Fun Christmas Pictures from this year - the above is with Santa (obviously) and this one is us with the BABY frames we gave to tell our parents, sisters and brother in laws last year on Christmas when we announced we were pregnant. They have my original due date on them as well. No, it does not mean I'm pregnant again...

I remember when I was a teenager my dad telling me that as you age, your life goes by faster. That's hard to understand when you're a freshman in high school praying that you can fit in.
It seems like as soon as I got pregnant and started measuring time in weeks ("I'm 22 weeks") that my life suddenly hopped onto the fast forward button and it hasn't slowed back down. Now I'm measuring life in months ("she's 4 1/2 months") and every time I blink, we're in a new month. I've decided that my dad definitely knew what he was talking about way back then (I'm sure he'd love to know I'm admitting he said something wise and true), but it doesn't always make it easy.
I could post about how wonderful Gabbie's Christmas was, but I mean come on - will I ever really say it wasn't good? It was fabulous. She got WAY too many toys. If that's even possible at 4 months old. So now Brent and I get to decide what we're going to do about it. If you've ever been to my house you know I cannot stand clutter. My friend Kelly is amazed when we have yet another yard sale - it's truly because I don't like opening closets and having a bunch of stuff. (By the way, all of our pictures from Christmas and New Years are in an album on the right instead of in this posting)
Dear Lord, please help me figure out how to cope with the clutter that is about to come known as toys. YIKES
What a thing to complain about though, right?
(side note: if you gave Gabbie a toy for Christmas, please know we are SOOOO grateful and appreciative. And no, it will not end up in a yard sale....this year at least - just kidding)
Quick rundown of our Christmas events:
big Christmas party at our house with the UTC clan, Tre and Brittany spent a few days with me, then we were in Chattanooga for Christmas: Joel & Judy's one night, my grandparents the next, then Christmas day with my parents; I visited my friends Gena and Chad in Knoxville to meet Ariana for the first time, got to see Stephanie and Loni who came in from San Francisco, came back home to Nashville where my sister, brother in law, niece and nephews came in on New Year's Eve - we all celebrated together and hung out on NY Day, then the next day we drove to Birmingham to have Christmas with one side of the Whitakers, then drove to Hartselle the next day to have it with the other side of the Whitakers...whew...now we're home for a few days and we're not going ANYWHERE in the month of January. It's been crazy to say the least. But through it all, I still have the best little traveler EVER!!

We have been reflecting on 2009 and all that was accomplished, goals we achieved, some we just missed, and others that we'll return to for 2010. Instead of fretting over those goals we didn't achieve in 2009, we've decided to revisit them for 2010 and know that if you meet all your goals, maybe you're not pushing yourself enough to do things greater and bigger.

Brent and I have been working on our goals for 2010. We have a lot of exciting things in store and have asked God to lead us and guide us in our planning. I read great perspective on goal planning the other day: instead of making plans and asking God to bless them, seek first HIS plans for your life and ask for the direction and guidance you need to achieve those goals.

And while I didn't mean for this to turn into a motivation about goal planning, I would love to encourage you to sit down with your spouse (or even if you don't have a spouse, do it by yourself and find someone to hold you accountable) and make goals for this year. Just don't confuse them with resolutions. And because Brent and I are nerds, we actually have all our goals from every year that we've been married. We're able to go back and see how much our goals have changed from each year.
I will admit that it's not always as easy for me as it is for Brent. He always seems like it comes naturally for him, but for me, it takes time. That doesn't mean we don't do it. He sets his, I set mine, then we come together share our individual goals and determine goals we want to accomplish together, as a couple. Maybe it sounds cheesy to some of you, but look at it this way: if you don't have a road map, how will you ever know where you're going? (maybe we should think "if you don't have a GPS system...")
Instead of wandering through life looking for purpose and direction, use the month of January every year to decide where you want your life to go.