2010: What a Year

All this week, I have been thinking back over the past year and am almost overwhelmed with all that has happened this year. I cannot remember a time where I would look back over my life and not see God's hand, but this year His hand seemed to be more evident, more seen, or something. Or perhaps, I am learning to listen and see better. I don't know what it is but I am blessed.

This has been a year of changes for us. It's been interesting to think back over these changes and how they've impacted us. Some of the small changes have had huge impacts on us. If I had to sum 2010 in one word, I would have to say EDUCATIONAL. I feel like I've learned so much this year. It's been amazing for sure.

Some of the changes that have taken place this year for us,

• Moving to a New Place - This was, of course, a major change for us this year. We moved away from an awesome church family and amazing friends to start a new journey in our lives. God has blessed us with another incredible church family. Seriously, I wonder how we could be so blessed to be a part of these wonderful churches.
• Homeschooling - This was another big change for our family. God placed homeschooling on my heart several years ago, but I was hesitant to commit to it. We continue to pray and decided to at least give it a try. It's been a great blessing to our family. It's given us the flexibility to be involved in many things this year that we wouldn't otherwise been able to do. I am continuing to learn how to teach and plan and look forward to the rest of this school year.
• Moving the TV out of the Living Room - This was a small change with a major impact on our family. For the last few years, the television has been a source of frustration to me. It seemed to be on way too much even though it was not my intention. I would turn the TV on to watch one show and end up watching three. Then, a dear friend was telling me about the year they turned the TV off. This really stuck with me. I started talking to Jason about it and praying about it. So, with the move, we got rid of cable and moved the TV out of the living room. It's been wonderful. I feel our home is more peaceful. We still have a TV and DVD player, but it's not the center of our home and when we view it now it's more intentional. It sounds silly, but it's been one of the best changes we've ever made.
• Eating more Nutritionally - This change actually began in 2009 as I started researching nutrition and how our food affects us. This year though I was introduced to Nourishing Traditions and "real food". Everything I was reading made so much sense yet completely contradicted the Food Pyramid and so much of what I've been taught about low fat, low carbs, etc. This is still a work in progress for us, but we are feeling so much better. It's been interesting for sure and I still devour just about any book on the subject.

I'm sure there's been many other changes, but these are some that stick out to me. I am excited about the new year and what God has in store for our family. My prayer is we follow hard after Him.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I hope you all are having a very merry Christmas day. We started the day with our birthday cake for Jesus as we have for several years now (Jason got a little "artistic" with the icing this year). We finished our Jesse Tree book. We opened presents. And then I took a nap. It's been a wonderful day!

My 4 Shepherds

Last night was our children's Christmas pageant at church. It was so cute! Since there were so many shepherds, Jason was recruited to be one. To be honest, I was recruited to be a shepherd, but Jason was much better at "herding" the shepherds than me. He has made it very clear though that I "owe him big time" now.

I know I'm a little biased but these are the cutest little shepherds I have ever seen.

Silence is Sometimes Necessary

While my lack of blogging has not completely intentional, it has been somewhat purposeful. It seems that every time I blog, I'm talking about how busy have become. We seem to just get busier and busier as time marches on. As this fall became so busy, I felt I could hardly function, I realized it was way past time to figure why we are so busy. Are all these things that fill our days so important? Do we have to be running around all the time? What do we really want to be doing? And more importantly, what should we be doing?

My lack of blogging has come as I've tried to sift through answers to these questions and prioritize. I enjoy blogging and following other people's blogs, but the internet as a whole is such an easy distraction for me. I haven't been on Facebook lately either or been keeping up with some of my beloved friends on a couple of message boards. I'm easing my way back in hoping to find a balance. I want to use these things for good not simply as a way to spend (or often waste) time.