Was it a good year? A bad year? Probably somewhere in-between.

A lot has happened to me in the past year. My daughter turned one. I had major surgery. A family member was diagnosed with breast cancer. But most of all, I laughed…a lot.

I love the start of a new year. I’m not the kind of person who likes to ring in the new year with a party. I like to ring it in with reflection and gratitude. Everyone is different.

But regardless of where you are at midnight, try to find some time in your day to acknowledge the challenges that you have overcome and to have gratitude for the blessings that have come your way.

I am a believer that a year that ends with a small medical file, was a good year. Your medical file may be large. Your year may have had enormous challenges. But you are still standing.

Reflect back with gratitude and look forward with hope of what the new year will bring.

Thank you for sharing these 31 days of happy with me. Here’s to 365 more!

If you make a New Years Resolution to lose 30 pounds and you only lose 20…you would consider that a failure. I totally disagree with that. Set 30 pounds as your goal and if you fall short, you STILL made huge progress!

Take some time today to think about where you would like to be at this time next year. Then think of practical steps to get there. Break it up into pieces and make monthly goals.

Using the above example, if your goal is to lose 30 pounds…that can seem overwhelming. Instead, set monthly goals of 2-3 pounds a month. Easy!!!!

If your goal is to get a new job, set monthly goals of January: update resume. February: Sign up for email alerts from various sites and check my email daily. March: Attend a networking event. Etc. Setting a goal of finding a new job won’t happen magically…it takes logical steps in that direction.

Think about what you want to achieve and set optimistic, yet realistic goals.

I also like the idea of creating one new habit a month. It takes 21 days to create a new habit, so you can easily do 12 in one year. For example: January – Drink 8 glasses of water a day. February – Read 1 book every week. March – Create a budget and follow it.

I love the whole idea of a new year and a new start. Put some thought into where you are now and where you’d like to be in 365 days. Then lay down a plan to get there.

But have you printed any of them this year?

Life is filled with moments and many of them are captured on film….but these treasured photos should be compiled in a book so that you can look at them often.

Jump onto your photo software and put all of your favorites from 2010 into a folder. Don’t skimp. Pick all of the good ones…you’ll only do this once a year.

Then go to Snapfish or Shutterfly and put together a book. They make it VERY easy. I really like Snapfish because it will automatically sort your photos by date and create the book for you so it takes minimal effort on your part.

Order it up and in about a week, you will have your 2010 photo album. If you do this every year, you will eventually have a book for every year of your life.

Cool, huh? No printing. No buying photo albums. No huge time-commitment.

But you will create a memorable book of your year that you will treasure forever.

Step 1: Head to Target or Walgreens and buy a posterboard (or preferably) foam-core board. It should be a pretty good size…about 3 feet wide. Also pick up a glue stick.

Step 2: Dream

Step 3: Go through magazines and Google Images to find photos or words that represent your dreams. Include small dreams (ie: get a new bike) and big dreams (get married). No dream is too big or too small for your board.

Step 4: Glue your dreams onto your board.

Step 5: Place it somewhere prominent where you will see it every day.

The first year that I made a dream board, over 80% of my dreams came true, and more of them have come true since then. I put the posterboard in my closet so that I would see it every morning when I went to get dressed. I had some small dreams, but most of them were huge. In that one year I had a daughter, got a new car, and became debt free (among other big and small dreams).

We all have hopes and dreams in our hearts and our heads, but when you look at your dreams every single day, you gain focus. Your dreams are always in the forefront of your mind.

It will only cost a few dollars for the materials, and an afternoon of your time. Isn’t it worth it for the possibility of your wildest dreams coming true?

If you have spent the past month putting thought into how you wanted to give or share with those you care about, there is a good chance that others have been doing the same for you.

Thank you’s don’t have to be fancy, but I do believe that they should be hand-written and mailed the old-school way. You can use a card, stationery,or even a piece of notebook paper, but never typed or e-mailed. They should also be personal, not just “thank you for the gift.” It’s also fun to include a photo of you enjoying their gift!

So, before you head out for you holiday celebrations, make sure you are ready to properly thank those who have gone out of their way to make you happy.

So…have you been having fun this month? I know that I have had the most stress-free December that I recall.

I am starting to find time to read, which is one of my favorite things in the world to do. I’m always open to suggestions (please leave them in the comments) for good books.

Why not put together a book exchange with some friends. You can lend each other books that you own (you can also lend books from your Kindle) or you can buy each other books. Either way, it’s a chance to learn about books that you may otherwise not know about.

In many parts of the world, the weather is turning cold (for my friends in Australia, it’s turning hot) and curling up with a book is a great way to relax.

I’m thinking of reading “Under the Dome” by Stephen King, which I’ve heard is one of the better books of the year.

Get together with some friends and find a quiet corner to discover some new books! What a great way to wind down the year.

When you sit silently in your car, on the train, at home, or even in the shower, take some time to think about those who are no longer  here to celebrate Christmas with you.

I lost a good friend this year and I wrote about it back in March. Yesterday, I saw a big SUV and thought about him. I’ve been thinking about him and his family off and on since then. This is their first Christmas without him. He was at my wedding and he meant a lot to me. It’s important for me to take time to think about him as well as all the others that aren’t here anymore. All of my grandparents are gone and my daughter has no grandfather. Even though I talk to these people through prayer, I like to take time to think about past Christmases with them and of good memories.

If you are fortunate enough not to be missing anyone this year, then count your blessings. If you have lost someone, then you still have blessings to count. Some of them have moved on, but we can be silent and remember how they’ve touched our lives.

Grab some paper and start writing notes to the people that you care most about. Be honest. Tell they that you are grateful for them and tell them why. Thank them for being there during a difficult time or for talking to you on the phone when you needed a good laugh. Apologize for anything that you feel you need to apologize.

I like the quote by Meister Eckhart: “If the only prayer you ever said in your whole life was ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”

Gifts are fun, but words are so much more meaningful.

Take some time tonight or one night this week to write down your thoughts about your favorite people in your life. I can almost guarantee that it will be their favorite gift.

Well, Merry Christmas….have a Cinnabon. You can buy them pre-made and ready to heat, but you need to do that this week so you can enjoy them on Saturday morning.

Make a point to go grab a box or two this week. You’ll thank me on Christmas morning.