A New Year's Hope

My thoughts about the New Year have been brewing for the past week. After attending a conference the last week of 2011 that, fittingly enough, was centered around life-visions & life-dreams, my heart has been churning with what God would ask of me this year.

Those thoughts are still in the works, yet I did think that instead of making a list of irresolute resolutions, I would photograph what some of my hopes are for the upcoming year.

This post was inspired when I looked up from my computer & saw this: 

Last week a friend of mine was sharing her story about when she decided to follow Christ. One morning she was sitting on her front porch and realized that was the first time in awhile she had felt the sun on her skin. At that point she realized that Jesus was to her soul what a spring sun is to those who have just been through winter. These flowers reminded me of her. 

I hope to spend more time soaking in the beauty of following Christ ... 

... to read & listen & therefore, act ...

... to watch dough rise & stews simmer & boil over; then, to pray for my family's & my hope to do the same ...

... to write ...

... and not just watch. 

And to honor and unselfishly love those in my life who have changed me forever, especially one person in particular...

What are your hopes? 

Oh, no! Not another New Year Resolution blog!

Don't worry, it's not!

I definitely enjoy thinking back on the previous year and writing down a few things I've learned, but I have given up on New Year's resolutions entirely. Especially because I'm incapable of making reasonable ones.

"I'll read four books this year. No, wait, one book a month! Heck, I'll just write a book this year! I WILL WRITE THE GREATEST PIECE OF TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE!"

What I should say is that I'll blog once every three months and watch the entire six seasons of The Office ... again.

I did want to share some of my favorite photos from the past year - one for every month.

January :: Taken at my cousin's rehearsal dinner. It was one great weekend.

February ::  Everytime it snows in Texas it's worth taking a picture, especially when you create the ugliest snowmen ever known to man. 

March :: I celebrated my birthday by beginning to raise support for college ministry! The drive home from staff training was long and we got lost for three hours in the Floridian panhandle, but seeing this in the sky made me smile. 

April ::  Joyeuses Pacques! I  think that means Happy Easter in French. We drove to Louisiana to celebrate Easter cajun-style.  Mmmm ...crawfish.  

May ::  We make our way to Colorado for Leadership Training. Kyle & I had the greatest road trip ever. 

June ::  Hard to beat the view in Estes Park. 

July :: One of my favorite moments this summer was being with my sister when she decided to be baptized.  

August ::  We moved in to our home and (finally) unpacked all of our wedding gifts - after only 9 months! Cousin bought me a house-warming plant which  hasn't died...  yet.  

September :: I love college football! 

October ::  Fifty years together - my grandparents are amazing. Every time I hear their story I bawl like a baby. 

November ::  Celebrating one year together definitely gave me a lot of reasons to be thankful. I love this man. This picture was taken at one of those shady mall parking lot carnivals, and we wound up getting so sick we laid on our living room floor for two hours afterwards, trying not to vomit. That's what true love is all about. 

December :: It's not Christmas without Grandma's Sourdough Cherry Rolls.  

That's our year in nutshell! Definitely looking forward to the next one. :)