New things

I really like new things.  That's why I love a new year.  We started out this new year by saying goodbye to our house of 4 months.  For the sake of the Homes in Transitions memory bank, lets talk about why we were so excited to say adios to this house and to the Homes in Transition program.

1. We are really excited that people don't have all-day access to our house anymore.  For example we are excited that there don't have to be home showings while Javi is in the shower.  We are excited that I won't receive any more phone calls that go like this:  "Hi!  This is _________.  I just wanted to let you know that I was in your house while you were in the shower....singing Carrie Underwood.  I just didn't want to startle you."  I mean, really?  We're also excited that we can sleep in on Saturdays and not get chewed out for still being in our jammies after 9:00 am when people show up to walk through our house.
2. We're really excited to not live in a REALLY old house that has never been updated...at all.  Seriously, the garbage disposal in our new apartment is pretty much the golden ticket in my life.  I love it.  I will never live in another house without a garbage disposal.  And lets be serious, the dishwasher doesn't fall out of the wall in our new apartment.  I pretty much love that too.  I hated it when the dishwasher would fall out of the wall...like several times a day.
3. When we moved into the old house it hadn't been cleaned in maybe 40 years.  Just kidding.  Maybe 39.  There were dead cockroaches all over the floor (thank heavens they were dead).  The holes in the floor that were a perfect walkway for the creatures to enter from the cellar underneath the house were hard to cover and led all kinds of wildlife into our humble abode.  They kept me company, I suppose.

I'm starting to sound like the old house held nothing but terrible things which would be untrue.  We made many great memories there and we learned a lot which I'm grateful for.  We made some incredible friends right there in our neighborhood and we will never forget them.  Jane, Bo, Wanda, and Monte will forever hold a place in our hearts and they can't wait for the baby to be born.  We'll probably have a party when the wee one shows up because they are so excited to meet the little thing.  We will miss those neighbors so much.  Things we learned from them:

1.  how complete strangers can watch out for each other.  
2. We learned how to be adopted by neighbors and make them our family.  
3. We learned about service as Bo would trim the hard with his trimmer and Monte and his dog Benji would keep us company as we mowed the lawn with Monte's lawnmower.  
4. We appreciated how our garbage can was always rolled up and down the driveway on garbage day.  
5. We got lots of hugs whenever we needed them.
6. Bums begging for money were chased off of our property by dear Bo.  He's very large and very black and he carried a gun.  Nobody would ever mess with him.  Lucky us to get to live next to him.

We are going to miss that neighborhood on Charleston so so much.  We are grateful for that time we had.  

So long little house!

So...HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Here is what this new year means to me.

Last night we had a little Family Home Evening (FHE) at 11:30 pm.  It was based upon an article in our church's magazine for this month.  Here's the link.  It's written by our prophet and it's brilliant.  You should read it.

So here are my words (as inspired by President Monson) for 2012

So far these words are adorning our refrigerator and I have a feeling they are going to show up on my phone, in the car, and possibly on various body parts on days that I'm especially needing reminding.  Today was one of those days.  The first half of the day was filled with loads of negativity and then my husband told me that we were going to have to have a repeat FHE if I didn't alter my attitude.  He's an allstar for being so patient with me and reminding me of the person I want to become.

Another aspect of "newness" I would like to incorporate into the new year is really pondering the reasoning behind why I do what I do.  Like, why do I cook dinner every night?  Why do I work out...or not work out as the case may be?  Why do we keep a clean house?  Why do I study the Bible and Book of Mormon?  Why do I write in a journal and on a blog?  Why do I watch the Biggest Loser?  Why do I allow myself to feel negative?  Why do I ever act frustrated with the sweetest husband in the world?  Why do I go to church?  Why do I work?  Why do we make the bed every day?  Etc.

So, in the meantime I'll be figuring out the reasons behind why I do what I do.  I think it's important for me at this point in my life so that I'm motivated to continue doing what I'm doing or to start doing the things that I'm not doing that I should.

Whew.  I love new beginnings.

Happy new things to you and yours.