My One Little Word & Pictures From Our Minnesota Trip

Ali Edwards encourages her readers to choose One Little Word for the year.  The idea is to have that word drive you, encourage you, or call you to action...whatever you want it to do. You choose the word and there is no right or wrong here. Will you join me and choose a little word for 2013?
 I have goals and dreams that I am trying to achieve in 2013 {I wrote about them HERE & HERE}, so I was trying to think of a word that went along with them or would help me stay focused to achieve them...a word that described a character trait that I wanted to develop and a word that would also motivate me. Sometimes words don't come to me when I want them to, but this one did: consistency. I want to strive forward consistently towards my goals. I tend to give up too easily. I need to create good habits and live by them. I can do this, friends!
I decided to go further than just picking out a word. I have taken some time to write out my goals for several different areas of my life, and Jeff and I will be sitting down every week to draw out a game plan for taking action that next week, checking our progress from the week before, and making any needed adjustments. 
A great book to read on game planning and getting things done is The Twelve Week Year by Brian Moran {it's also a quick & easy read!}. In addition to writing the 20 Questions for Reflecting on 2012 that I answered in THIS post, The Simple Mom also wrote a post called New Year, New Goals that has downloadable goal-setting questions for you. I am also ordering a necklace with "consistency" etched on it. I'm so excited to have a daily reminder of my word with me all the time. And I love a good excuse to buy something I already want...don't tell Jeff! {Wink}
All of this really ties right back into my upcoming God-Sized Dreams series. I'll be starting the series on Tuesday, so please come back and take this exciting journey with me! 
Here are some pictures from our trip to see my family up in Minnesota. 

Sisters + their favorite brother-in-law :)

 This little planter might have been my first DIY project ever. Oh the memories...

My little brother stealing the show.

Charlie is one spoiled puppy.

He even had gifts under the tree.

Despite the snow, life goes on in Minnesota...very unlike Oklahoma. Oklahoma's snow-clearing action plan is this: wait for it to melt. 

My family loves a good cup of coffee...all ten of us {I've mentioned I'm from a large family, right?}. My sister, Stephanie, is a bonafide barista and I may have slightly taken advantage of that knowledge. 

And in between cups of coffee I would run outside to snap a few pictures with my new Nikon. Jeffrey completely surprised me with it at Christmas {he wrote rhyming clues that led me on a scavenger hunt through the whole house...how cute is that?}. I was beyond surprised.

And we managed to get us all in one picture right before we returned home. It was a wonderful week of family time. We hated leaving, knowing that we might not all be together again for another long year. 
Be sure to subscribe via email so you won't miss a post in 2013! It's easy & free, of course! So, why not?

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

{connect with Emily here}