A new year.

I'm not exactly sure where this post is going except that my heart feels so alive and fresh with the grace of a new beginning as the calendar flipped to 2012. I want so much from this year that I can't possibly fit it into resolutions.

Today was my first day of my last semester of nursing school. I was handed a full list of to-do's, a bulging schedule, and OB and trauma clinicals that I cannot wait for. I want this semester to really count. It's going to be intense, but I want to remember that while I am still a student, I am also some patient's nurse. I can't forget that. I'm not just "playing nurse"; I'm doing it.

I know this sounds cliché, but I want so badly to keep the most important things the most important things.
Less whining.
Less Pinterest: filling my mind and my computer screen with so many material things that I cannot should not have.
Less stressing out about not having perfect grades, a perfect bank account, a perfect cooking schedule, a perfect attitude... you get the idea.

More prayer: not just the "I need you to come through for me on this test, God" kind of prayer. The "I need you every moment of every day because life without you is meaningless and impossible" kind of prayer.
More breakfasts in bed (i.e. our New Years' Eve tradition above). More quality time with Shawn when we turn off our cell phones and computers and go grab coffee.
More passion for the things that really matter... the orphans and widows that are so close to God's heart, and the lavish giving of ourselves that we are called to as God's children. I feel a burning desire in my heart for these things, and I know they come straight from the Lord.

So 2012, I'm ready for you.
I can't wait to see what you have in store.