More

As 2011 was winding down, I found myself reflecting on the year.  2011 was a good year for our family.  I feel like we accomplished a lot, started some great traditions, and had a lot of fun.  So when it came time to think about goals for next year, I realized that there wasn't much that I wanted to change, or add to my plate.  I just wanted more of what we had done this year.

Then, as I was zipping through my Google reader one morning, I saw that Layla at The Lettered Cottage was choosing a word for this year, instead of setting specific goals or resolutions.  Since I'd had the word "more" bouncing around my brain for a few weeks, I realized that choosing a word was a great idea for me, too.  So here it is, my word for 2012:

(Of course I made something pretty to remind me of my word.  More on that later...)

So what does more mean to me?  Well, I want our family life, my personal life, my creative expression, and my faith to be richer this year.  I want to focus more on the good things I've got going on in my life.  For example:

• I want more Family Fun time.  We started a list in the fall of some of the fun things we wanted to do as a family.  As a result, we actually did many of those items.  I think being intentional about what we wanted to do made us more focused on making that time a priority.  I want to do that each season for 2012, so that we continue to have MORE fun as a family.
• I want to have more face to face time with Claire.  I am so blessed to be home with my baby girl.  I have a blast with her, and it's amazing how quickly the time passes.  However, because that time passes, I am realizing I don't put the priority I should on playing with her face to face.  Sure, I read with her, and I do things with her, but often, she is doing things with me.  I am not a born housewife, and in learning to keep house well, I think the balance has shifted a bit too far toward getting housework done.  Yes, I can do most of my work with Claire, but I've missed the playtime we used to have.  I just know there's a delicate balance between having lots of fun (but a messy house) and having an immaculate house (and not much fun).  I am going to put my priority on MORE time playing with Claire.
• I want to spend more time with our friends.  Since Claire came along, it's become ridiculously easy to be insular within our little family.  She's a riot, and a handful, so I found we spent more and more time with just the three of us, and less and less with our friends.  I'm a big fan of our friends and I miss our time with them.  This year, I am going to focus on spending MORE time with our friends.
• I want to do more crafting.  My 25 Days of Christmas Crafting was a blast, and it reminded me just how much I like to create and craft things.  However, I also was reminded that I do not have time to craft every day.  It was exhausting and by day 23, I had pretty much run out of steam (which is why Day 25's craft is on hold for a while).  I LOVED making things for my house and my family to enjoy, but trying to do it daily is too much.  That being said, I didn't craft nearly enough the other 11 months of 2011, so this year, I want to craft MORE consistently.
• I'd like to blog more consistently, too.  I learned that I don't have it in me to be a daily blogger, and I'm ok with that.  However, I do enjoy it, and I find it prompts me to get more crafting and home improvement type stuff done, so I definitely want to blog MORE this year, too.
• Finally, and probably most importantly, I want to focus more on my faith this year.  I have a deep and abiding faith in God, but in a lot of ways, I'm still a baby in my faith.  There is so much I don't know, and so much of my bible I haven't read.  I started a weekly bible study last year, and that has greatly increased my knowledge of, and my hunger for God's word.  This year I want to continue with my bible study, but also carve out a consistent time each day to focus on my faith for prayer and study.  I've always been one to send up a quick prayer throughout the day, but never have I set aside a daily time for strengthening my relationship with God.  That is important to me, and I want to spend MORE time learning and praying.

I know that all the goal setting gurus say you must set specific goals to make them achievable, and I know that what I've written above wouldn't qualify as specific goals.  But that's ok with me.  I think the point of choosing a word is to set your focus on something.  I'm not intending for it to be something measurable, simply something to guide me through this coming year.  Anybody else choosing a word to guide them through 2012?  If you are interested in seeing some other words for 2012, I'm linking to: