A new year.

A new year always feels fresh and hopeful and when you also throw in a good dose of household organization it feels downright cleansing. We've been busy as bees over our Christmas vacation, re-situating furniture and re-placing pictures on our walls. Towards the end of last year I was feeling really discouraged about the way our house was starting to look, you know, just generally getting sick and tired of the same old stuff. Well, I am here to tell you that just rearranging what we already have did wonders for this girl's mood! I feel like I can face life with the same old ugly livingroom furniture, now that I have a couple of fresh new curtain panels for my windows and changing up the wall-hangings. When you're on a budget, you need to work with what you have, but I do like to change things to keep from feeling like I'm going nuts. Not sure if anyone else ever feels like that. Could just be me...

And, in other news, we bought an elliptical. Although it's a rather large purchase (and yes, I am fully aware of the contradictoryness of saying we're on a budget and then whipping out this random bit of news, but life is generally pretty perplexing, no?) we felt that it was the only way either of us was going to get any exercise. We're hoping that since it's right there, staring us in our faces that we'll hop on it everyday. Unfortunately we are too lazy to go outside and walk so an elliptical might be the answer for us. Anyway, we are going to try. Wish us luck.

I'm looking forward to this year and seeing what it holds. I have renewed determination to be there for my kids and husband and really be intentional about how I live my life for the Lord. It feels exciting!