Happy New Year's, Friends

I spent New Year's Eve night with my friend, Wes. We went to a party at my friend Travis' house before going to Colonial Heights to hang out with the youth. I realized how long I've been gone when the only students I knew were 11th grade or older, and my old Sunday School girls were there as adult volunteers. However, being gone hasn't changed the love that I have for so many people at my Jackson church, and hanging out with the youth, the adult leaders, and Wes reminded me of how much the love and support of the people of Colonial Heights had carried mem through so many different struggles, surprises, and joys of my life over the past ten years. As I stood by a bonfire watching Craig Brown's front door burn and cracking jokes with David, Drew and Spencer, I stopped for a moment and thought that there was nowhere else I would rather be on New Year's than there in that moment.
I love the New Year. It brings a little more excitement to the post-Christmas blues plagued life. It's also a clean slate. It's a perfect precipice of past and future. It gives a chance to glance back and to look forward and make adjustments. I quit making New Year's resolutions years ago. I never stuck to them, and they were never things my heart was in. This year, I decided to make a few resolutions. They are only things that I care about, that I really want to change, and things I can put my heart into (apparently no longer ending sentences in prepositions isn't one of them). There are actually lots of them, and they are organized by priority in my life. I won't tell them all to you, but here are a few. I would love for you, my blog friends, to help hold me accountable. Feel free to drop me a line asking or ask about some of them when you see me. Here's a portion of the list:
Do a morning Bible study
Get back to reading the Bible every night before going to bed
Finish my dissertation as soon as possible
Work on all daily school work before watching tv at night (no procrastinating)
Write a letter to a friend at least once a month
Make out a new budget and stick to it
Exercise 30 min. at least three times a week.
Take lunch to school to save money
Go to at least one GSU athletic event once a month
Do something adventurous or new at least once a month
Declutter my apartment and life...streamline
Better prepare for my classes in order to be a better teacher
Blog more often instead of continuing to say I'll do it later (btw...I have a Blind Melon post with pictures coming)

I hope you all have a great 2008!