Can we do something to improve January?

January is probably my least favorite month of the year.  I know it has some redeeming attributes, but I still can't seem to learn to like it and this year January 2014 only deepened my dislike for the month.

I know the beginning of a new year should be viewed as a positive thing and the opportunity to set new goals and make new habits.  I've long given up on New Year's resolutions.  I figure I need to try to set goals and make new habits all year long, it works out better for me that way.  Btw... my goal in January was to memorize The Living Christ.  I figure that will help in my future missionary service.  Still working on memorizing it, but what a powerful document it is and I love the spirit that comes to me as I study and learn the testimony of his modern day apostles.  I ran across a video made by BYU study abroad students to Israel quoting The Living Christ showing in the background places corresponding to Christ and his apostles' mortal lives.  Go to this link vimeo.com/65004521‎ I love watching it.  You may enjoy it as well.  ‎

I ought to love January because that is the month I married my sweetheart, David Rhoades in the Bountiful temple.  We were married in January, not by choice.  It started out being our intention of getting married the end of March, and then it was moved to June, then October and finally January.  We had waited so long for the paperwork to be approved, we didn't care if it was in the most blah month of the year.  This year was our 5th wedding anniversary.  We still love and appreciate each other (always a good thing) and are happy with the life we are building together.

I know many others who have chosen to be married in January as well.  So there must be something good about January that people would choose to hold one of the most significant life events during this month.  Dave's daughter, Marie, was just married to her sweetheart, Jeremy, Jan. 25, 2014.  It was fun to be at the temple and the festivities afterwards.  She did such a nice job decorating up the church gymnasium and using a winter theme, very pretty.  Here are some picture from that event.

 Isn't this a pretty way to dress up folding chairs?

 She used a winter theme so these snowflakes were just perfect.

 The chairs looked so nice once we got all the bows tied on.

 The tulle gave the backdrop and gym more of a winter landscape look

 The backdrop they used for the reception line

 Table center pieces.  Very pretty

Table dressing for the guest book sign in table.

For more photos you will have to visit our family site https://davecindyrhoades.shutterfly.com/pictures.

However, there are things about January that I just don't like.  The winter cold and snow doesn't help and the longer hours of darkness don't help.  But here are some of the things this year, 2014, that didn't help January's standing in my book.

1-  We got word from our stake president that it would be MONTHS before we received our mission call.  Yes, months.  Needless to say, it took the wind out of our sails and left us feeling down and blue.  But what a great lesson in trusting the Lord and His plan for us and His timing.  It will all work out.

2-  Moving is one of the great stressors of life.  We had that stress this month, but not as we moved ourselves, rather helping move Donna, my sister.  Thank goodness, she does not have a lot of stuff, but the time and energy it took to find her a place and get her settled in took a toll on us.  And it looks like we are back to the drawing board with that again as we got word from her new landlord that their property was sold to Wal-Mart and they can not guarantee how long she will be able to live there.  As she is trying to get on housing assistance and they require a one year lease, this means Donna will need to move yet again and she can't do it alone, which means we are back in the rat race there.

3-  Work was quite stressful for me this year during January.  One of the case managers left the firm and I was given 6 of her bigger files to finish up.  Coming into a case in the middle is so much more difficult than starting at the beginning and building the case as you go.  One of her cases had 25 providers!  Just so you know, a typical case will have anywhere from 4-8 providers most commonly.  That number of providers is highly unusual.  On top of that, once they knew I would be around longer, they decided to give me 6 cases of another case manager who had mishandled the cases so badly that they needed a lot of fixing up and clean up, not only with the documentation of the case, but the PR with the client.  It made me angry to see what the clients had been put through due to her negligence and the bad light she had put the firm in.  It was one of the harder months on the job I've had in a long time.

But on the positive side...we are 31 days closer to spring now and we now have more winter days behind us than are ahead of us.  We have the Winter Olympics to entertain us during the month of February and before you know it, we will be into March and my outlook always begins to brighten once we get into March.