Promise of a New Year

2019!

This year I will wrap up another decade of my life. Fifty certainly seems old on paper. But my middle-aged dreams and goals feel as fresh as the dreams of my twenty-year-old self. I traveled back to my junior year in college to compare my thoughts. The similarities are uncanny.

1990 Stef: Celebrate 21 with a bang. In Iowa City! A party! Bar crawl! College pals! 21 42 pitchers of beer. (Laura turning 21 too. Yay!).
2019 Stef: Celebrate 50. Maybe.

1990 Stef: Figure out a summer job.
2019 Stef: Figure out a summer job... for Cole.

1990 Stef: Find a cute bikini AND wear as much as possible at the beach.
2019 Stef: Find a swimsuit that doesn't look ridiculous. Wear only on vacation in a location far, far away from here.

1990: Find true love.
2019: Celebrate 25 years of true love.

1990 Stef: Get tan as quickly as possible. Begin in May no matter how chilly.
2019 Stef: Avoid skin cancer. Wear pants.

1990 Stef: Lose five pounds.
2019 Stef: Lose five pounds.

1990 Stef: Scrounge up some money for beer and cookies.
2019 Stef: Limit beer. Limit cookies. Scrounge up some money for Spanx.

1990 Stef: Keep the rock star dream alive.
2019 Stef: Sing loud in car.

1990 Stef: Figure out a prestigious career! Add a major? 
2019 Stef: Get out of my basement office once in a while.

1990 Stef: Be the best person you can be! Study! Exercise! Eat healthy!
2019 Stef: Be a good person. Make a difference in others' lives.

I have always loved the hope that comes with a New Year. While my observations are somewhat facetious and somewhat sincere, there's one thing that never has changed – my desire to become a better person.

My 2019 resolutions are simple, but great: to love with all of my heart and find joy every day. I'm sure I would not have professed anything like that as a twenty-year-old. My 1990 New Year's Resolution was probably something like "Get a new hairstyle! Bigger bangs!" And that's okay. My compass has changed. Thank God. But there's a big part of me that hasn't changed: my hopeful spirit, still burning bright as ever. 

Wishing you all have a wonderful and peaceful 2019!

1990: Fun and Friends.

2019: Fun and Family.

#newyearnewprojects

It's January 5th already! How many of you have forgotten all about those nifty resolutions you created on January 1st as you nursed that champagne-induced headache? 

I have to admit, I’m one of those people who love to make a list and measure my progress. So, yes, New Year's Resolutions are right up my alley. Typically my resolutions are fairly cliché–you know! The kind that involves great transformation of appearance...

• Run a marathon!
• Master yoga!
• Eat celery instead of chips!
• Revamp my wardrobe!
• Publish a book! (to help me buy a new wardrobe)

Sound familiar? Sound kinda vain? Yeah. I thought so too. So this year, I'm trying a different approach. Instead of making my resolutions so "inwardly-focused," I decided to require my resolutions to benefit others. Jesus-ish.

I've got my list started.

I'd love to help out with these cuties!

1. Send meaningful mementos to Alex, my college-aged daughter. She'll appreciate the thoughtfulness of a tangible gift more than a mundane cash transfer. I know! Because she has a great liberal mind who doesn't allow possessions to motivate her. I can't wait to hear how appreciative she'll be when I switch out the cash for something like a candle.
2. Help Cole more diligently with his studies. What teenage boy doesn’t want to spend more time with his mother…learning algebra and science and the mechanics of grammar! It's making me smile just thinking about it.
3. Be more involved in my husband’s farm operation. I'm positive Doug will love my opinions and ideas. Maybe I don't know much about agriculture, but I'm very creative. I see this really bringing us closer.
4. Make more of an effort to help my mother with her store without any ulterior motives. In other words, quit asking if she's got any damaged property she needs to get rid of.
5. Last, but not least...be more interested in my father’s motorcycle hobby. I know…this sounds entirely selfish. I feel a little guilty listing it.

   

   4 of the 5 recipients of my 2017 resolution targets.

So those are some of my goals this year. Basically I'm planning to be a major pest to my loved ones. It will be fantastic. Perhaps it generated some ideas for all of you as well.

Wishing all my friends the happiest of New Year’s! I hope you reach all of your dreams in 2017!

Power of Prayer

A new year. A fresh palette. A chance to sharpen the pencil or drudge up an old dream or two.  The Kramer's rang in 2011 with great optimism  -- we had actually celebrated until midnight by attending a party with each of our children blissfully kidnapped overnight.

But 13 days in and fate seems to be messing with my resolution to be happy. My vivacious and jocular uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer and is fighting for his life. Doug's aunt passed away this week. I can't bear to think about some of things happening on the national scene. And winter didn't pass us over after all. Oh - did I mention that my new swimsuit came in this week? Yeah, well. Imagine my jubilation after a glance in the mirror, sporting my new bathing bottoms. I wasn't jubile.

Okay, perhaps I need to set aside my Johnny Raincloud umbrella. However, I can't deny the sadness I feel about my uncle. But the truth is my uncle isn't a sad kind of guy. So I've prayed and prayed. And thought about all of the times he made me laugh - and there were plenty of them.  Actually, just thinking about his laugh, makes me laugh.

He's the uncle that really didn't want to look at a photo album, unless he was in plenty of the pictures. He was the uncle who would come up with ridiculous comic routines with my dad...Once posing as a successful (or was it a not-so-successful?) high school football coach:

"Coach Jensen, do you think should allow your team to be smoking on the field?"

"Sure, Ron. We find it relaxes the players..."

My mother remembers these routines becoming tedious and somewhat of a bore. But I remember my cousins and I laughing hysterically at the comic genius' of our fathers. We must've been 8 or 9 at the time.

Apparently, Uncle Stew has started to feel a little better - surely everyone's reciprocating the positive vibes and energy he's had on everyone's life. And I'm going to keep remembering the fun memories and praying for the good to come.

Tomorrow Doug and I will attend his Aunt Mildred's funeral. Again, we need to remember the fun and pray for the good...maybe that should be my mantra in everything.

Hello 2011.

The Golden Rule -Fortified!

Amidst the normal business and economic data of the WSJ, I came across a refreshing article about a campaign to stop gossip among our youth to promote healthier and positive relationships. (The gist of the article was that the campaign shouldn't be limited to our youth, but perhaps implementing in the "office".) The formula is simple -- perhaps a slightly extended form of the Golden Rule. Before saying anything about anyone, ask yourself the following:

Is it kind?
Is it true?
Is it necessary?

If you find yourself answering "no" to any of these questions, keep your mouth shut. How easy is that? Well, watch yourself for a day. I, who like to think of myself as kind and non-judgmental, found that perhaps I'm not as kind and unbiased as I had presumed. So, since I had not pinned down a New Year's Resolution for 2010, it easily dawned on me that this is the year to REALLY practice the Golden Rule...fortified.