Adventure

I'm Laren (like Lauren, not Karen), and this is my blog.  It's not much at the moment, but it'll grow over time and offer a place for documenting some of my family's stories and the junk rattling around in my brain.

As a fairly avid online reader, I've noticed bloggers posting resolutions, intentions, goals for the New Year, and it seems fitting to me to do something similar at the start of the year and the life of this blog.  While I do have some specifics in mind for 2014, the form of goal-setting that grabs me the most is identifying a word for the year.  I think the basic idea is that this word should focus the chooser's intentions over the course of the whole year, and I like that.

My word for the year is adventure.  I believe that my parents both had adventurous spirits; they liked travel (though my mom preferred to do hers in a moving van) and spontaneity, and they passed this characteristic on to me.  They taught me that adventure is an attitude.  It's about flexibility, positivity, and an understanding that the right frame of mind can turn simple experiences into epic ones (Exhibit A: bi-annual car rides to Dayton, Ohio) or transform unexpected frustrations into fond memories (I'm lookin' at you, Christmas Eve spent stuck in the Newark airport).

I want that attitude to guide my actions this year and every year, and I want to pass it on to my son.  So here goes...  Starting this blog is the first step out of my door.