Happy New Year 2025

 The calendar switched over last night, and we are now in 2025. It's wild to me that another year has come and gone. Time truly does fly. 

For New Year's Eve this year, the kids were out at Jim and Barb's house, so John and I went out to eat supper. We tried to go to TC Referee's, but they had a 30 minute wait, so we walked next door and went to Dynasty. We were seated right away, and we had a nice meal. The waitress is always a little crazy, but it was good. 

After supper, we went to BBs for a couple drinks, live music, and some nachos. We stayed until around 9:00pm, and we headed home for a drink and some TV. We made it until midnight, said Happy New Year, and then called it a night. The kids and Jim and Barb also made it to midnight, and they blew horns and celebrated and then went to bed as well. 

Today was a chill day at home. I enjoyed a nice breakfast while watching the Rose Parade this morning, then went to the gym, and cleaned the house. I got some some things done around the house that I had been meaning to do for a while, so that was nice. John went out and bought some shelving and got some shelves hung in the kids' bedrooms. They look really nice and it will be a fun surprise for them. We are hoping the shelves can help control the absolute mess that their rooms are. We also went on a long evening walk, and then ate some delicious tacos for supper. It was a great way to start off a new year. I also spent some time reading, and now blogging. I really couldn't ask for a better day. 

Goals for 2025:

1. Go on more walks. In the summer, John and I are really good at going for walks, but in the winter we don't go as often. I would like to go on more walks, year-round. It feels good, and John and I have some of our best talks while out for a walk.. 

2. Spontaneous Trips. We are pretty good at planning big travel trips, but I want to take more day trips. There are plenty of State Parks, cities, and outdoor activities within 90 minutes of Sioux Falls, that we have not explored yet. I want to be better at jumping in the car and spending the afternoon exploring something new. 

3. Continue blogging. I really enjoy blogging. It make me think, they are fun to read later on, and it's a good reflection. I go in spurts where I blog for a while and then I lose track and don't blog for a month or two. I hope to continue blogging and do it consistently. 

4. Read. I like to read. Last year I read 43 books. That's a pretty good number. I want to keep it up and keep expanding the authors and books that I read. I also read with Elliott, so really I should count those books. Right now, we are reading the Little House on the Prairie books, and we are really enjoying them. 

5. Continue to go to the gym. This habit has really solidified itself the last couple of years, and I plan to continue. I look forward to my gym visits, and it's a great stress reliever and I definitely feel more confident when I am making myself stronger and fitter. Three cheers for health!

6. Intentional Time with the kids. Emma is getting to the age where she hides in her room a lot and Elliott can get a little too into his Ipad and Nintendo Switch, so I want to be better at spending intentional time with the kids. We have some things. Emma and I volunteer at the Humane Society together, and that is great quality time. Elliott and I read together, and sometimes we play legos together. We also all 4 watch a show together most evenings to wind down and spend time together. But I want to keep being consistent with that and find more way to spend quality time together. 

7. Date night with the hubby. Along the same line, John and I need to be better about just planning dates and doing them. The kids are old enough to stay home alone, so we can pretty much plan a date night anytime we want. And we could be more creative in what we do. It doesn't always have to be a meal, we could bowl, throw axes, take a painting class, play bingo, or a million other things. We need to remember to be creative and intentional with our time as well. 

8. Try new recipes. We sometimes get in a rut of the same 15 meals over and over again. I want to be better about cooking new things in new ways, and making the kids at least try some of the food. They can be pretty picky at time. 

9. Family Devotions. I don't know why, but it's really hard for us to take 5 minutes in the evening to do a Family Devotion. I have a couple really nice devotional books, I really hope to set this into motion this year. Also, I have a daily bible plan on my phone and I hope to be more intentional with that was well. 

10. Camping and outdoor time this summer. Last summer we didn't do very much camping, so this summer I hope to do more. It's so good for the kids (and us). So, I want to fill our summer up with camping trips, fishing, hiking, and swimming. 

Happy New Year!