Welcome 2012~
I wish I could feel the clean slate feeling of a new year, but I don’t. Usually this time each year, I love to join in with so many and pick the “one little word” to stick to all year as a resolution to motivate me through the year. To be completely honest, my gut reaction would be to pick a word like: SURVIVE, because I know this is going to be a tough year. I know that seems so dire, but it’s how I feel right now.
If there is any one thing from the many life lessons that we learned from the short life of our little Afton, it would be service. So if I can think outside of myself and the giant cloud I have been living in, I would pick a word like: SERVICE.
So many have served us in one way or another over the last two months, and I want to pay it forward.
I love this quote by Marjorie Pay Hinkley:
I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden.
I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”
― Marjorie Pay Hinckley
Another thing I want to focus on this year is documenting the everyday of our little family, and I’m excited to do it with a Project Life kit from Becky Higgins. I’ll be using the Clementine kit, and I’ll be sharing the pages here to keep me accountable. 
So survive – service – and document life…those along with my standard lose weight are my goals for 2012.
What are you focusing on in 2012?
I have never heard that quote and I love it. Beautiful! Too many goals to account for here. Think I need to get my thoughts together and put together a post. I, of course, want to lose weight. Who doesn’t?
Beautiful quote and certainly one we can all live by. I’ve really picked one word but this may be the year. Just before Christmas I was blindly thrown into a situation that I never saw coming. It was filled with judgement. As a result, my word would be Judgement ~ actually, it would be Non-Judgement.
I’ve heard of this project before from a few other bloggers. I can’t wait to see how yours turns out.
Happy New Year ~
Jo
I am so sorry you are feeling the way you do, but certainly don’t blame you. When I get my email with your blog notification, it’s the first one I read. It’s got to be so tough and I am sorry.
For me, my word this year is proactive – and as I type this I think of the skin care product but of course that is not it. I am the youngest of five, a late-in-life baby with a almost 95-year-old mother. The only child with kids at home. My mom has been in and out of the hospital many times this fall and it has been very stressful for me. She actually is pretty good, living in a senior apartment at this point. I am the one that has ended taking charge of all of her medical care. She is doing well at this point but with my “proactive” approach, I hope to keep a watchful eye on her and will be able to catch any medical issues before they require a trip to the ER.
So far the proactive approach has saved me two possible trips to the ER this year.
Take care, my prayers are with you and your family.
I don’t know you, but I am a Mother and about to be a Grandmother…..My heart aches for you…So for today I hope you can feel the Prayers being said for you and your family…..My Pastor’s Wife tells me that fruit is made in the valley and I am in the valley right now as well…..I just have to keep reminding myself daily that God is in Control and something good is gonna come out of the circumstances I am in….I think as Christians we have to Believe because we have Faith….
Anyhoo……Many Prayers to You Sweet Lady….May God heal your wounded heart and let you Survive in your own time and Serve so that you too will be helpful to others!!
I am going to be fierce this year. I am going to be the woman I have always wanted to be.
That has been a very motivating quote for me over the years – I love being around women who live that way, don’t you? I hope you and your family DO survive this year – I’m sure it feels so hard to move forward with the new year. Love always, sher (I don’t know what the project is you’re talking about but my goal last year was to get our pictures in albums – I did get started, but needless to say I have the same goal this year….I have 12 years worth of work to do!)
That quote is so amazing, I mean beautiful and true, I share the intention and hope I can live that way as much as possible…I wish you lots of courage, you are so brave but you’re facing such hardship. Big virtual hug from here!
I am doing Project Life as well – the turquoise kit.
I cannot imagine going through what you went last year, but I know grace and spirit will guide you this year as well.
I am so glad you are sharing your grief, and your heart with us – your words touch my heart and I send you blessings for you and your family when I read your words and see your pictures.
My theme for 2012 is tenderness and vulerability – blog http://lifeacousticandamplified.wordpress.com/
I think “survive” is a perfectly acceptable goal for right now. Just one foot in front of the other Kami, it will get a little easier to do it as time goes on, I promise.
Kami, you are on my mind constantly. The end of 2011 was the worst! I so wish things could be different for us both. For now, some days are “survive” days and that is okay. I went with simple and decided that my goal would be to improve my posture this year (I got the idea from Carina). I don’t think I can do much more than that on top of everything else I have to manage to stay afloat. I sure love you.
Oh Kami. I just love you. My word was “survive” a couple of years ago and some years it just has to be that way. Thanks for sharing that quote – what a gem. And I’m thrilled you are doing Project Life this year!! I think you will love it!
Survive is probably the word that you need to pick. Or maybe it is grieve. You need to give yourself permission and time to grieve the loss of your sweet baby girl. God understands grief and He wants to walk with you through yours. I’ll be praying for you!
