New Year, New Me

It's that time of year when I feel the earth's atmosphere shift a tiny bit as I reflect on the past year and focus on the changes I will be making in this new one. I feel rejuvenated, optimistic and courageous. There is nothing that I can't handle this year. Because this year I'm going to be more prepared.

The very first item on my to-do list for 2012 was to purchase a new planner/notebook. I've been researching high and low since November for the perfect fit for me. I'm not one of those techy geeks who looks for a solution in a palm pilot (obviously, by my use of the word palm pilot you can tell). I like something more tangible with pages I can mark and scribbly notes I can make...oh, and drawings :) Plus, I like the idea of being able to flip something open instead of waiting for a gadget to start up.

You see, as an extremely busy person, I have to carry a small planner with me at all times. I literally write down everything in there. It looks something like this.

And as a writer, I have to have extra paper with me at all times. Not to mention, they need to be lightweight so I can lug them around with me. So I think of course, they will have some type of planner and notebook all-in-one...WRONG!

I searched everywhere, and on January 2, I ended up with this duo.

A great find at Barnes & Noble that has proved to be quite satisfying and worth every penny of the $25 spent (it came with two small notebooks). Plus, I heard that the color purple is supposed to be calming, which is what I'm aiming for in 2012.

Bound together by the greatest invention of the millennium (the rubberband of course!) and I have my planner-notebook-all-in-one.

As soon as I got back from shopping, I opened the notebook to the first page and me and the hubby started brainstorming our new year's resolutions as a couple. I won't bore you with those, but once we were done I jotted mine down too. I like to divide my resolutions up into three categories: spiritual, mental and physical.

They go something like this...
Spiritual (always first because to me it's the most important)
1.) Read New Testament-1.1 pages per day (That's it!)
2.) Pray morning and night
3.) Prepare Sunday school lesson each week
4.) Visiting Teaching each month
5.) Plan Family Home Evening every other week
Mental
1.) Blog once a week (yes, I promise to be better at this)
2.) Find a hobby (like I don't have enough, right?...always looking for ways to expand my mind :)
Physical
1.) Tell the hubby how grategul I am for him regularly
2.) Save money/make better financial decisions
3.) Make less/wiser commitments (something I seriously have to focus on this year...I promised the hubby)
4.) Take my camera everywhere

I hope your year has been great so far. And remember, there is still time to make new resolutions. You have 353 days left (thank goodness for leap year...we always need an extra day :)