A New Year of Moondreams

          A new year always calls for reflection, goal setting, and new moondreams to be the best wife, sister, daughter, teacher, and friend in 2011.

          2010 was a busy year for me and William.  I had many enchanting months of weddings for best friends, including my sister and Tony.  I spent weekends with girlfriends, family, and my hubby in Big Canoe, Land's End, Charleston, Nashville, Knoxville, Asheville, and DC.  We celebrated William’s 30th birthday in The Bahamas.  My teaching career ventured on a new path, in August, when I began teaching gifted kids.  New friendships formed, and old ones deepened.  Loved ones were lost, and new life was born.  Finn joined our family and has been nothing less than a remarkable companion for the two of us and a lot of fun.  Our marriage continues to grow into so much more than I could have ever imagined.  The 365 days of 2010 leave lasting memories of travel, friendships, change, and celebrations of life and love.

          My moondreams, for 2011, bring desires for tranquility, contentment, and a slower pace of life.  Resolutions to become lost in many more novels, to be bold enough to create and try more in the kitchen (and of course to share them here), to sometimes put aside the 40 minute interval run on the treadmill for a peaceful walk on the canal or around historic Beaufort, to spend more time talking with God and much more time listening to Him, to do less planning and more trusting, to enjoy quiet evenings on the deck (or boat – his dream for 2011) with William, to chat more with old friends, to stop running errands all afternoon and instead write my novel all afternoon, to put aside my to-do list to volunteer and help someone else, to bask in the marvel of the outdoors, and to constantly count my blessings are all on the forefront for 2011.  I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s really about simplifying.  I began this blog, and wrote in my very first post, that I sought to “taste and linger a little longer in the simple blessings of this beautiful life.”  My prayer for 2011 is for that moondream to come alive more in my life.  I plan to spend this year content in the small things, thankful for the little blessings, savoring precious moments with family and friends, and slow enough to enjoy the passing time.