightly OCD with keeping our place clean, I am definitely a complainer no matter how hard I try not to be, and I'm not the best cook but I've learned that being the best person you can be is the trick to getting "good reviews" when that day comes.

I'm going to practice my cooking because I have no reason not to be a good cook- we have a real stove and don't have to use a wood burning one. I'm not going to complain so much because I don't have a pump water or wash laundry in a basin. I'm going to continue with keeping the house clean but not be so quick to anger when the floor needs to be swept again the next day. Afterall, the house is the only thing I need to keep clean because we don't have a farm or chicken coop to deal with so it could be worse. I live close to conveniences and don't have to grow and harvest every single necessity.

We have life so easy these days that we tend to get upset when life almost isn't handed to us or that it's not "easy enough!" Challenges build character and I want to have a lot of character like my grandparents and especially Grandma Clark- she was a lil' firecracker! I want to be an example. If a little old woman like Grandma Clark and a partially paralyzed Mimi Francis and an old, cheerful Indian man like Poppy Ladner can make such a significant impact on people's lives, then I know that I can too.

So as my New Year has begun, I now welcome challenges and challenge myself to tread right through them with as much strength and optimism that I can muster! Life is too short to not learn more about yourself and your capabilities. I choose to have a more cheerful and happy disposition, less grumpiness. I will work hard for myself and our future family. I will also find time to enjoy life's simplest pleasures with those that I love and also by myself. May you too, find your challenges as character builders and not unwelcomed events. Happy New Year to everyone...and to you, 2011, please don't be too rough on us.