Most of these questions have been swiped from A’Dell’s post, and she got them from someone else, and so on. But I thought it would be a fun tradition to start, so here we go.

1. What did you do in 2014 that you’d never done before?

Sewed a quilt. Ran a 10k. Completed whole30.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My resolution for 2014 was just to survive, and I did that. This year I would like to reduce our debt and I am taking on the one little word challenge.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

I did. I gave birth.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Our two dogs, Cleo and Eddie, died within a couple of months of each other. One of my favorite patients also died, and I attended his funeral.

5. What countries did you visit?

No countries. No other cities either.

6. What would you like to have in 2015 that you didn’t have in 2014?

Less debt. A vacation.

7. What dates from 2014 will be etched upon your memory, and why?

January 17 – Liam was born. February 10 – the day I had to have Cleo put to sleep. May 8 – the day I woke up and found Eddie had died.

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

I am proud of a few things: our transition to a family of four, completing whole30, and sewing my first quilt.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Maybe when I failed to realize that 2-month-old Liam was seriously sick and I didn’t call the doctor. He ended up in the hospital for two days with RSV.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I had preeclampsia which lingered even after Liam’s birth and I had to be on blood pressure meds for awhile.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

New running shoes.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Um…Liam? He was a pretty cool little dude.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Meredith went through (is going through) her “threenage” years but I wouldn’t say it appalls me because it’s totally normal for her age and personality. Sometimes it does depress me though. (But more often than that, she’s awesome.)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Mortgage, daycare, taxes.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Having a baby. Transferring to the hospital nearby. Various crafts and memory-keeping projects.

16. What song will always remind you of 2014?

I don’t personally listen to much music, but I’ll say “Let It Go” from Frozen. I know it was released in 2013 but this is the first year that Meredith was old enough to care about anything like that and it was the first “real” song (that wasn’t a nursery rhyme-type thing) that she learned the words to.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

My happiness is probably about the same. I am considerably thinner, since at this time last year I was 9 months pregnant. I am also considerably poorer. What did we do with our money when we only had one child in daycare??

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Reading. Date nights. Praying.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worrying about money. Losing my cool with Meredith.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Most of the day was spent at home; my family came to me. None of them have kids so they didn’t arrive until after 10 (we had been awake for 5 hours already, but thankfully my kids don’t realize yet that you can open gifts right away). We watched Frozen because my brother and dad hadn’t seen it yet, ate, and opened gifts. The kids had naps, then in the evening we went to my brother-in-law’s house to celebrate with David’s family. It was significantly noisier there with six kids 5 and under.

21. What was your favorite TV program?

I binge-watched (and loved) Sherlock and Downton Abbey on maternity leave. Started Parenthood. I slowly finished watching Gossip Girl on Netflix while running on the treadmill. That’s all I watched this year.

22. What was the best book you read?

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

23. What was your greatest food discovery?

Dark chocolate covered almonds, how to cook fresh vegetables, the salad I now take every day to work, and that eggs for breakfast are totally doable.

24. What did you want and get?

A healthy baby who is a decent sleeper. A Madewell Transport Tote. Our Advent calendar.

25. What did you want and not get?

A camera. A calm 3-year-old. More time to myself.

26. What was your favorite film of 2014?

I literally only watched two movies this year (other than the first 30 minutes of The Little Mermaid, Frozen, and Toy Story about 100 times at home): Divergent and Guardians of the Galaxy. The latter was my favorite.

27. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 32 last February. I was on maternity leave, and I was emotional. I cuddled baby Liam and hung out at home and tried to work on crafts.

28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Regular pedicures. Less sicknesses for all of us (except me, thank GOD I have remained healthy). If I could have figured out how to get the kids to sleep in their own beds.

29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2011?

Neutral, minimal, cool, and comfortable. I put together a pretty good summer capsule wardrobe and intend to build on that in the future as funds become available.

30. What kept you sane?

Coffee and morning Bible study and my family living nearby (with free babysitting) and routines and occasional double naps.

31. What political issue stirred you the most?

I don’t follow politics.

32. Who did you miss?

A few of my long-distance best friends. My uncle, who passed away almost two years ago now.

33. Who was the best new person you met?

I met a mom in my neighborhood named Melissa and now we are friends and have playdates. It’s pretty great. I also met my current coworkers when I started my new job and they are awesome.

34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014.

I think the biggest thing I’ve been learning this year is how to prioritize and let things go and to trust that there are seasons of life and not everything has to get done right now. I also got really, really good at time management and automating routines.

35. Show us one of your favorite photos from the year. 

First photo as a family of four, which is what this year has been all about.