Shalee’s Diner

So, it’s 2013.

Doesn’t that sound just a little weird?

2013… I’m in the first full week of the year and I haven’t written 2012 once!  (yet)

The really neat thing about a new year is that there is this idea that you can start over with anything.

• new diet
• new look
• new goals
• new resolutions

It’s a new beginning.  A new page.  A new start to rip off the old page of last year and to start with a clean sheet, trying to make this new year full of different scribble from life.

This new year can be anything that I want it to be, as full as I allow it to be, as exciting as I let it be.

There are oodles of “news” that I want to pursue this year!

Be New Blessing

Last year, I didn’t serve in the same vein as the year before.  I’d like to fall into a routine of volunteering, be it at FMSC or with another organization that needs the hands and feet of Christ.  One of the things I love is that my work encourages volunteering and even allots time for it to be done!  Surely if a secular company can find a way to allow its employees to serve others, then I as a member of Christ can see needs are met with my own two hands.

Have New Adventures

I want to see more of the unknown!  I’d love to travel more, even if it’s just in the surrounding areas.  I still want to drive up north to see the Northern Lights.  I want to camp for the first time this year.  I want to visit Mt. Rushmore and see the buffalo roam.  Disney World!  Oh, how I want to take the family there, especially before The Girl is out and gone.  There’s so much to see that I leave unseen.  This is the year to cross off some of that bucket list.

Find New Learning

There are so many classes I’d like to take or activities I’d like to experience.  I can sign some, but not really well.  I’d like to take a class to learn more so that I can be useful at some time with the deaf.  I’d like to take a cake decorating class or a French cooking class, just to add more to my repertoire.  I’d like to find outlets for my creativity, which, albeit, is minimal compared to others, but it’s mine and I like the idea of putting it to use, even if its not any good.

Have New Fun

Dancing, picnicking, ice skating, playing with a child, happy hours, holding a friend’s hand, talking, girls’ night out, hiking, game nights with neighbors, meeting new people and developing friendships with them… these and much more appeal to me on so many levels.  I don’t want to be a fuddy-duddy grownup.  I want to be the girl that people want around because I enjoy the offerings before me, without reservations or embarrassment of who I am.

Gain New Experiences

This year, there are two activities that I want to pursue:

• I want to run a 5 K, not come in first, mind you, but at least finish.  I can see myself doing it, so I know that it’s a viable task (unlike hiking the  Appalachian Trail).
• I want to audition for a community play, preferably a comedy musical.  Why a musical?  Because if by some odd chance I am cast as something, it will challenge me so much more than a play.  Singing and dancing will be harder for me than memorizing lines and where to stand.  The comedy part is just because I like making others laugh.  :)

Find New Books

I’m always looking for new (to me) books!  I don’t care what year they were written.  The idea is to find a story that you love so much that you say, “I loved that story and characters and the way it was written and the way it made me feel after reading it!  That’s my favorite book!” (when you know perfectly well that there are numerous others that stake that claim in your heart already.)  If you have any to suggest, I’m aaaaaaaaall ears.

Create New Recipes

There’s something about entering the kitchen with a determination to create something out of a bunch of separate nothings.  If I have to be honest, since my desire to be a chemical engineer feel to the wayside, I consider my kitchen my lab, a place to create explosions and smoking hot entrée… only these reactions are to be found on the taste buds in mouths.  (The explosions and smoking times that happen in real life?  Well, we just consider those experiments on what not to do in the future.)  And the joy of using my kitchen as my lab?  I still get to play with flames on purpose!!  Now I need a torch for some new adventures.  Crème brûlée, anyone?

Express New Reasons To Be Thankful

This year, I choose to purposely seek out ways to be thankful.

• For the person who serves up a meal at the counter
• For the stranger who holds a door for me
• For the fellow bus rider who I see every workday and smiles when I offer a morning salutation
• For the coworker who, though may drive me crazy for behavior, contributes to the team
• For the cup of tea that I drink to warm my hands
• For the work on my plate
• For the opportunities to expand my knowledge by fixing things around the house
• For the person who speaks directly to my heart (with or without their knowing it)
• For times that The Girl and/or The Boy want to be near me
• For the ways that Mr. Right takes care of us
• For the many splendors that I encounter each and every day
• For the chance to increase this list in the coming year

Show New Ways To Love

“I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.” 
- Audrey Hepburn

I love that quote.  It speaks to some innate desire that lives deep within the chambers of my heart.  I need to love and to be loved.  I pray that I will find new ways to give the gift of love.  I hope that I don’t keep this blessing locked inside, but rather that I will allow myself the freedom to release it and let it fall on the heart of others.  I still occasionally struggle with the letting myself be loved bit, but I find more and more joy in allowing myself to be enveloped in love.

See, I have all sorts of NEWs to experience.

And this is just the year for it.