my 'HOPE'

This may bore many of you :) but my blog (as I have said before) is a journal for myself and my family :)
Ok, so we are two weeks in to the New Year and I am finally posting my 'hope' for the New Year. I hate to call it a resolution, because I am the type of person that if I 'have' to do something, I won't...
Anyway, I am excited for this year and as I pause and reflect on 2008 this is a bit of what I learned. I lived through two amazing and life changing experiences ... one was the power of forgiveness. There were days that I would wake up angry and hateful and it reflected my whole world. I finally decided that it was no way to live. Here are a few things that helped (and continue to help) me through those times:
"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." - Paul Boese
"The Spirit must be freed from tethers so strong and feelings never put to rest, so that the lift of life may give buoyancy to the soul. In many families, there are hurt feelings and a reluctance to forgive. It doesn't really matter what the issue was. It cannot and should not be left to injure. Blame keeps the wounds open. Only forgiveness heals." - Pres. Thomas S. Monson
"Most of us can forgive and forget; we just don't want the other person to forget that we forgave." - unknown
The other is my LDS Temple experience and the place it has taken me!
Here is what I 'hope' to change for this coming year and more so, for the rest of my life.
I have always said that I don't want to live my life with regret... well I have a few...I try not to let myself get hung up on them, but rather just know I was young and dumb :) and that my kids will NEVER get away with anything :) I pray they don't try! I am excited for this year for many reasons, but first and foremost that my spirituality will continue to grow. I am in such a wonderful place and I wonder how I ever thought that I could live my life without a higher power... I don't get through one day without Him now.
I 'hope' to be a better wife and mother- serving my husband and kids and having more patience.
I would love to quit eating sugar and stop drinking Diet Coke, but that probably won't happen :) maybe in 2010...
I want to be a happy, serving, successful person. I hope to inspire and love everyone around me! I hope to see others in need and help them like SO many have done for me and my family!
I love you all and I hope and pray that 2009 will be a WONDERFUL year for all of us!