Hello 2010

And goodbye stuff-we-no-longer-need! We spent the first day of New Years with a cleaning spree and reorganizing party. Lots of work but the reward of it being clean was a huge pay off. And a trip tonight with some friends to Red Robin was a huge motivator! :) We got closets cleaned, clothes & toys purged, kitchen pantry organized & inventoried, Christmas decorations put away, a trip to Goodwill & our storage unit and rooms resituated. Busy and productive. I'm glad we got a good start. I have a hard time concentrating and functioning with clutter around.

And with all this talk of decluttering & organizing, etc. I now come to share with you something new I'm starting. I've seen a few other moms (including a few of my favorite bloggers: NieNie & Shawni) designate one word for their family theme each year and I really like that and think that our family would strongly benefit from it. So with much thought, we have decided the word our family is going to focus on this year is: CHOOSE. We've been pondering what it was going to be and this one stuck throughout all the other ones John and I have bounced back and forth. One of them being a very close runner up: Simplify. It's an important one at that but I felt that we could choose to simplify so it always came back to choose. We all have the ability to choose. And our choices can effect those around us and most important to us. We can choose to remember the basics. Choose to always put family first. Choose to not do everything even when it sounds fun. Choose to work through the hard times. Choose to let go or get mad. Choose to love one another even if we're frustrated or upset. Choose to be positive. Choose our mood and attitude. Choose what's most important and what's not. Choose to set goals, meet goals and set new ones. Choose to slow down and enjoy the simple things. Choose what's most important as a family and to let the rest go. By doing so, we will relieve stress and unite better as a family. There are thousands of choices that came at us on a daily basis and we are going to do our best this year to make better choices!

{I saw a link to Elder Oaks talk about "choices" on Shawni's blog. I really enjoyed his message: "We have to forgo some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families." You can go here to read the whole talk from Elder Oaks. Very inspiring!}