experience

We went to Hawaii a little over two years ago. I am a huge, sometimes obsessive deal finder, and love to do things the cheapest way possible. For this reason, our entire 6-day trip cost us less than $800 in total. I also found ways to cram in as much as we could during our time there. We had so much fun but came home exhausted. We placed that excursion in our "trip" column and not in our "vacation" column, kinda sadly but also rather proudly.

I have a little bit of regret about cramming all of that in. I still don't know what exactly, if anything, I would take out if I were to do it again. But not once did we go sit on the beach in the sunshine and read a book or just relax. Nope, couldn't fit that in among all our plans.

I know of lots of people in the blog-world who choose a word for the year. I thought (and still think) it's a little silly. But I like the bigger idea. I'm not a resolution type of gal, so this is my way of rebelling against the idea of resolutions but still finding a way to do something a little different and make myself a little better. So, here we go. My word is Experience (the verb form). We actually aren't planning to move this year (gasp!), which automatically brings a smile to my face. But we do have a few really exciting things on the calendar. Things I want to be sure I enjoy.

So, for the couple of events/trips we have planned, I am determined to enjoy the ride a little bit more. I am determined to experience joy in my children a little more. (I can't tell you how proud I was to see Tyler holding a pen the right way today, writing his letters during church.) I am resolving to have a little more fun. This morning in the shower I got so excited for the things ahead. 2008 was a sad year, and 2009 was stressful. I feel less stress than I have in a long time (just as of this morning, mind you), and I am confident about the future, especially this coming year.

Here we go!
(check back later this week for the giveaway!)