New years are always so promising.

They generate similar feelings as that of holding a newborn (note, I

said **holding** the newborn, not having the newborn). 2012—

untainted and full of undiscovered potential. For me, I will be

graduating and promptly leaving the country. So there’s that. But

everyone is going to have new adventures, which will no doubt

make excellent facebook updates that I for one cannot wait to

read.
 

And yes, I am one of those people–I like to make New Year’s

Resolutions. However, this year, instead of focusing on what I

should change, I want to focus on what I’d love to keep the

same.
 

I’ll start with my mom.

 
She is awesome. Somehow my mom manages to be pretty much

whatever we need her to be at that moment —a sounding board, a

problem-solver, a euchre partner. Her philosophy is that it is okay

to watch Scrooge any day of the week, but when December 26 rolls

around, the Christmas tree is coming down. My mom is a great

cook, she just has other things to do with her time. I love that in

our family, an apple pie is considered a serving of fruit. Worthy

lifetime talent: We have perfected the Ghirardelli brownie.

 
My dad is a rare breed of man. He is probably part vampire, now

that I think about it. He runs on minimal sleep, and he can sleep

with his eyes open so as to appear like he is still participating in the

family’s activities. He's the type of guy who will spend an entire day

(while recovering from knee surgery) labeling the breaker box so

that if the lights were to go off when he wasn’t there, my mom,

sisters, and I would know what to do. His mindfulness and

practicality make us laugh all the time. I have yet to meet

anyone who measures up to him. Direct quote: “How would you

like to be the first bulldozer up this volcano?”

 
My two sisters are pretty cool. Kind of like the Tower of Babel, we

had to move to separate states to help control the world's

 collective Level of Amazing. Our lives are a sitcom that only we

find funnyGuess you have to be there. Our kindergarten teacher

described us this way—If there was a puddle on the ground, Justine

would walk around it, I would jump over it, and Megan would stomp

right through it. Sister highlight: Getting locked in Runyon Canyon

in California. “Maybe the neighboring house has a key.” “The gate

leaves an emergency contact…” “Is this real life?”
 

I have a hard time imagining 2012 without my wolfpack.

My cup runneth over

Did anyone make any cool New Year's Resolutions? Or uncool. They could be uncool, too.