Thursday, January 2, 2014

2013 In Review

Thanks to Susie for this nice little year in review/annual reflection activity...

1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?

  • been a mother to 3 kids
  • lived through a major home renovation including giving a presentation to the city( at 7 months pregnant) explaining why they should allow us to add onto our home
  • Visited my Dad in the hospital after he suffered a pulmonary embolism 5 days before I was admitted to have a baby.  Talk about a stressful week.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't exactly recall my goals for 2013-I know I set a goal to read a  book a month which I met! I imagine growing my business was up there last year too, and now I have a full schedule with a waiting list and an average of 15-20 inquiries a week--go me!
For 2014: 

  • The year of the house.  With our renovation scheduled to complete late January/early February we will be putting lots of time into organizing and designing our new space.  We will finish out outdoor patio project, paint the entire house inside and out, reconfigure a guest bedroom and home office, design the kid's new rooms, re-paint kitchen cabinets, and some furniture refinishing projects are all on tap.  
  • Johnny and I have set a joint goal to live more intentionally in all that we do.  Along the lines of thriving not just surviving-more quality time with our party of 5, less screen time during family time etc
  • Read 15 books-I met my goal of one a month for the past 2 years, so it's time to up the ante!
  • Run a half marathon-this is lofty, but been hanging out on my goal list for a long time and I'd really like to cross it off this year.  
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? geez..who didn't give birth this year?  Closest to home is my sis-in-law who had another girl 8 weeks before June was born.  Also, my childhood bff, Dorothy, had a baby girl about 10 days before June was born which was fun to live through the pregnancy with someone so close (also for those who knew us growing up, is it any wonder that we also had babies together?)
4. Did anyone close to you die?
  nope
5. Whose behavior merited celebration? um? mine for enduring a pregnancy, life with 3 kids, a major home renovation all while running my business from my kichen table? okay, other than me?  I can't really say my son as I found age 3 to be terribly difficult and am so glad to say good-riddance to that.  How about my wonderful husband who puts up with me during above stated stressors?
6. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?  at times my 3 year old :) and also at times, the way I lost my patience with him too quickly.  alas, parenting is so hard....
7. Who did you miss? extended family that we just don't get to see enough of...
8. Who was the best new person you met? Our June Bug 
9. Where did you travel? not much time/money/patience for this....but we did manage a few mountain get-aways with the crew that were a nice break from reality and tagged along on a business trip to Fripp Island for spring break.  
10. What would you like to have in the new year that you lacked this year? an extra 5 hours a day 
11. What dates from the year will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 23 the day my littlest one was born
12. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
 Growing our 3rd perfect, healthy little one sounds like a pretty good achievement to me.  Also, I'm pretty darn proud of how my business has grown in the past year and my growing reputation in the community.
13. What was your biggest failure? my inability to figure out how to set aside time for all my responsibilities so that my kids aren't always being pushed aside for work etc
14. Did you suffer illness or injury?  I sprained my ankle recently when I fell off a curb, but no time for mama to be laid up so I pushed on through that one and it still hurts months later.  I also have developed Mommy's thumb if that's any surprise.  I don't get sick thanks to an immune system of steel so I just wipe snotty noses nonstop and somehow remain unscathed-good thing b/c Johnny is completely lacking an immune system and is typically down with the kids.  
15. What was the best thing you bought? A new car!  Also, I guess we can count the money for the home renovation eventhough it's still ongoing
16. Where did most of your discretionary income go? discretionary income? whats that?
17. What did you get really excited about? June's arrival and becoming a family of 5
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18. Compared to this time last year, are you:
 exponentially busier in all aspects of life which I never imagined could be possible
19. What do you wish you’d done more of?
 taken more time for myself
20. What do you wish you’d done less of?
 yelling at Hank
21. What did you want and get? an upstairs!
22. What did you want and not get? a vacation
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23. How did you spend Christmas? in our home exactly how it should be
24. What was your favorite TV program? hmmm...we had a few favorites this year--Breaking Bad, Homeland, Downton Abby, Sons of Anarcy...Downton Abby seems strange in that list, doesn't it?
25. What were your favorite books of the year?  The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks-one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read.
26. What was your favorite music from this year?
  hmmm...Blurred Lines was a favorite for everyone :)
27. What song will always remind you of this year?  Gangnam Style and that darn What Does the Fox say song that Hank plays repeatedly on youtube.  
28. What were your favorite films of the year? can't say that I made it to the movies this year, and honestly can't remember the last movie I saw that was worth remembering.  I've been after Johnny to take me to see Walter  Mitty on a datenight
29. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?  uhhhh...well certainly no government officials impressed me this year...
30. What political issue stirred you the most?  As a healthcare provider and insurance biller--def Obamacare
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Well about a month before my birthday I was talking to a friend and told him that I was about to turn 31, and he responded with "I didn't realize you were a year younger than me" then I thought twice an realized I was actually turning 32-I lost a year in there somewhere!  My birthday was only 6 weeks ago, but honestly I have no recollection of the day-I think there were donuts involved though
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? more free time, more money, more space in the house
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year?  maternity, stretchy, comfortable-my fashion gig is that I throw a scarf on top of any outfit and it automatically makes it look like you tried
34. What kept you sane? wine, coffee, book club

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year.
 Learning to let go of small things, prioritizing what's actually important vs. what I used to think was important, and the classic "it is what it is". 








Bring it on 2014! We added new family members in 2012 and 2013 and in 2014 we're adding 800 sq feet--hard to say what's more exciting :)

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