Reflection & Resolutions

It has been around the 3 month mark of my blog hiatus and overall it was a good decision. I will say I thought about this blog a lot over the past 3 months and each time I tried to find time to write other things got in the way. It was as if life was telling me to stick with the 3 month break to really reflect on what this space on the Internet means to me. I found out in the 3 months it does mean a lot to me as its a time capsule of some great parts of my life and what was on my mind in 2009, 2010, etc. Especially near the new year as everyone takes time to reflect on the previous year. Just the other day I was looking back at some posts and grateful for them, but sad I didn’t have many in 2013 that captured life and my thoughts of the year as much as I wished now that 2013 is almost over. I also learned that the blog doesn’t mean as much to me as I thought it did prior to this break in the same breath. The guilt of not blogging good enough, frequently enough, on relatable topics enough was plain silly and too time consuming. The time worrying was time spent away from my family, myself, and my other hobbies. So where does this leave me and this blog? Somewhere in the middle. A place I hope to visit to capture my thoughts and events in 2014. a space to connect with readers who find their way to my blog. A space to come to when I find the time and have something to share. A space to write without the pressure to fill a blog post quota for the week/month. I am very thankful for my time away from my blog as it was needed to re-prioritize some things in my life. I am a better person (maybe blogger?) for it and hope to share more of 2014 with all of you.

So a small recap of 2013…
January: Turned 31, Lexi had her first surgery with getting tubes which was successful, back to pre-pregnancy weight, bought an Ipad off our no-spend month in November 2012, and had more snow than we knew what to do with
February: Prepped for Lexi’s 1st birthday, Lexi on the mend after months of sicknesses and just in time for Steve and I to get a terrible 48 hour stomach bug, took a month blog hiatus from tumblr and decided to move back to WordPress, and took a trip to visit my BFF and writer Jodi Picoult up in Vermont!
March: a full month of birthday celebrations! Really this month was all about Lexi (like most months but to the extreme). Sweet little girl died on Lexi’s birthday that had been fighting cancer for a year. Broke my heart that we were celebrating and this sweet family was in mourning. Life is not fair sometimes.
April: Took a big family trip to Outerbanks, NC and while there the Boston Marathon bombing occurred. Frantic to get the news and make sure friends who were running it were okay (thankfully they were all okay).
May: Got a new job! Blogged every day in May so you all learned a ton about me that month.
June: Moved and started the new job! Said goodbye to some great people and struggled with saying goodbye to Lexi’s daycare and my coworkers. Excited about our new adventure.
July-August: tough couple months of the husband commuting long distances, transitioning to a new job, planned 2 trainings and a crash course in rising the ranks in management. It was a blur, but we tried to go to parks, petting zoos, splash pads, farms with Lexi on the weekends. Conference away from my family for the longest stretch ever. Also celebrated BFF’s son’s birthday and their move further away. Lexi has an ear tube check up that goes great!
September: Overwhelmed by life and so said goodbye to blog and hello life. Started new year and continuing to adjust to our new life in a new city. Hubs got a new job that was closer and more flexible! Our saving grace these past 3 months! More farms and pumpkin and apple picking done this month. Swim classes begin and that means being around 10 Saturdays in a row! This is big for us as we find ourselves always traveling. I also started to workout regularly, which helped my sanity!
October: Finally feeling settled and into a routine with personal life and professional life. Lexi loving her new daycare and loving walks around campus in her buggy. Bridal shower for one of my dearest friends! Can’t wait for the wedding! We really loved this month and soaked up a lot of family time this month!
November: enjoyed a warmer than usual November, more lazy weekends before the holiday craze. Did some Thanksgiving crafts and baking (baking big fail) and enjoyed more family time. Reunion with my grad school friends and meeting baby Ryan! So wonderful catching up and wishing they lived closer all weekend long. Another conference, but less time away from family and great bonding with coworkers. Had a great Thanksgiving at the in-laws and spent a ton of time with our niece Nadia this month. Work slowed down a bit, which I was very thankful for since the beginning was hard.
December: Stressful! We waited to long to start Christmas shopping and so we were shopping until the last minute and wrapping in the wee hours. Thankfully by the time the weekend before Christmas arrived we finished and got to enjoy some great family time! Phew! Lets not do that again next year self. Also remembering the Sandy Hook victims really put the holidays and what they are about in perspective. I ate too much, Lexi ate too many sweets, we have bags and bags of gifts from family to sift through, but I’m grateful for all the love we had in our house this week. End of December is detoxing our house and lives of the holiday and getting ready for what 2014 has in store for us…

On my tumblr blog I wrote my 2013 resolutions and here is how I did on all 5 of them:
1. Eat at the dinner table more often than not this year 50% completed. We couldn’t start this until July when we were completely moved in to our new place. Since our new place we have eaten at the table every single day. Success in my book!

2. Read 12 books this year (1 per month). 100% completed! Finished 12 books over the 12 months! I didn’t space them out 1 per month as it states as some months read 2-3 and some months zero, but they equaled out to 12! Success in my book!

3. Spend a little more time on me. 75% completed. I definitely spent more time on myself in 2013 than in 2012 with working out, mani/pedi, getting hair done, reading, adding new clothes shoes and clothes to wardrobe, and taking baths. I only gave myself 75% as there was still a big part of me that feels guilty when I do something for myself or if I am away from my family on the weekend. Something I still hope to work on in 2014, but made great strides in feeling like myself again.

4. Give back more. 30% completed. Out of all the resolutions I lost focus on this one this year. I did some charity work and gave money to some charities that are close to my heart, but this year wouldn’t be described as the year of giving. More was done than in years past, but more can always be done in this category for me.

5. Be settled by 2014 90% completed. I feel really close to being settled both professionally and personally. Our third bedroom is a hot mess still and I haven’t completed a full year at my new job yet and so there is still things to be settled in our lives. Closest we have ver been though! Yes!

I will be back with my 2014 resolutions soon…