Happy 2015: Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New

Howdy, friends! I took an unplanned but much needed hiatus from blogging this past week. I hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Years Eve celebration. My family and I had a most excellent adventure visiting and celebrating with my parents who are currently serving as missionaries in northern California. It was the first time [since our honeymoon] we have ever spent Christmas anywhere other than home, and it was actually lovely. The weather was mostly sunny and consistently warm and I was able to take long nature walks every morning with Dad & Mr. Mo which is my kind of heaven! I quickly discovered I do not actually need a “White Christmas” to have a blissful Christmas.

With that in mind, I have duly lobbied for a Caribbean Cruise next Christmas. 😉

Or, better yet, if all the stars align correctly, Mr. Mo and I might actually be in Spain checking off the top of our bucket-list walking a 500-mile pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. [oooh! Will 2015 be our lucky Camino year?! Only time will tell!]

We survived the long drive back to Utah across cold, boring Nevada, and returned to snowy, frigid Utah where we have been “enjoying” [insert sarcastic voice] subzero temperatures and inversion ever since. (yes, I am missing California weather, but no I am NOT missing driving in California traffic! How do you Cali people live like that?!?)

Ring Out 2014- Let It Go…

It was a rough one for our family filled with trials, illness, hospital, stress, and some very agonizing challenges. I’m ready to see all that go. Of course there were a lot of amazing things that happened, too. Those are the things I’d like to remember most – all the miracles, the music, the choir, the friendship & kindness, being a part of the World’s Largest Living Nativity, performing with Santino Fontana (twice!) and the Sesame Street Muppets (you’ll all get to see it on PBS next year – here’s a sneak peek!), and running at least 1 long-distance race per month with Mr. Mo + other family & friends:

Our 2014 Race Totals

Six 5K Races

Three 10K Races

FIVE HALF MARATHONS!

And, of course spending time with Mom & Dad in California (the cherry on top!).

I give thanks for all the Blessings of  2014!

Ring In 2015…

… with a bang.

Note: The annual MoSop family tradition of banging pots and pans on our front porch at midnight of the New Year went a little awry this time around. Just for the record, it was negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit outside, which as you can clearly see froze the door shut! We were simply too wimpy to actually go OUTSIDE to finish banging and shouting. Oh well, we tried – let’s call it good!

New beginnings are always exciting! We have each been given a new chapter of life, with fresh, clean pages to write our story on! A New Year offers the chance to make plans, set goals, and create “Resolutions” to improve our circumstances, and change ourselves for the better.

I love this beautiful New Year advice from Elder Holland:

“So, as a new year starts and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been.

The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes.

And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future.”

– Jeffrey R. Holland, The Best is Yet To Be

 

 Enjoy this music video from Colette Butler (of the famous ShayTards) joined by her sisters Callie & Devri singing “Ring Out Wild Bells” – featured on the new Crofts Family album: Sparrow In The Birch!

 

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According to WordPress.com stats, this little blog was viewed about 110,000 times in 2014! Woot! Thank you so much for being a part of the love. Here’s to an even BIGGER and BETTER 2015!

What are YOUR New Year Resolutions?