Skip to main content

I See You, 2019


Hello 2019, a fresh year... full of things that have never been. - Rainer Maria Rilke

Oh the joy of a fresh year! My favorite thing to do on New Year's Day each year is to explore the adventures we want to embark on during the next 12 months and pencil them in on a fresh new wall calendar. It's one of my favorite Christmas presents under the tree each year that I give to myself. A fresh new Susan Branch, Gooseberry Patch or Mary Engelbreit calendar. It makes my heart giddy. Simple things, peeps, simple things.

I think it goes back to my sweet mama. She always gave me a new calendar each year for Christmas. I miss her deeply, but I feel like she delights up in heaven each December as she sees which one I pick for the year ahead and how we fill it as a family.

Now in the few days before New Years Eve, I ponder the year past and my word of the year ahead. This year's word is conquer, and because I can't play by the rules with a single word, two supporting words, contemplate and celebrate. More to come on why those words and what I plan to do with them soon.

Then I take the first week of the New Year to read and ponder. To be still and recharge. To push reset. The table next to our bed is chocked full of great books, two journals and a pen. Just add a cup of coffee or tea (and I so wish a few pretty snow flakes dancing outside the window) and ready to get cozy and ponder. I've already been dabbling these last few days and flipping through and making notes. Oh and reading a few of my favorite digital publications too. Watch for an upcoming list of all my favorite online places for food for thought very soon. They'll all just too good not to share with all of you.

This year I'm adding something new into the mix. I'm picking a saint to study for the year. I've always loved reading about the lives of the saints and sharing about them with our children and my religious education classes that I've taught over the years, but I've never taken a whole year to dive into the life of a single saint. I've picked St. Therese of Lisieux (aka The Little Flower) for 2019. I can't wait to see what unfolds from walking along and reading about her life this year.

Now the thing that is giving me a bit of anxiety. Not for the usual reasons that impending birthdays do for a woman of my age, but because I made a certain list of must to-do adventures and I only have two short months until time is up to accomplish them. I know I could roll over some to a new list, but I put weight to THIS list. Pressure of my own doing, and I truly want to see how many of the items I can knock off this list before the big 40 hits. So I better roll my sleeves up and get to work, right peeps?!

What else to look for in 2019 on the blog? A bit of a refresh and some organization. Feeling a bit of a hot mess in the organization arena with all that swirls in my head that I'd love to share with you. I do editorial calendars for all my clients - um where is my editorial calendar? Sigh... Added to the list. More embracing of joyful simple everyday living and imperfect living, but also a bit of talking about the hard things too. A sweet friend reminded me of my own words to her many years back and oh did I need the reminder this last month: Never fast forward. Savor each moment. There are blessings in even the most difficult moments. 

Cheers to 2019, peeps! I can't wait to see what fun Coach Man, the hooligans and I can get into this year.

Oh and because I think it's fun to see what last year's most read blog post was - you all seemed to love this one. Go figure. I was pretty raw in it - seems peeps like diving into the hard stuff. Enjoy a look back - Girls Like Me Don't.

-Jen

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Experience Gifts | Goldfish Swim School Holiday Package

This post is brought to you by Goldfish Swim School, and has a sweet chance for a holiday giveaway at the bottom, so keep reading (and swimming) friends. Have a little fish that you'd love to help become a more confident and independent swimmer before next summer? Did you know it can take up to a year of weekly lessons for that to happen for most little ones? Goldfish Swim School has a great way to help, and it's the perfect non-toy, "experience" gift for the holidays! The gift of swim lessons and water safety! This year’s Goldfish Swim School holiday packages are oh so fun to open too! We all know littles don't really love an envelope with a gift certificate under the tree. And THIS gift package is filled to the brim with goodies like 2 months of group swim lessons, 4 family swim passes, Goldfish goggles, Bubbles bath toy, a Goldfish tote and the new FIRST-EVER Goldfish story book, "The Fish Who Wouldn't Swim." The packages start at $1

My Greatest Challenge | Faith Friday

My nephew texted earlier this week and asked if he could interview me for a homework project. Little did I know the question coming wasn't an easy one, and it would bring tears and hard memories. He said he was supposed to ask someone over 30 and not his parents about the biggest challenge in their life. I advised I'd need a bit to think on that. It didn't take long. I was able to pinpoint it easily. Infertility. Growing up I always knew I wanted to be a mom. I never knew it wouldn't come easy. Coach Man and I struggled for five years to have a child. During our struggle, I often couldn't understand why God was withholding my heart's desires and how other women, made a choice, and just threw away the gift of motherhood like no biggie. What I would have given for that child that they didn't want. Hey, girl, over here! Give it to me. I'll love the heck out of that baby! Really, I will. During those years, all I could see around me was pregnan

Faith Friday | Cycle of Defeat

Things just got real, peeps. Okay they've been real for quite some time, but dang, they just got really real. I was trying to be adult-like and make sure we had the proper level of life insurance for our family, as the big 40 rolls in this month. Guess what? I got rejected - yep, rejected due to my weight/build. No talking to my doctor, no taking my stats and testing my blood and pee. They decided purely on weight and build. Hmmm... okay God, it was amusing last week when you gave me fresh content for my planned Faith Friday series on hard things , but this week I was pretty sure I had the cycle of defeat topic covered. Guess not. So I'm short. I'm not petite and dainty. I'm short and a plus mama. I can remember being an average weight in my youth years, but that pretty much ended when I hit adolescence. Past 12, it was ALWAYS a struggle. Looking back, it was probably tied to the imbalanced hormones and insulin resistance of PCOS, plus the intense cravings for carb