2011, Welcome.

i like half of the world kicked off the new year with an aspiration related to health. i thought i might take 10-15 days without sugar and work hard to reintroduce vegetables into my diet. no sugar includes wine. which has been totally fine... for THREE days. in efforts to keep to it, i am drinking a Kombucha that my bro gave me. i'm scared to look at the ingredients but he promises its like a healing chinese tea. okay, i just looked at the ingredients and the last one says 100% pure love, clearly this stuff comes from a hippy store in Asheville. Merry Christmas to me, i'm chi already.

So, i like half the world also had other aspirations related to hobbies that i am still hopeful to keep considering through March. (ha!). They included:

Blogging more. The goal is at least once a week. It's therapuetic. It's serving as my memory and Hannah's baby book. And I miss ya'll.

Cooking out of Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meal book. It is awesome. If we were truly dedicated we would aim to do a meal a week from this book - there are 50 and we could have a 2 week loss. I would love to accomplish that. and heck blog about it. but i am not welcoming 2011 with much allusion. i have no idea what happened in 2010 it was such a blur.

this brings me to my next hope which is a greater consciousness in the everyday. Meditiation and Intentionalality in relationships. It's worth hoping.

Taking 10 extra seconds on personal things like applying lotion. maybe even washing my face a few nights a week. taking the 8 seconds it takes to appy concealor under my eyes, each and everyday, not just work days. not settling on outfits but putting a little effort into them (by little i mean an extra 2 minutes), it TRULY makes the biggest impact. mostly for me. i ran into someone at the grocery last week, glanced in the mirror on the way to my bathroom and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. post college it's less and less okay to run errands looking like that, oops.

And finally, and probably the one I am most excited about is Project 345 and any of you can join me. It's an effort to read the whole new testament this year. It's totally realistic but a great encouragement to read Scripture and remember and reflect. or learn anew. I'm excited. Today is only day 3, so again, JOiN ME! You go to youversion.com, signup and then look for reading plans - pick Project 345, and it will get you started. It's a Monday - Friday reading plan that they say takes on 3 minutes and 45 seconds out of your day to complete (although by all means take more. meditate, remember. (:) and by the end of the year you will have read the whole New Testament. I'm pumped. it's John 3 today.

So, these are just a few of my ringing in the new year thoughts... Cheers!