I’d like to start with a thanks to my cousin, Nancy, who reminded me that I have a blog on this day when I actually have time to work on it!

So far the year 2020 has been lots of fun, and a little bit of drama. The drama has basically all come from me and my pregnant self. If anybody has any tips on how to take care of one’s own seemingly ultra-elevated needs while simultaneously taking care of that family you are working so hard to grow, PLEASE let me know! Josh and I are working on solutions to my weekly melt-downs, but we would love suggestions!

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Anyway, other than pregnancy, 2020 is already shaping up to be a great year. I decided on a theme-verb for the year which I am super excited about! Here is some background on my choice:

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On the drive up to the women’s session of October general conference, Kathryn and I listened to a podcast she had found. The title of the podcast was “Elegant Weight Loss.” I do hope to lose a significant amount of weight starting in April, this year 😉 ; but that isn’t the inspiration for my word. She described a principle that really rang true for me. She suggested picturing, in detail, the person you hope to be. The future you. Then think of the habits that person has. –For her, she thought about a slimmer person whose habits included thinking about food only when she was hungry/at meal time.– Then you do your best to practice those habits. And if you mess up, it’s fine. You’re just practicing. She made the analogy of potty-training a puppy. You get a puppy who is not house trained. But there is NO way you are just going to let that dog continue to do her business wherever she pleases. You practice taking her outside. You take her out after meals or naps. You take her out if it’s been a long time. You take her out when she has an accident in the house. No matter how many times that dog has an accident in the house, you keep taking her outside, giving her the command to go, over and over again, until she gets it right. If she has an accident, it doesn’t mean she’s a terrible dog and you should get rid of her immediately or give up. No! You just keep practicing with her until she finally gets it right. And she does! I had my serious doubts about Charlotte actually becoming house-trained. But she is! We made it! We just kept practicing until she is now a different dog: a house-trained dog!

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So that’s my word: Practice. There are a lot of habits, skills, traits my dream/future self has that my current self doesn’t have. And so my plan this year is to practice the habits of that future, dream-self. If I totally blow it, and go a month without practicing that habit or skill, it doesn’t mean I’m a failure and I should just bag the whole project. No! It means I’m still practicing. And I fully intend to continue practicing basically forever. I like this notion and method of reaching for goals because it is kind of no-pressure. I’m a completely decent, worthy-of-love human being right this minute; but, at the same time, I’m not all the way where I want to be. So I’ll just keep practicing until I reach goal after goal. And I’ll never be done practicing. But it’s okay, because I can also take a break from practicing whenever I want/need.

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I’m very excited to see how Practice helps me be more of who I want to be, and most especially how it helps me access the Savior’s grace a little more this year!

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Also, fun addition to this year’s theme, is a theme song!! If you have seen The Swan Princess, it is the song “Practice” with modified lyrics. Here they are:

Day after day all Elisabeth does is
Practice, Practice Practice!
Trying to be a little more than she was
Practice, Practice, Practice!