I absolutely love that quote from her. Whenever I lose sight of what’s important this quote always beings me back. Survive and Service are both excellent words. “Surviving” being a most appropriate word for your and your family. I wish you well in the coming year and that you take the time to grieve. “Service” was my word last year. I haven’t picked one for this year… yet. I am, however, going to do the Happiness Project this year. Happy New Year to you!!
Hey Kami,
You have been on my mind so much lately! I miss you.
I’m doing Project Life this year, too…clementine version. I haven’t scrapbooked for literally 6 years and I’m so excited to hop on board with this simple way to store photos and journal.
Your words of the year are inspiring…so are you!
Bless your little heart in 2012.
I love that quote from Sister Hinckley. Thank you for sharing! Coming to your blog daily inspires me! Thank you Kami!!!
Love you Kam! I am totally crying after reading that quote, it’s just what I needed! That’s all that’s important in this life. I think you are right on track with your goals, now I need to re-evaluate mine
I’m so glad we got to go out last week, I loved talking to you!
That quote from Marjorie Pay Hinkley hit me hard a few months ago. I’m such a perfectionist- and it made me step back and look at what I spend my time doing. Cleaning, shopping, dressing, keeping up appearances. I’ve decided I’m done with all that. If someone comes in my house and thinks “what a mess”… Well, whatever. I’ve been having fun with me kids, living life, and that’s more important than having the floors sanitized. Bring it!
You continue to teach and inspire me. Love you very much.
Survive ended up being my word for last year, not by choice, but by default after everything our family went through. And as a result of our trials and those that reached out and helped us, I found the desire to serve others as well. Funny how our trials shape us. I hope 2012 is good to you.
I was following some of your blog links to past blogs and I laughed when I saw the one about Rukkus playing peek-a-boo. That one is so funny. Also, I was looking at your 33 birthday things and I was surprised that you wanted a white kitchen. And Shauna said it was her dream kitchen. I wonder how come I never knew that and I wanted one too. Great minds…
Becky McD. says “Have a Better New Year” to people. I like that.
Oh Kami – I think survive is a perfectly acceptable word. Give yourself time… because I can imagine it is going to take a whole lot of it before you feel on your feet at all again. Your world has been turned upside down and will never be the same. For that, you have every right to feel like you are in basic survival mode, and that’s fine. Completely and totally fine.
Much love to you!
I just want to give you a big hug!
What a beautiful quote! My word feels a bit self-centered, but I can’t seem to shake it: Finish. Finish my degree (sigh, it’s taking forever), finish all the open projects around the house, finish the half-weeded back yard. I wish I could choose a nobler word, such as service, but my mind keeps looping back to Finish. Guess I have to get my life in order!
Hi Kami, I don’t think there is any right or wrong to how you feel. If your word is survive then let it be survive. I think you are amazing and so, sooo inspiring. I really want to do Project Life this year too. So, I’ll be checking in to see what ya got!
I think everyone is doing Project Life this year!!! I’ve read a few posts and have one coming up too. Can’t wait to see your layouts! Bye for now…sending lots of hugs and prayers.
Kami,
Great quote from a great lady. My word this year is GROWTH.
Maureen
Kami – I love that quote and have heard or read it before. What a humble way to be. I understand your thoughts of service and survive. I think I posted before after your precious darling daughter passed away – but I quick wanted to share an experience I had while grieving after my husband passed away. He was killed in a car accident in front of me. We had done a tree for him at the Festival of Trees right after he died..we had done a few before, but this was different. I had some very spiritual experiences as we did it. But one day when I was feeling really blue and was struggling to get past the grief and sadness I felt that day – I remembered how I had felt when doing that tree. It was an amazing feeling. I soon learned that if I would get outside of myself and do something nice for someone else – when I felt the least like doing that – when I was grieving the most – it would help me through my tough moments and my grief. I had another day at work when I felt horrible and was struggling just to be alive that day – and I had this thought come to my mind “You must not have done enough for someone else today. You’d better go find someone to do something for.’ Service is awesome in itself….but it was a miracle for me during my hardest and toughest times.
I set goals whenever I feel like I need to. This year though – I’m not doing it because it is a new year – I have been pondering and thinking of what I want to do – just because I want to better myself…service and charity have been at the top of my list for a while. I want to find others that I can serve…and I want to do more of that this year. I want to become closer to my Savior and that will help me do that.
HUGS to you!!!! Remember to – that you never get over something like you are going through – you just learn to deal with it. I came to the conclusion that it isn’t time that heals – it’s what we do with that time that heals.
Kami, thank you for sharing Afton’s beautiful life and story with us. I hope you can feel the love that so many people including myself have for you and your family. You are an amazing woman and I’ll pray for you to heal and have the strength to press forward during this time in your life. ~Nadia