A New Beginning

We had a really special Christmas. Santa was very good and brought everything that we put on our Christmas lists. This Christmas was a little different for us. We tried not to get caught up in the commercial side of Christmas so much. We wanted to teach our kids that giving is much more rewarding that receiving. We were able to do some fun secret santa things for people we know. I was reminded of how good people were to my family and I when my mam struggled to provide Christmas for my siblings and me when I was younger. This Christmas was also very emotional for us. My father-in-law found out, on Christmas Eve that he has inflammatory breast cancer (IBC.) Anyone who knows my father-in-law, Garth Abbott, knows that he is a fighter and stubborn as all get out :) I know that he will conquer this terrible disease. It has been so touching to see how many people love and admire this man. People are so good and it gives me hope. I was reminded of how important family is and that the family bond and love is more powerful than anything in this world.

Lucas and I spoke in church on the last Sunday of 2009. Our topic was about goal setting. It was a fun topic to talk about and it got me really motivated to set goals and more importantly achieve goals this year. Elder M. Russell Ballard said "I believe you can train yourself to become a positive thinker, but you must cultivate a desire to develop the skill of setting personal worthy and realistic goals. I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the technique of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When you learn to master the principle of setting a goal, you will then be able to make a great difference in the results you attain in this life.”

The first step to setting goals is to write them down, which I haven't yet done. I have lots of ideas swirling in my mind. In the last few days I have become very aware of how important it is to teach your children gratitude, hard work and unselfishness. I've tried to make sure my children have everything they want and then some and I've realized that maybe I'm doing more damage than good. I don't know how my mam raised 5 of us kids by herself. I know she did without many times. I am so blessed to have a husband to support me and provide for our family. I'm grateful that I can stay home and raise my children. This year, I plan to have more teaching moments with my children. I want to teach them that they don't always get what they want right away. That you have to work hard for what you want. Now, I know that my kids are only 5, 3, and 1, but sometimes I feel like I'm wasting so much time not doing my part in raising them to be grateful and well-mannered children. I found this fun website www.goalforit.com and I have put some chore charts together for Gavin and Tyrone. I believe that if you give kids responsibilty and teach work ethic from an early age that they will grow up to become strong, independant, exceptional people.

I'm so excited for this coming year. There are so many things to accomplish. I am turning 30 in July and I thought I would be depressed but I'm actually very excited about it. I feel like I have accomplished a lot in my life so far, but I'm excited to broaden my horizons and I feel like there really are so many things I have yet to achieve.