"How's the campaign going?"
It's the question I get most often. It's also the question I'm never quite sure how to answer.
Good? ... Great! ... Your guess is as good as mine. ... We'll see May 17th!
The truth - I suppose - all depends on what you're measuring.
This weekend we hosted a Winter ONE-derland party in honor of Felix's first birthday. Considering this child was born during a snow, it seemed like an appropriate theme. Well, the weather had other plans and it was 70 and sunny! I could have hosted the dang party outside!
For my 30th birthday, I created a list of 30 things I wanted to do. One was to write a historical fiction short story. This is the story and as Ruby keeps calling to me here lately. I thought I'd share it here.
One of Nicholas's New Year's resolutions was to try freezer meals. He'd prepped meals for the week on and off through 2015 and wanted to see how it would work to prepare an entire month's worth. Then, we could just pull a meal from the deep freeze, throw it in the crockpot, and on a busy day dinner would be waiting for us.
I was cleaning out my junk drawer - a thankless task that always reveals the less flattering aspects of my life I'd rather keep hidden. Projects neglected. Maintenance forgotten. Guilty pleasures stashed away.
This time was no different. The first one I pulled out I didn’t think too much about. Then there was another. And another. And another. AND another.
Every year I chose a word that represents something I want to work on for the upcoming year. It could be something I want more of in my life. It could be something I want to focus on in specific areas of my life. Either way - in addition to resolutions - I like to pick a word as a guiding concept to keep me centered all year long.
I've been picking a word for three years now. In 2013, my word was simplicity. In 2014, my word was growth. I've felt the power of having a word - especially this last year.
Unfortunately, I was having a lot of trouble picking a word this year.
My word for 2014 was growth. I had hoped it would represent our growing family as we added a new member but the universe had other plans. Instead, it represented incredible personal growth for me both as an individual and as a wife. One of the biggest lessons I learned along the way is contained within this post and I was so incredibly thankful to hear it resonated with so many of you.
I LOVE this last little bit of time as the old year ends and the new year is about to begin. I love reflecting on a completed year and planning for an upcoming year. I basically complete every year-end reflection I come across and had just finished this personal audit from Unclutterer when I saw one of my favorites Modern Mrs. Darcy shared her similar reflections on what worked well for her in 2014.
So, here you go...
In many ways, our entire year was defined by the week of April 10-15. I spent the winter dealing with a pregnancy I knew was not right. I spent the spring grieving the loss of that pregnancy. I have spent the summer and fall pregnant again - feeling full of hope and trepidation.
So, I suppose it is appropriate that this post is the one the most of you read. I poured my heart into this post and y'all responded with such compassion and support that I can't imagine how I would have gotten through it all without you.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for being there.
I was on HuffPo Live today talking about my post on
Check it out!
We hosted our annual holiday open house this Sunday. I decorate. Nicholas cooks. All our friends come over and we have a wonderful afternoon spreading a little holiday cheer (and mint chocolate chip cake... YUM!)
