I love new years! I just have to start by saying that. A lot of people have been saying that 2016 was the worst year ever and just wishing it away, but I loved 2016 (for various amounts of reasons…. mostly because I got to marry my very best friend). But I also love when the new year rolls around because it is a special time to reflect on mistakes, lessons learned, and accomplishments from the past year. I know that some people see New Years Resolutions as just one huge joke because most people give up or forget about their goals within one month, but I really do love them because it’s a time to set goals for you and your family and a time to hit that refresh button on life.
Last year for New Years, Ruben and I stayed up late and watched the ball drop. It was uneventful and we did a quiet little countdown because the rest of my family was asleep. As we waited and watched all the action at Times Square happening, we sat down and made some goals for us as we headed into 2016. We still hadn’t even seriously discussed marriage that point in our relationship, but we still made our goals for 2016 together as a couple. Here are a couple of the things we had on our list of 2016 Resolutions:
- Attend the temple once a week
- One Date night a week
- Pack a lunch three times a week
- Better communication
- Be more optimistic
- Personal scripture study (as well as with each other)
We did really well on some and totally flopped on others (like packing a lunch three times a week… We were a little ambitious to say the least). As 2016 came to a close, I spent a lot of time talking with Ruben and personally pondering what my resolutions should be for 2017. I wanted to share a few of my personal resolutions for myself as well as for us as a couple.
- To grow closer to the Lord: This is kind of a summary of several other goals that I have personally and Ruben and I have together. I have thought lately about how I need to put the Lord first more in my life and tried to think of ways that Ruben and I could put the Lord first in our relationship. And we have so much work to do (not to discredit or say that we aren’t doing anything). But we just both feel that there is much to improve on from temple attendance, to personal study, and scripture study together. I have had this feeling that this is something that we have needed to make a priority for a while, but have brushed it off because we are “so busy.” I know that as we continue to grow closer to God as a couple, as well as individually, we will have so many more opportunities and blessings.
- To spend less time on social media: This is a huge one for me. I’m not going to preach about how bad social media is, because I love it and also that’s how I get business with my videography and photography. But I have noticed, especially lately, that I will sit there and compare myself to everyone. I will compare my photography, videography, apartment, adventures, every single dang thing to them. And then I get really bummed and down on myself about why Ruben and I can’t afford some of these things or why I am not as great of a photographer, etc. And I know that I shouldn’t be doing that when I’m on social media, but it’s inevitable. So I want to have less screen time and more time on other things in my life.
- To be more social: It’s funny, because Ruben and I were talking to some of our other married friends who live in California and they were saying that they have no married friends and both Ruben and I said the same thing. But when we thought about it, we have tons of married friends, but we all tend to just do our married thing with our spouse and call it good. And sometimes, I love it, but sometimes, it still gets lonely. So a goal we have made is to be more social (and not just with our married friends). We want to get more involved in our ward at church and make friends there, we want to have more time set apart to see our other married friends, and I want to see my unmarried friends more. Sometimes in Provo, it’s like when you get married, everyone who isn’t married forgets about you and it’s hard. And I’ve totally let people forget about me and let those relationships dwindle, but I really want to work on building them back up and not neglecting any relationships that i have built over the years.
We have plenty more resolutions for the two of us and I have several more that I have written down that are personal resolutions, but I just wanted to share a few of our resolutions with you all. I hope that you take the time to reflect and pray on what you can improve this next year. I am sure that my list will adjust and I might prioritize some resolutions over others. I also know that I’m not super woman and can’t do everything. But I surely hope that I can start this year on the right foot and really take it one step at a time as I move forward. Happy new year and here’s to 2017!
*some photos from the first sunset of 2017 in Utah… Sometimes that smog/inversion is pretty*
