It's a New Year, a new day and I'm feelin' good...

So we started off our New Year in a pretty awesome way .... a helicopter ride with our dear friends Betsy and James who was also our amazing pilot!

 It was a fantastic little 10-minute tour over the Las Vegas Strip (my favorite way to see Vegas by the way, from far away! :)  It was so fun getting to go with them...  I was so excited i could hardly sit still in my seat....
Both Chris & I worked the last 3 days of December and 3 more days starting Jan 2nd, so J & B were kind enough to let us crash with them (i should have put a sign that said "have air mattress, will travel"  on my backpack!) in cozy little Boulder City which is way more my pace than the garish insanity of Vegas.  After a yummy dinner of Mexican food we grabbed some card games and movies and settled in for the night at Casa Campbell, barely making it past the clock striking 12.
New Year's Day was the helicopter ride and i can't think of a better way to start the year.

I was musing on what could be my resolutions for the year and was inspired by a blog from Jack Schull:
http://jackschull.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/3-words-for-2012/

It was about picking 3 words to focus on to help define the goals you want to accomplish and it really resonated with me...
So i decided on my three words:
GROWTH - Now i know that's a pretty general term, but i feel that i've been stagnant in many areas of my development as a person... i know that, sadly, i'm beyond adding inches to my stature :) but i'm hoping to start stretching myself out of my comfort zone of laziness and adding some challenge back into my life.  i feel like i've finally gotten beyond being stuck on something i lost a long time ago, and now that i'm finally moving forward i'd like to keep that momentum going in a positive direction.
DISCIPLINE - this is a big weakness of mine in certain areas that i'd like to get under control, particularly in exercise and relationships...exercise is self-explanatory, but i've gotten lazy with my friendships and coasted by on groundwork that i laid in the past, and now i want to be intentionally focused on contribiting in a positive way to my existing relationships and getting out of my comfort zone enough to develop a few more.
CHALLENGE- i want to be inspired to try some new things and actually have the guts to go through with it... my brother is an inspiration to me in the ways that he tackles extreme sports and activities with relish, and throws himself full force into something... when he does something, its usually in a way that that makes people stand back in awe with their mouths hanging open, (or reaching for their phones to dial 911! - kidding, Luke ;)  now i don't think i'll be base jumping or street luging anytime soon (or ever!) but it does inspire me do do the little things that i talk myself out of -- why haven't i taken a photography class yet?  or learned more about weaponry, or read the manual and learned how to change the oil on my car, or become an EMT?

Today i have something new and fun on the schedule... i'm going on a ride along with my local fire department!  From 2-8 pm i get to accompany them on any calls they get.......maybe something exciting will happen...after all, the weather is pretty nice out and that means people might be out in their yards... with power tools!!!  I've never seen a fresh missing appendage before... although my brother has tried to oblige in a few instances :) 

I'll try to get some fun photos for the next blog :)