year in review

i do believe we are amazing. we being you and me.

as i reflect on the past year i can't help but wonder how we made it through with a smile.

this same time last year i felt hopeful. 2008 was hard and 2009 was going to be a year of positive changes. i was a little bit naive. sure, there were changes and some of the changes were positive but many were tough.

change is usually tough but necessary for growth.

in the end, i am grateful that our struggles were mostly financial. we have our health and each other. by some miracle, we have our home.

i quit my job. jake quit his job and began a new one.

i'm learning to see (and feel) the significance of what i get to do every day and that is being a mother to my children, a wife to my husband and the keeper of our home.

jake is learning that there is a world of opportunity waiting for him. if things hadn't gotten so bad, he would have never left what he now knows was a dead end job.

it was a year of waiting for good news. sometimes my persistence and assertive ways are annoying but this year, they were useful.

i lost 45 pounds.

jake stood up for himself and he successfully coached little league baseball without making any of the kids cry.

cayden learned to read.

brooklyn endured a broken nose, surgery and stitches.

gavin learned to walk and say "see ya!"

two weddings, two new sisters.

a trip to hawaii!!

in review, it was a good year and i have a feeling that it will be the kind of year i am grateful for having had experienced.

2010 looks good.

i'm especially excited to meet my first nephew.

for 2009 i resolved to make a few changes. remember?

maybe i didn't do so great with my first goal. i am not sure i will ever be able to not yell at my kids. but ... i'm going to keep working on that one. the office and the garage are de-cluttered. the yard sale happened and was a success. grocery shopping with coupons was short lived once i realized the majority of coupons available are for foods that do not support a healthy lifestyle. the goal changed to budgeting more for groceries and less for unnecessary things like new clothes for mommy. we stuck to a budget, it wasn't an option and unfortunately, neither was saving money but we're working on getting there. my husband is my boyfriend. my boyfriend is my husband. the laundry is never ending and sometimes i get too busy to put it away right away but for the most part, i was a laundry rock star this year. i read books. a lot of books. one of my favorites was the good earth. for some reason i stopped writing directly to the kids. i'm not sure why or that i'll start again.

tomorrow is a new year and this means i should have a new set of goals and i do. it will be the first year in a long time that i will not resolve to lose weight. phew. but i do resolve to maintain my weight and this lifestyle that i enjoy ...

i have other goals too ...

one :: i will run a marathon this year.

two :: introduce more legumes to my diet. move towards eliminating meat.

three :: hold a focused family night once a week

four :: read to and/or with my kids more

five :: one book a month (or more)

six :: take my vitamins every day

seven :: yoga once a week at a minimum

eight :: focus on breathing and being patient

nine :: hug more

ten :: save $$ every month for christmas. somehow we managed to do this throughout the year and it took a lot of stress out of christmas this year.

happy new year all!