Category: personal

2014 in review

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.

December 31, 2014
personal planning for 2015

As we come to the end of 2014, I want to talk about my goals and intentions for the new year. This kind of fresh start is all mental, of course, but it really works for me.

After having a baby at the beginning of 2014, the rest of the year was focused on finding my footing as a mom of two, making adjustments, and getting healthy again. I did whole30, started running again, and made daily Bible study a priority. I will constantly be working on my spiritual and physical health, as well as the work/family/personal juggle, but I do feel like I have a basic framework in place. In fact, let me go over that:

Spiritual:

>Wake up early every single day (4:30 or 5 a.m. for Bible study, prayer, and personal journaling). This doesn’t always happen if a child is up too early,

>Involvement at church.

>To work on: prayer life, giving, volunteering

Health:

>Eating – paleo is ideal, but “real food” with the least amount of processed ingredients is what I’ve been aiming for.

>Exercising – after my half marathons are complete, I want to continue running shorter races and do other exercise 2x per week.

>To work on: clean up eating (I’ve been indulging in too many Christmas treats, so I’m going to do a week’s reset), take my vitamins, use essential oils, finalize new exercise plan

Time balance:

>When I’m at work I’m all there, but leave early whenever possible.

>Right after work 3x/week I can exercise – run or go to the gym.

>Weeknights – all family time. Cook dinner, eat together (most nights), play. Go to bed early. Don’t plan anything except dinner with grandparents or occasional church activity.

>Weekends – lots of family time too, chores done with kids around, David does grocery shopping. Schedule kid-free time for: long runs (until races complete), date nights (once a month – grandparents babysit), alone time for personal projects (memory keeping, blogging, reading, crafts). I need this every week if possible for at least a couple of hours. Eventually I would also like to be able to stay up an hour or two after the kids go to sleep. :)

>To work on: when I build up PTO, schedule one personal day off per month. Figure out a better way to fit blogging and reading in.

For 2015, I want to improve on some nonessential, personal areas. These are all important to me, but they take a back seat to the previous areas. Here are the areas I’m thinking about:

>Nagging tasks

>Purchases (mostly small) that would increase my happiness or quality of life

>Style & beauty

>Memory keeping

>Blogging

I’m taking a three-fold approach to goals for 2015: one overarching, big intention unrelated to other things (which for me is going to be financial and I probably won’t be blogging much about it), participating in Ali Edwards’ One Little Word class (and this will have challenges along with it – more on my word soon), and going back to monthly goals. The monthly goals are going to be where I address the nonessential areas above, or at least that’s the plan. Hopefully they will also relate to my word.

I’ll be sharing more about all of the above in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime look for updates of the regular kind around here. On Wednesday the kids and I are heading up to visit some good friends for a couple of days for their annual NYE party. Sadly, David has to work so we have to go alone and I’m a little nervous…but I will not be deterred, even by a 5-hour road trip with two kids!

Thanks for sticking with me all this time, and especially now as I figure out my new “blogging normal.” I have lots of ideas for the future, but only time will tell if I can make them happen. :)

December 29, 2014
fall goals update and life lately

Seasonal goals has been perfect for me this year as I adjusted to having two children. I’m going to revamp my system for next year, though, so I won’t be making winter goals. More on my planning for 2015 soon.

>Run a 10k: I did this back in September. Although my running hasn’t progressed the way I wish it had, a 10k isn’t a big deal for me anymore and for that I am proud.

>Finish quilt: done! I have another one planned, but no idea when I’ll actually start it.

>Take the Grocery Savings Made Simple e-course: I did this, and it was really helpful and inspiring. There are still some tasks I need to complete. some systems I want to implement, and some things I want to try making from scratch, but at least I know what to do now.

>Christmas gifts done by the beginning of December: I got a lot of them, but not all. I still have a few left. Overall the holiday stress itself hasn’t been bad this year, it’s just other stuff that’s stressing me out.

>Read a parenting book: I read Raising Your Spirited Child and it was awesome. I had planned to write a whole series of blog posts based on what I learned, but that hasn’t happened yet. I do have extensive notes, but for now I’ll just recommend it highly if you have a child that is more intense than others.

Life lately:

Last week Meredith got sick a day after Liam, so I missed 2 1/2 days of work total. Thankfully they both rebounded in a day and currently everyone is healthy. (THIS IS A HUGE DEAL. I SHOULD BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT IT INSTEAD OF JUST BEING PARANOID.)

I dropped off homemade hot cocoa mix for the daycare teachers (all ten of them) and learned my lesson about sticking to gift cards in the future.

Over the weekend I got the rest of the Christmas shopping done. We have kept it as minimal as possible, but it’s still hard to keep track of everything. Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to wrap anything yet.

I can run a 30-minute 5k pretty easily now, even if I’m having an off day. My running buddy and I are making a point to do the long runs together and are increasing them by a mile each week, and it really helps. We had different schedules this past weekend so I did 8 miles by myself and finished up the Serial podcast. I felt good, but very achy in the joints. If you’re a long-distance runner, I’d appreciate any advice on how to prepare for long runs.

David’s truck overheated twice, and we had to have it repaired twice.

I finished the book Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, loved it, and am reading Crow Lake this week for book club. I’m also almost done with Yes, Please on audio.

