Looking Back, Looking Forward

It may be a cliche, but New Year's does tend to put me in a reflective mood. Every year when I'm designing our Christmas cards online, I enjoy looking through pictures taken over the course of the year and thinking about all the memories we made. I'd say 2014 was a pretty good year, although certainly with some ups and downs:

• January we celebrated Nathan's first birthday (and marveled to ourselves that we had survived a whole year of being 100% responsible for another human being!)
• February we took my husband's parents and sister on a little getaway trip, and later that month Nathan took his first real steps.
• March was a busy month of continuing education coursework for my husband; thankfully, my mom was able to come and stay with us some to help out with the crazy schedules.
• April was Nathan's second Easter which he and I spent with my father-in-law's side of the family (my husband had to work). Sadly that was the last time Nathan saw his Great-Grandma Portia as she passed away the following month. I also officially began a new position with my office in April.
• May was a bit of a whirlwind of more classes for Paul, trying to start the process of renovating our house, and his grandmother's funeral.
• June we took our first vacation with just our little family (all previous trips had been with one set of grandparents or the other). We went to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina and enjoyed a wonderful week together. Nathan loved the ocean.
• July was filled with typical summer-type activities: picnics and fireworks and trips to the water park, splash pad, and zoo.
• August we made time for a quick trip to my hometown downstate for a family reunion and to visit my good friend AJ and her husband to meet their baby boy (they're fellow IF survivors).
• September was an insanely busy month... my brother came for a visit, then my mom arrived to stay with Nathan while Paul and I had a short getaway which ended with us driving back downstate for the funeral of my great-grandmother "Gramy" (Nathan's great-great-grandma who was 103!). In addition to that we had all the usual activities that September brings, like the local fair and demolition derby, various family birthdays, and our anniversary.
• October kept up the momentum with adventures to the apple orchard and pumpkin farm, a work trip for me to Dallas, and then a 10-day trip to visit my parents (which included my mom's 60th birthday surprise extravaganza and Halloween).
• November seemed like it might be slower but that's when things finally started happening with the renovation. We literally spent half of Thanksgiving ripping up carpet.
• December was both the shortest and the longest month of the year (or so it seemed). It definitely didn't feel like there were enough days in the month (or hours in each day) to do everything we needed to do. With all the stress and chaos of living in a renovation zone with a toddler and no kitchen, it didn't always feel like the holiday season. But we ended on a positive note with a nearly-finished new kitchen, a 3 day trip to spend Christmas with my mom's family, and plenty of gifts under the tree for all.

So now here we are... 2015. Nathan will be turning 2 in just 3 weeks and I can hardly believe it. Last year I started the habit of setting mini goals for each month. As the year wore on and the months became busier, I didn't always do a great job of setting, keeping, or writing about them. But now that the new year has arrived, it seems appropriate to think about reinstating that habit. I'm not sure yet what format I'll follow. But I've been doing some thinking and I've decided I want to focus (at least for the first part of the year) on mini goals in 3 main categories:

1. Relationships. There are some (like with my husband - I'll have to expand on that more in another post) that could use some work. There are others that are evolving (like with my son) or that will soon change drastically (like with my best friend who is probably moving several states away soon). I need to set some goals for myself in terms of how I should behave or things I need to do to nurture these relationships.
2. Finances. I want to revisit the concept of a monthly budget for our family. I'd also like to develop some other goals (both long and short term) for us in terms of what we do with our money and how.
3. Stress & self-care. This might end up splitting into a couple of areas. One component is definitely health and fitness; but whereas last year's fitness goals were geared more towards weight loss, I think that this year's will be more focused on using exercise and nutrition (and other aspects of wellness) to manage stress and overall health, including mental health! Another component of this will probably encompass home organization and work-life balance stuff.

So there you have it. My 2014 year-in-review and a brief glimpse ahead into what I hope to achieve (or at least strive for) in 2015. Happy New Year to all, and to all a Good Night!