New.

Here it is again. 

          Another year. A time for new aspirations. New. What a word. What does it mean, this new?  Is anything ever new? Emergence. Of course, I have written about this before (see this post) but that was awhile ago, and I have more to add. Since last contemplating the New Year, I have graduated high school, started college, stopped college, worked in a pizza place, been a nanny, gone on a mission to the Philippines, come home, re-started college, moved out, got married and now-- now what? 

New [insert nicer word than "resolutions" here]:

          Jacob joined me on the natural sugar thing! With some modifications. 
The Okay Sugars: Honey, Coconut Sugar, Grade B Maple Syrup, Dark Chocolate, Stevia, and Splenda. Also, any food with under 7 grams of sugar per serving is okay in small quantities (last year, I did 6 grams, and it's amazing what 1 extra gram allows! Pirrouette chocolate sticks, and granola bars!). Also, we get 6 "days off" this year, in which we can indulge in 1 serving of sweets per mealtime (my first Day Off is Valentine's day, just around the corner!)

I've also decided, no more FaceBook/Pinterest during school/family time. I echo what Elder Vern P. Stanfill said,

"...mocking words can burrow into our lives, often through split-second bursts of electronic distortions carefully and deliberately composed to destroy our faith. Is it wise to place our eternal well-being in the hands of strangers? Is it wise to claim enlightenment from those who have no light to give or who may have private agendas hidden from us? These anonymous individuals, if presented to us honestly, would never be given a moment of our time, but because they exploit social media, hidden from scrutiny, they receive undeserved credibility." 

I am not sure if I'll be up to running a full marathon, but I am at least running a half marathon, which I'll commit to by February. I feel strongly that I should push my body, and reach for goals that help me maintain a lifelong mindset of health and wellbeing.

Lastly, I aspire to graduate (finally) from Brigham Young University with my Bachelor's in Psychology. I'm at the end of my academic undergraduate race, but I feel that we are only at the starting line of the millenia-long relay, in which the baton is now being passed to me and my husband as we start our family and help build the kingdom of God. 

"This is the last leg of the relay. This is when He needs His strongest runners. The simple fact is that our Father did not recommend Eve or Moses or Nephi or countless other magnificent exemplars for this dispensation — He recommended you and me."–Sheri L. Dew 

I know my education has been essential in shaping who I am, and what I have learned will play a large part in how I raise my children.

The attribute I'll study this year is Diligence. Jacob's is Patience. My word of the year (a tradition brought on by Sister Mama Caycayon of Hawaii) is somewhere between Ask and Listen.

I know  that this year is given to us to progress, and I intend to do so, every day, step by step. 

:) Good luck to all of you in your 2017 endeavors.