2013 Is Here!

2013 is here and that means it's time to set new goals and see how quickly I forget them. ;P

Last year was a good and stressful year. Jacob was born in April and we moved to our new place in August. We saw a lot of family this year. Both sides came in the spring or summer to see Jacob and then we visited everyone for the holidays.

I'm looking forward to this year in hopes that it will be a quieter and more peaceful kind of year. I know that the world and our country is in some turmoil right now, and it doesn't look like it will get that much better this year, but if I can keep my home and family in a happy place then all is well.

So how am I going to do that? Well I've got 6 things I want to accomplish this year. Some are just for me and some are for my family as a whole, and I really believe I can do it this year. And here they are:

Kricket's 2013 Resolutions

1. Begin getting out of debt. We're finally in a place this year were we can start saving and getting rid of these credit cards and student loans hanging over our heads. I'm really excited about this.
2. Create a more structured routine. It's hard to stick to a schedule with kids, especially with a baby, but everyone needs structure and I want to create more of that this year. No more living my days by the seat of my pants, it's too easy to be lazy that way.
3. Potty train Will. I hope to start that in the next couple weeks. I really want to get Will into preschool this fall and he'll need to be potty trained before that. He's ready, I'm almost ready, Let's Do This!
4. Go to the temple once a month. Daniel and I have been slacking on this. Having small children is a great excuse not to go as often as we should, but no more! We will schedule this and find someone to watch the kids and all will be well.
5. Finish first draft of Dragons in Space. I'll talk more about this in my writing blog tomorrow.
6. Read at least 25 books. I've never kept track of how many books I read but I really should. I figured 25 was a good number to start with. I'll probably read more. I've got three books right now I want to read, just having a hard time deciding which to read first.

And that's it folks! Finances, home life, kids, spirituality, writing, reading, I think I covered all the basics of my life. :)

So what are some of your goals for this new year? Tell me in the comments, this blog isn't just about me you know (okay, stop looking so shocked).

Happy New Year and have a good week!

My Sister's Keeper

So I finished reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult the other day and it is quite possibly the saddest book I've ever read. I'd been reading it mostly at work because the book actually belongs to one of my co-workers. I picked it up about a week ago and started reading the first couple pages to just see what it was about; and then I got hooked.

I've never read Jodi Picoult before, but if all her books are as good as this one, then I think I’ll be reading more of her. She's a master of first person and really getting into a characters mind. This makes it really easy to care about the characters and fall in love, or hate, them.

For instance, I can't stand the mother in this book. I just want to choke her and ram her head into a wall. She is so dead set on saving one daughter that she completely forgets about the other. For those of you who haven't read the book or seen the movie, the basic plot of the story is that there is one sister who has leukemia and one sister who has been donating her blood and bone marrow to the sick one since she was born. Now the sister who isn't sick is suing her parents so that she doesn't have to donate anymore, thus sentencing her sick sister to death. Twisted but really good at the same time.

Anyway, it's a super sad story. I finished it here at work and I had to work really hard to not cry at the end. Now I want to go and see the movie and I'm sure it's going to be a sob-fest.