Happy New Year! I can't believe we are starting another new year. Didn't we just celebrate New Year's 2019??? As I look back on the year past I am so grateful for the blessing of sweet, happy Aiden joining our family. Life got busy this fall trying to balance home life & getting used to our new normal with 4 little ones creating chaos with a busy work life, so I didn't have much time to work on this blog. I absolutely love our crazy kids, and wouldn't trade a second with them-even if that means sometimes the things I want to do for me don't always happen. I've sat down a few times over the past 2 weeks to try and write this post but thanks to busy call nights, sick kids needing extra snuggles, and traveling for work I never managed to actually finish it. Better late than never though, so here we are...
Personally I have always had a love/hate relationship with New Years Resolutions. Every year Ali and I come up with a list of 1 year, 5 year and 10 year goals for ourselves personally and professionally. It's fun to look back at the prior lists we've made and see what we've accomplished and what we haven't, as well as to see how our dreams and goals have grown and changed as we've grown as a family.
I love the idea of a new year and a new chance to set goals for yourself, but I think it's something we should continually strive to do. No matter what day of the year it actually is, I believe it's important that we regularly take a few minutes to reflect back on our actions, look ahead to our dreams, make plans and take necessary steps to achieve those goals. I originally found this quote this online a few years ago, and immediately was drawn to it. I thinks it's a great tool we can all use to push ourselves to live our best lives.
Around New Years, I always try to look back at this quote in relation to the past year and ask myself have I done these things? Have I been active? Have I tried new things? Am I choosing to be happy? Have I said "I love you" enough? Did I challenge myself? If the answer to a question above is yes, that's great. But, if I answer with a no or realized I haven't done one of those things on that list, I try to take a step back and look at why not. For example if I find myself saying 'no, I haven't enjoyed today', then I need to step back and find out why, and what can I do differently going forward to do that instead.
For me some of these things are easier than others. I tend to be a very optimistic person and try to always see the good in a situation or in another individual. Other things on this list are much harder for me. I hope and pray that I can continually grow and push myself to accomplish everything on this list so one day I can look back and say yes, I feel like I've done those things pretty well this week/month/year.
One way I want to challenge myself this year, is to truly get back to this blog. Working on it brings me joy because it is something I can do for myself, challenges me to try new recipes and foods, keeps our family eating healthy, and is fun to cook with Ali and the kids. I am hoping I can add at least one new recipe a week. Now its time to get cooking!
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