Last year was a roller coaster year - full of high highs and low lows. We had the excitement of matching in Salt Lake City and the sadness of seeing loved ones pass. Dave graduated from medical school and we left dear friends and wonderful Vermont behind. We have had the news of a new baby and Dave's kidney stone episode and much more. We miss our Vermont family dearly, and as we all spread out more and more I know it is the ending of a wonderful era of our lives. We will always look back on our time there with such fondness. The year was an eternity and yet the blink of an eye.
We have tried the make the most of living close to family. We have traveled to Idaho for Thanksgiving and Grandma's Christmas Party/Dave's birthday and again for New Year's Eve. It has been so wonderful!
As per our tradition, we stayed home for Christmas. We played with Jack's new helicopter and read books and Ana painted and Katie flitted around the house and we all went sledding and played endless games of Uno. I thought it might be weird doing dinner alone since we have done dinner with friends the past few years, but it ended up being really nice.
My favorite Christmas scenes:
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| New Jammies |
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| Katie took her role as Mary so seriously. It was the most precious thing I have ever seen |
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| Christmas! |
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| Painting with her new art set |
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| Love the new robe from Grandmas |
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| Reading. I have learned since she got this book that she likes graphic novels. She has read it twice already. |
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| Fresh Christmas snow. Hooray for a white Christmas. |
This year hasn't been my best for writing. I haven't journaled or blogged much. I want to keep doing it. It requires stillness and forces reflection. It requires that I focus on the good (or at least the humor) in every situation. I don't want to be so consumed with busy-ness that I neglect my need for stillness and reflection. It seems a mother's day is a day of "hyper-vigilance" - managing crises and functioning in a state of urgency. Much of that comes with the job. Writing, reflecting, being still, and focusing on things that matter most often get pushed aside, to the detriment of everyone involved.
While I haven't officially made my list of resolutions, I know that they will involve more pro-action. More time to be still. More time to write down thoughts and ideas. More slowing down and simplifying.
The baby's room is ready, and so as long as he stays put until Dave is done working his night shift rotation, we will be alright.
Hello, 2015.
6 comments:
Great post and great reminder about the purpose and power of stillness. Here's to continuing on your beautiful journey and finding moments of reflection to share with the rest of us!
I love you and your blog! I'm so glad your family had a good Christmas! Thanks for reminding me that I can create stillness for myself instead of waiting for it to happen to me.
I won't be doing resolutions this year. They are the same each year anyway and so instead of beating myself up on my non-evolution, I decided to make a list about all the things I'm already good at.
And happy New Year!
Kerstin: you know, that's not a bad idea either. At church today someone said we should ask God how to best use the things we are good at. You have to know what you are good at to use your talents for good. Glad you haven't given up on my writing! Happy new year to you too!
I like to think and so I like to read anything thoughtinspiring. I still remember what you wrote last year; that you haven't failed on your resolutions if you have done some of them and that each days counts again. Or something like that. :-)
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