“The beginning is always today.” -Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

It is 2018! A new year, a new gift of time, the gift of refreshment & new beginnings. Hooray!

Looking back over my year of 2017, I can truly say that some beautiful things happened. If you read my last post which broke down our year I think it is pretty rad to see how many GOOD THINGS were woven into the threads of our daily life! We are blessed, friends, that’s without a doubt. 2017 was not a perfect year, it still held lots of hard days & moments that were full of tears & frustration, lots of moments with feeling raw. However, even on those days, beauty came. Grace came. Hope came. It showed up. And when hope arrives, it is a welcome breath of fresh air, a lifeline to grab onto & so we do! We get up, grateful for life abundant, even with the hard days & sadness that is unavoidable in this journey on earth. Hope arrives & we say YES. We say yes & THANK YOU JESUS. I am so grateful for the King of Heaven who scoops us up on the hard days & shows us that beauty really does come from the ashes. I don’t know what life would be like without Him, without hope, without looking up & seeing beauty. It is so redemptive, so necessary!

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

With that, I wanted to reflect back on my goals & prayers for the year of 2017 & how it all panned out. My theme for the year was INTENTIONALITY. I can say that that theme carried throughout the year, in all areas of my life. It called me to a higher standard of using my time wisely & operating with intention in my relationships, with the work of my hands, with my prayer life, with the way I had conversations with my kiddos & husband, etc. It was important to me, so I made sure to focus on it. To live with that as a foundation of my days. Another goal of mine was to read through the entire Bible in the calendar year again. I did not do this. I made it through 3/4, but didn’t complete this goal. To be honest, this was hard for me. It was hard because I am a goal oriented person & because I was able to do this the year before. I started to beat myself up about this in about October until I brought it before the Lord. I felt a release & freedom once I laid it at His feet. After that happened, I continued to read the Word with joy, even though my goal was not met. What I love about the Word is that it is food, it brings life. It isn’t designed to be something we trudge through or simply put on a list to accomplish. It is SO MUCH more than that! I am grateful for all of the hours I did spend getting fed, they are never wasted. Another goal for me was to speak encouragement daily over my tribe, which I was consistent with & want to continue to be. I also wanted to do yoga weekly & eat more raw foods, which I also consistently did & went beyond that with my physical fitness both while I was pregnant & after. I am proud of myself for taking care of my body & being consistent with fitness & eating raw foods. I feel great, I know that my body is healthy & I am so grateful that I was capable of working out all the way until Sebastian was born. That level of fitness helped me after I took a 2 month break to recover from giving birth by getting back into shape quickly. I am strong & I am so glad that I am healthy! Smiling more was another goal & I’m not sure I totally succeeded at that either. I know that I smiled, but I definitely could have smiled even more. I was successful with doing preschool consistently with Eliana & Cora & we are enjoying getting back into our second semester this last week! I also wanted to have a healthy pregnancy, delivery & baby in 2017 which I did! Sebastian was definitely the top highlight of our year. We moved into our new home & made it a haven, which was another goal. I am continuing to do this, even being in it for 10 months now, it is a work in progress. I also wanted to spend more time playing with my littles. I can happily say that I did prioritize this! At the beginning of our school year, I felt like the Lord gave me the word PLAY for our school year. That has been foundational in all of our school days & beyond. Making date nights a habit & going on a babymoon were two goals that we didn’t fully accomplish. We did date, but not enough. This year that is a top priority for us. We also chose to forgo a babymoon, because we opted to save our money to go towards a trip to Cabo San Lucas this summer. Woo Woo! We are thrilled. The last two goals I had for 2017 were to journal & to learn to knit. I don’t think I touched my journal once.  So that was a fail. BUT- I did learn to knit!! I am very proud of myself for accomplishing this goal. As I sit here typing this, my knitting bag is sitting right next to me with an almost finished hat for Noah in it. I successfully knit an infinity scarf for my girls to share, a newborn hat to put on Sebastian at the hospital & now this hat for Noah! It may not seem like much, but I have spend hours & hours & have grown into a knitter. Even the students at the school where I sub have watched my skills improve as the year went on! Yes, I am that teacher who pulls out her knitting while her students are doing independent work. I even had some students start bringing their own knitting or crocheting gear & join me during free time. It was fun. I have to give a shout out to my amazing friend Aimee who taught me with her master skills. Thank you friend! My verse for 2017 was Philippians 4:8, which could truly be a life verse for any & all people. It is excellent.

When I reflect back on 2017, there are countless things to be thankful for. Just a few that I want to share are as follows:

-Growing our tribe (yay SEBASTIAN!)

-Moving into our new home

-Health for our family (& celebrating being 5 years cancer free!)

-Cora potty training so easily

-Jobs we love

-Food on the table

-Learning to knit

-Family trips & adventures

-Lots of walks & hikes

-Dance parties

-Laughter

-Yoga, working out, staying fit

-The funny things my kids say

-Our cozy wood burning stove

-Staying stress free

-Family worship nights

-Having my sister & her family home for 5 months

-Watching my kids learn & grow & thrive

-Deepening friendships

-Preschool with the girls

-The unrelenting love of the Father

-And so so so so so much more.

“Celebrate what you want to see more of.” -Tom Peters

 

Now for:

2018 Goals & Prayers

-Smile more.

-Stay unoffended, keep my heart clean & light.

-Have better posture.

-Read my Bible as my daily bread.

-Be in more pictures with my family.

-(Re)Learn how to sew.

-Date my husband.

-Read the Little House on the Prairie series.

-Waste less.

-Travel nationally & internationally.

-Have monthly individual time (dates) with my kiddos.

-Maintain my healthy habits with nutrition & physical activity.

-Have a garden.

-Deepening peace, love, grace, kindness & understanding.

Word/Theme for 2018

RIVER OF LIFE

Verse for 2018

“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love.” -Psalms 33:18

“Your success & happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, & your joy & you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” -Helen Keller

 

Cheers,

Katie.