One Little Word 2012

As I wake up this morning to another year with my morning cuppa*, I can't help but feel slightly refreshed and newly inspired. Each day holds such possibility, which is encouraged by my attitude and determination to rise above life's challenges and be a better me.   I don't want to waste one moment on being too tired, or worrying about things I can't change. I want to REALLY live again!  What is really living, you ask?  To me, really living is:

1. Eating well - for taste, for health
2. Moving my Body - cardio, yoga
3. Being Content - loving, appreciating and enjoying what I have
4. Being Present - for Matt, for Morgan ... they deserve it
5. Dreaming - it paves the way for creativity and inspiration
6. Learning - when you stop learning, your mind dies
7. Living Organized - feathering my little nest, keeping only things I love and making others feel welcome anytime, all the time ... finding creative solutions for living big in a small space
8. Staying Connected - remembering birthdays, making calls, sending cards to those people who live far in distance, but are ever so close to my heart

I guess you might call that a resolution list, but it's really more than that.

When we moved to Canada a lot of things changed. Of course our surroundings and our jobs changed, but it ran deeper. I really did love my job, but I'll be the first to tell you the last couple years have been one challenge after another, which in totality, equaled a large roller coaster of emotions. I got lost in it all ... really - the real Wendy was so buried, I wondered if I would ever find her again. I needed to make an effort just to exist, which is why I chose that word for 2011.

August 3, 2011 everything changed yet again ... my worst nightmare really - they were closing the Ontario office. Part of me was so relieved ... the other part terrified. We depend on my income - my job is why we moved to Canada. I knew we would have to get our house on the market as soon as possible. Everything felt, and still feels, unsettled and anxious as we wait for God's perfect timing. But even with mild house chaos, every other need has been met by God's hand and I sit here in awe as I reminisce.

So I'm opening this new year filled with hope. Soon I will go back to my passion of being the full time home manager of a snuggly little bungalow (a big house is way overrated and hard to keep clean - I promise), mom to Morgan, Dot and Zoe, wife to Matt and freelance designer to all of my fabulous clients. My business has been busy, so i look forward to building that more this year ... But one thing is sure - I will NEVER lose myself again. Nothing is worth that - it's no life.

That being said, my one little word for 2012 is live ...

*cuppa: (kuhp-uh) noun - British for a cup of tea or other hot beverage ... I learned this little bit of slang from my delightful Brit of a neighbour, Angie, whom with I often share a cuppa.  She's pretty great. :)