Good bye 2011, hello 2012. Welcome to a whole new year! Sounds exciting, right? I hope everyone is ready for a good year.

I’m not one for resolutions but this week I started reading a great book called Simple Parenting and I’ve decided that January will be our month for simplifying. What better way to spend a dark, dreary month, than by cleaning up and cleaning out and preparing for a fresh start! I haven’t mentioned it to Alan yet and the kids are less than excited, but I think everyone will get on board and everyone will feel more at ease and calmer when we are done. Or well underway, as I know the process of simplifying will be an unending project.

I enter this year with mixed emotions. I think it will be a year of changes for us, the four of us here and the extended family as well, but I’ll let them tell that story. Lex and Eve will turn seven and five, both growing up so fast. This new stage of awareness and independence is fun, but I miss the babies terribly. Eve starts Kindergarten this year (not to rush things, I know it’s still eight months away!) and that will begin a new phase of my life. Most likely one involving full-time employment, something I’ve been thinking about (or obsessing about, depending on who you ask) for years. We will also clear our bankruptcy this year, bringing with it a new sense of financial peace and independence.

We start the new year in good health (excluding these nagging coughs that Lex and I can’t seem to kick) and happiness, blessed with stable employment, fully cabinets, and a sturdy roof over our heads. Life is good. Happy New Year!