I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions because I think I’m setting myself up for failure. There’s a good chance that I won’t keep ‘em. For so many years, I vowed to try to quit smoking, try to lose weight, try to have more fun . . . and I guess I’ve succeeded at the tryin’ part, just not the doin’ part.  So I don’t make resolutions. I make promises to try. After all, every dog should have a few fleas.

But now I’m starting to see that celebrating the New Year isn’t so much about beating yourself up for your past failures, as it is about appreciating what you’ve accomplished. This last year was a big one for my family and me. Michael and I moved into our dream home. It was a big move, and God willing, it will be our last. When most people were down-sizing, we chose to up-size to accommodate our growing family. It’s a difficult time to make a move like this, but I figure that the more family I can stuff into my life, the better off I’m always gonna be.

We got my niece Corrie married off this past November and held a beautiful reception in our front yard, overlooking a moonlit river. And we celebrated another big day when my magazine, Cooking With Paula Deen, turned five! Even bigger news was finding out I was going to be a grandmomma again. Jamie and Brooke are expecting another boy in May! At the end of the day, what I’m most thankful for is gettin’ another chance to share a morning coffee with my husband, laugh with my boys, and swell with pride at every little thing my grandbaby does.

At the same time, it’s overwhelming to think that another year has passed—especially knowing that the next one will fly by even faster than the last. So I encourage y’all to take a moment to think about how far you’ve come and use that to help inspire you to go even further in 2011. See, I could make resolutions I have no intention of keeping, or I can vow to enjoy the opportunities my life gives me with an open heart. One of these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities was being asked to be the Grand Marshall of the 122nd Rose Parade. Going down that crowded parade route on New Year’s Day and waving my little heart will make me feel like Miss Universe for the first—and maybe the only—time in my life. It’s something I can’t wait to experience and I’m sure I won’t easily forget. In fact, I just may have “Grand Marshall” engraved on my headstone when the time comes.

Hopefully, that’ll be a good many years from now, but all the same I don’t intend to waste a single second of this blessed new year tryin’ to get myself to do something there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell I’m gonna succeed at. Instead, I’m gonna put my energies where I always have: taking each day as it comes and appreciating the miracle of every passing moment.