Looking Back

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." ~Benjamin Franklin 

If you asked me before I really sat down to think about it, I would have said that my accomplishment for the year was just surviving!  It was a tough one.  I don't make New Year's Resolutions because life happens and often resolutions are not measurable and aren't practical for implementing over a year.  I use the website 43 Things to track my goals and accomplishments.  I challenge you to make some goals and see how many of them you work on this year!  You can see my goals in the right sidebar...

I rang in the new year of 2009 as an extremely uncomfortable pregnant lady.  I had tremendous amounts of pelvic pain from the weight of the baby and I consequently spent a lot of time with my wonderful chiropractor Dr Anna Madland.  I gave birth to a baby who screamed 7 hours out of every day for 8 weeks, and forgot what a night of uninterrupted sleep was like.  I lost 2 great aunts (Mema's only 2 living sisters) in about 6 months time.  Our dog got cancer and we rang in 2010 with the probability of his death looming.

When I really looked back, though, I realized that we still had a pretty incredible year!  We lived on a budget for the first time this year and paid off about a ton of debt!  We no longer have school loans, credit card debt or car payments!  We added a member to our family, and while he rocked the boat quite a bit, he is SUCH a joy!!!  I learned to make yogurt, I sewed more (until the baby came) and we ended Eden's paci habit.  We made an offer on a house (it was accepted) and began preparing for a move.  We did some fierce de-cluttering, had a yard sale, donated lots of stuff to the Goodwill, re-did a bathroom, and put the house on the market.  I did a lot of teaching and hope that I have been making a difference in the lives of women and families through birth education.

Looking forward, some of our family goals for the year are to finish paying off our debt (besides the mortgage), continuing to simplify our lives, save 3-6 months of living expenses, and several others!  We are hoping for a new year of goals met.  I hope yours are met, as well!