2010 WORD OF THE YEAR...

Choosing a word to work on for the year is something that my friend Ashley has been doing for a couple years, and I tried last year. I think it really helped. Last year' word was "believe." I chose it right after Dave had lost his job and we had no idea what the next year would bring. The most important thing to us was to not lose our faith in God and that there was a plan for us that included this job loss, and to still believe in the good all around us. And although we were out of a job for 5 months, and are now on 16 unsuccessful months of trying to get pregnant, we still believe. I am eternally grateful we made that a priority....which leads me right into my 2010 word of the year-

PRIORITIZE

Especially at the end of 2009, I found myself doing all sorts of things that had no importance or bearing in my life or the lives of my loved ones. Some of them were things I agreed to do and then was sorry afterwards, and some were just stupid, time wasters. I often had a really heavy heart as I spent time away from Jaxon and Dave, farming Jaxon out several afternoons a week, to do something that I wasn't even enjoying because of the hollow way I felt. So this year is about getting my priorities in line, and remembering them.

1. Faith/Religion

The single most important thing in my life is my standing with God and His Son Jesus Christ. I feel that I am so blessed to have a clear path lined up straight ahead of me to follow that will make my life so much easier and fullfilled, and also prepare me to live with them again. So this year, I'm going to act like it. No putting off scripture study, prayer, temple attendance, and completely fullfilling my callings and responsibilities.

2. My Family

I took on a lot of work last year, and I think a lot of it was because we had been out of work, and that's scary. But the truth is, I only work because I enjoy it, and it should never take precidence over my family, especially Jaxon. So this year, I will be shooting, and teaching a lot less. This will also help in our goal this year of finally getting pregnant, as I declutter my life to prepare for whatever is necessaryto make that happen.

3. Friends

I know some people don't find it necessary to prioritize their friends, but for some reason, I have a really hard time reaching out and building deep relationships. I say it's because I don't have time, but the truth is, I find it pretty scary to put myself out there. I see people around me with dear kindred friends, and I want that. So this year I am going to focus more on being the type of friend I should, to develop deeper friendships.

I would like to remind myself that no where on this list is work. My work should be fun, and not take up a majority of my time. If I feel that it is a detriment to my family and our time together, then something needs to change. I know that very occasionally "work responsibilities" have to take a front seat, but it should be "very occasionally."