No Regrets

It is very popular at the beginning of a new year to become reflective, to think about what is working in your life, and more importantly, what is not.  I have been reading lots of blog posts about that very thing.


And I am no different.  I am not a real "deep thinker" {anyone remember that from SNL?}  but I do like to give some thought to what is working and what is not a couple of times a year.


One thing I know for sure, as you get older, or more "mature", you place less and less value on things and more and more on relationships.  Now, don't get me wrong, I still love a nice home, and don't want to drive a wreck, but for the first time in forever I didn't go shopping the day after Christmas and I think that signals a change somewhere down deep.


I have a lot of stuff.  I spend a lot of time taking care of that stuff.  And I am tired of doing that.


I am not giving away all of my stuff tomorrow, I am not going totally off the deep end, BUT, I think, by my lack of after Christmas shopping and by not one visit to TJM*XX during the holiday "decorating" season that a fundamental shift might be starting to take place.  That's a good thing!


The old organizing rules are true, if you haven't used it in a year, you probably won't.  I have stuff I haven't used in YEARS and it is making its way to a new home.  {Although, I was a big girl and got rid of all of my videos and guess what ~ the thrift store doesn't want them!  Guess I kept them a little too long! :-)}


We are going to make a few changes to our home this year.  I am not totally going to stop spending.  We are making some improvements that won't increase the value of our house, but they will increase the value of our home.  We have decided that is important.  We make a lot of memories here.


My husband is quickly approaching retirement {early} and that has caused us to think about all aspects of our lives.  We made the decision in 2007 to move to Texas, where both of our children live, but where our life "wasn't".  We didn't have friends in Texas, and I actually had a job in Kansas that I loved and was a perfect fit for me.  We loved our church, and our small group.  We had a few really good friends.  It's hard to start over when you are kind of OLD!  But, our family comes first, and when those grandchildren started coming, we knew we wanted to be a part of their lives.  I want them to have memories and more memories of grandma and grandpa really being a part of their lives.  So we uprooted ours to be a part of theirs.  


Now I know we are fortunate that both of our children live in the same general area.  But it wouldn't matter.  If they lived across the country from each other, we would live by ONE of them.  { We would pick the one in the best location, read warmest, for us}  For now, it is Texas.  And that's okay.  And that, to get to my point, in the longest way possible, is the reason my post is called No Regrets.


I regret that my kitchen counter cannot stay cleared off.
I regret that I cannot seem to discipline myself to lose weight.
I regret that my treadmill days are hit and miss.  {SEE #2}
I regret the bunch of junk in my garage.


But, in reality, I have no regrets, I have chosen to be close to my family and the rest will take care of itself.  I read a post by Kat at Just a BeachKat  and she blogs about the very same thing.  People are what's important, and making memories with them.


God has been good to me, and I am thankful, for :


The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
               Lamentations 3:22-23


2011 was a great year for our family.  Here's to another year of making memories!  {and maybe keeping my counter clear:-)}