[big snow]

Wow. We are getting clobbered with snow here in NW Michigan! We can take it though. We're tough. Speaking of tough... I have a pot roast in the crock pot, which is, in my opinion, the easiest way to make pot roast. When my husband and I were first married I tried making it in the oven. After a couple hours, it still wasn't done, so my husband tried rescuing it on the Foreman grill. Obviously not a good move since everyone (but us!) knows you don't grill pot roast. It's 8 1/2 years later and although we're still no culinary geniuses, we've come a long way.

Something else that keeps me warm: beautiful jewelry! Enter a giveaway for a $50 gift card at Lisa Leonard's blog: http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/blog/2011/01/22/a-little-giveaway-and-coupon/
I love Lisa's designs!

Here are a couple snow shots of our front steps and looking out the front door. Beautiful stuff!




[the big question]

I'm so glad my word of the year is "courage." I have chanted that word a lot so far this month, often with my mind leaping ahead to the question: "What's the worst that can happen?" Doesn't everyone ask themselves that question? It's funny how my worst-case scenario imaginings often lead to me being mortally embarrassed. But lucky for me, that's usually the worst that can happen. I have a strong optimistic streak, what can I say?

[courage]

Happy new year! Everyone is posting about resolutions, from lists, to daily reveals, to a single word. I like the single-word approach... So here's mine: courage. This year is going to bring a lot of change to our family, change that will take courage, hard work, faith, business sense, a ton of creativity and more hard work. We couldn't be more excited, but we really need to be heavy on the courage part.

I resolve to start blogging regularly too. I love to write, I love to read other blogs, but to be honest, I am a bit nervous about the family reveal-type of blogging. I am pretty protective of my family, and although I so enjoy and appreciate reading the honest, funny, sometimes sad, always inspiring stories from other talented bloggers, I struggle with putting that all out there myself. Anyone who knows me would not be surprised. Courage, though! We will see where this leads!

Here's to a delightful (and courageous!) 2011!!!