Hello, friends! I hope all is well. Can you believe it’s already been 2014 for a month? It’s gone by so quickly. I’m still trying to break the habit of putting 2013 when I write the date. But even though it’s gone by quickly, January has been exciting. Here’s what I’ve been up to.

On January 1, I put my New Year’s Resolutions into effect, and I’m proud to say I’ve kept up with each of them. I thought now would be a good time to look back on each of them and see how they’re going.

I’ve been writing every day, and that’s been really good for me. I’ve found that taking a few minutes every day to express myself has been very energizing and inspiring. I’ve yet to experience writer’s block, although I’m sure it will come eventually. But I’m very pleased with what I’ve written thus far, and I look forward to writing more.

On top of my more creative writing, I’ve also been keeping a Bible journal every day. This has been amazing. My pastor suggested it to me a long time ago, and I wish I had heeded his advice sooner. After reading a passage of scripture, I take the time to think it through and write a response to it. This has helped me process my readings more and apply God’s word to my life in a way that simply reading through each day can’t do. I’m also creating a resource (37 pages already!) that I can use when I’m writing sermons to go back and look at my thoughts on passages in the past and apply them to my writings in the future. My expanded verse of the day has been a success, I think. It has helped me keep each day’s verse in the front of my mind, and I hope you guys enjoy my brief thoughts on a scripture daily. If not, let me know how I can improve!

1SE has kind of been a different story. I really like the idea of capturing a moment every day, but some days, I struggle to find something worth recording. And often when I do something that is worth recording, I’m too caught up in what I’m doing to remember to film! I’m still working through what I want my 1SE to be and how it fits in my life, but it at least gives me an excuse to share cute videos of Aiden anyhow.

Those of you who have been keeping up with my blog know that I have stayed faithful to the schedule I set out at the beginning of the year. I’ve posted a blog post every Tuesday and a Stuff Devon Likes article every Saturday this month, and I think this schedule is really working well. It pushes me to write and reflect often while not putting too much strain on my schedule. I had a mini-adventure this week when I woke up on Tuesday and realized I hadn’t pre-written something to publish. But I wrote up a post that I think is relatable and sticks to the level of quality I’m trying to uphold on my site. So blogging is going well, and I hope you enjoy reading them.

All in all, I’d say my New Year’s Resolutions are going strong. In non-resolution news, we launched the new Merge website, which I helped to create, this month. The launch was a huge success. I also spent a week sick in bed, which wasn’t fun. I’m sure many of you saw me complaining about it on Twitter. I got to babysit Aiden for a couple of days, and we had a great time. I’m really glad I got that quality time with him while I was home.

Now I’m back at school getting into the swing of things. I’m really happy with my class schedule this semester, and I’m excited to start working at Camp Beaverfork again soon. This semester is all about tying up loose ends before graduation: writing my thesis, taking the Psychology Major Field Test, and making sure I have fulfilled every last requirement so I can get that fancy diploma in May. So far, so good. Thank you guys for joining me on this journey. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little update, and I look forward to sharing more of my life with you in the coming months. To finish off my January update, here’s my 1 Second Everyday video for January 2014. Enjoy!