Lately I’ve been too tired, and I’ve been overreacting and losing patience and just being a grump with my family, especially with David, who is only trying to help me and be sweet to me. I have a feeling it has to do with a) lack of good sleep and b) my diet, which needs to be cleaned up again. Because really, there’s no need for this. I’m in the middle of choosing my One Little Word for 2015 and I’m taking into consideration how I don’t want to feel as well as what I do want.

Shopping with my dad this weekend buoyed my spirits, as did attending a Christmas show at their church. I love seeing the cards come in the mail (ours will be going out this week) and the holiday decorations everywhere.

I heard that Christmas (the feast of the Incarnation) was established on December 25 because it’s one of the shortest days of the year, in order to give us hope at a dark time. I’m so grateful for that, because my mood is definitely affected by the winter season, yet Christmas remains my favorite holiday. It’s so wondrous, and I don’t know about you but I need that hope more than ever.

December 22, 2014
real life rambles

As I write this, it is Sunday afternoon. David is out driving with Meredith. I’m sitting at a desk in my craft room – leaning back, with my legs crossed over the knee – and Liam is asleep on top of me. Somehow I’ve managed to balance him on my chest with his head on my shoulder and get my hands free to type. My legs are propped against the legs of the desk in such a way as to keep me exactly in this position. He is a large baby, as I may have mentioned before, so I can’t say that I am exactly comfortable.

I opened the computer intending to browse my Project Life Pinterest board. Before Liam fell asleep on me he was puttering around the craft room floor, getting into things he shouldn’t have been. I was letting him, in exchange for being able to work on Project Life. There are a couple of blank pockets in this current spread that I wasn’t sure what to do with, so I wanted some inspiration. But then I figured it was a good time to write a few words.

Now my neck is getting a crick in it and my back is becoming sore. Let me shift my weight. There, that’s a little better.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about being super tired, acting grumpy, and needing to slow down and release expectations. Well. It kind of got worse before it got better. I shed some tears. I felt low-level depressed for a week or so.

But the last few days have been good. I feel like things are being handled. The house is clean and decorated for Christmas, the laundry is done, the week’s meals are planned, and we’ve had a lot of downtime to connect as a family. I ran three times this week, and reached out to a friend to do the long runs on weekends together. We did our first yesterday and it was SO much better to go with her on a trail instead of by myself in my neighborhood. I mean, the first half marathon is only six weeks away. I basically have to add a mile per week to get to where I need to be. So this is being prioritized.

I also told David that I would really like some time to myself this weekend that doesn’t involve running or monitoring a sleeping child. This right now, this doesn’t count. I’m stuck to this chair unless I want to risk waking Liam up. If I were here alone, I’d get myself a drink and turn on some music at least. But he is taking the kids to his parents’ house for the evening and even though I’m tempted to be jealous (I love having dinner over there with them) I need the alone time to recharge.

I’ve been really into Ali Edwards’ memory-keeping projects lately. I’m still working on my Week in the Life album. I’m currently documenting for December Daily, although I’m going to complete my entire album after the fact because I wasn’t able to prepare ahead of time. (I really hope Ali does Week in the Life earlier in the year next year, to give us time to finish up before moving on to December Daily.) I’m thinking of joining her One Little Word class for next year.

I love how these projects all have a different purpose and they are all perfect complements to Project Life. This morning Meredith and I looked through the year’s album and I was blown away again at how much I love it. Everything about it. I’m so grateful that I decided to give it a try almost three years ago, and that now it is almost second nature.

Real time update: David and Meredith just came home to pick up Liam and go to his parents’ house, and now I am really, truly, alone for the first time in months that I’m not also running or driving. So, it’s go time. Should I scrapbook? Read? Wrap gifts? Watch Netflix? A little of everything? I don’t know yet how I’ll spend the next few hours, but I’m feeling pretty good about it.

December 7, 2014
my finished handmade felt heirloom advent calendar

I finished this up last weekend after Thanksgiving, just in time! I may have an addiction to felt needlepoint. New favorite craft for sure. I call this an “heirloom” advent calendar because the materials are high quality and labored over by me with love so I am definitely forcing it on one of my kids when they grow up. :)

I want to give another shout out to my mother-in-law for getting this for me way back in the spring or summer (an early Christmas gift!) so that I actually had time to make it for this year. I love it so much. If you want one, you can find them here. It requires basic needlepoint, embroidery, and sewing skills. Advanced beginner, I’d say.

I wanted to show you the finished project with all the ornaments hung up, but they are actually stored in these cute little pockets like so.

Those numbers were embroidered using a chain stitch, which I had never done before but I love it.

If you are wondering how the ornaments are hung on the tree (I was) it’s with a stick pin. Then when they are being stored, you just tuck the pin inside (see right, below). I like this method because you can hang them anywhere and there is no ugly velcro to be seen.

I have been letting Meredith hang the ornaments (with supervision) and we try to do it in the morning if there is time. I call it the countdown to Christmas.

We also have a really cool advent book called The Story of Christmas. It has a bunch of little mini books that you read each day, but they are also ornaments so you can hang them on a tree (or somewhere else – we’ve been hanging them on a garland). Each little booklet tells part of the story of Christmas. We have been doing this one in the morning if there is time, or evening at dinner.

Finally, I have this advent calendar which was the first thing I ever sewed. My mom is using it for Meredith and she has tucked a small gift into each pocket.

Obviously I love advent calendars. How about you? Do you have one?

December 5, 2014