We sailed past the year's half-way point in early July. At the time, I was too immersed in summer and preparing for my new workshop to reflect on my 2024 goals. But I don't want to miss the chance to check in. At the year's halfway point (or thereabouts) I can see where I'm making progress, and where I'm not. For goals I'm not making progress on I can decide if I'll commit to making them happen, perhaps with a different approach than I've tried before, or if it's time to let something go. So, let's check in! Here's an... Read more →

More than halfway through January and I think I'm finally feeling the rhythm of the new year. We seem to be making progress on the parenting hard stuff I mentioned and will keep at it. Chris and I have been revisiting and tweaking some family routines like screen time, manners at the dinner table, and chores which has me feeling like we're righting a listing ship. And I'm finding everyday routines again for my work as well as laundry, dinner, and tidying which all felt quite out of sorts over the holidays. It feels like a good tidying of sorts... Read more →

Team Wharton on the last day of 2023! At the end of 2022 I wrote myself a quick email to be delivered at the end of the year. It arrived in my inbox yesterday. I wrote briefly about "what's great right now" and "what's hard right now" and hoped for my future self that the hard stuff would be less so by this time. And a few of the hard things do feel better! At this time last year we were carrying the disappointment of Chris not getting sabbatical which Chris has now processed and put behind him. I was... Read more →

July 2 was the half-way point of the year which got me thinking about checking in on my 2023 goals. Here's what I said I'd accomplish and how I'm doing if you'd like to see... Personal care & growth + Read 80 books. Rocking this one and loving it. I always feel happier when I'm reading good books. I'm in a great reading groove and have already finished 63 books this year. So I'll definitely surpass my goal and I bet will finish 100 books or more this year. Looking ahead: I like to always have an audiobook and a... Read more →

I had hoped to get our annual family photo by now but alas! So this one from New Year's Eve will have to suffice. On the first Monday of the year, when all three kids were back in school and daycare, Chris and I embarked on a house-wide power delcuttering. It was just what I needed to banish the slightly tired and blah feeling I was carrying into the new year. When we were done we had donated, sold, or gifted bags and bags of things we no longer needed, the kids' closets were tidy and had empty space to... Read more →

It's time to say goodbye to 2022. I'm in an end-of-year contemplative mood and am enjoying listening to podcast episodes and reading blog posts reflecting on the year. There are so many highlights and changes to celebrate from this past year. Some of the good changes brought challenges too, like relocating to a new city for a month and being out of our routines, living through a whole-home renovation, and keeping up with an ever-changing toddler and our big boys. Reflecting on the past year helps me to see and celebrate growth and accomplishments, big and small. This practice also... Read more →

Hey, 2022! Come on in. And please behave yourself; we've had some trouble with your predecessors. This blog started with a post about my goals for 2011 so writing this annual post always reminds me of sending my words out into the internet for the very first time. I'm so glad that I did. Keeping up the practice of reflecting, setting goals and intentions, and capturing my thoughts on life as it happens has helped me to live more intentionally, to find community with people who I would otherwise never be able to connect with, and has lead to other... Read more →

Since my first blog post on January 1, 2011 I've been putting an exclamation point on my new year posts. While I can't stand to break the tradition I'm not sure I'm feeling quite as excited as that exclamation point. Excited to leave all the hard parts of 2020 behind? YES. But living through 2020 (plus not being done with the pandemic yet) has not left me with the same new year energy that I usually have. It's more like a sigh of relief but we don't have a punctuation for that. And of course the year has already brought... Read more →

New year, new DECADE. Hello 2020! I'm always excited for a new year but I feel especially good about 2020. The number itself is so nicely symmetrical which makes me happy. Plus can you believe we get to live in the year 2020?! I can remember sitting in elementary school and having to figure out how old we'd be in 2000, 2010, and 2020. I can't remember if I had any specific thoughts about what I might be doing at 36 in 2020. It was probably pretty unimaginable to 11-year old me. I bet I thought 36 seemed really old.... Read more →

At the end of 2019 On the first day of 2019 – Cedric's face changed from toddler-ish to little boy this year I feel so reflective this time of year and in that spirit I reread my 2018 wrap up post, which I close in this way: "We'll be asleep well before midnight and everyone in our house will be awake before the sun rises for the first time in 2019. It'll be like any day in our house and yet it will feel like 365 new days have been unrolled like a carpet ahead of us. I wonder where... Read more →