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 →

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 →

When it came to health goals for 2019 I couldn't get excited about committing to any one health habit. And so I picked 12! Here's how it will work: for each month of 2019 I will challenge myself to do a healthy habit every day, and each month will have a different habit challenge. The habits aren't cumulative so when the month is done I can stop doing pushups, stop tracking my food, whatever. I'll only focus only on the current month's challenge. In coming up with the 12 different ideas I wanted to pick challenges that were do-able enough... Read more →

Happy 2019! Among my book club we joke about how excited I am on the morning of our annual retreats waiting to leave: up since 5 a.m., grin plastered on my face, cup of coffee in hand. That's pretty much how I feel about heading into the new year with my list of goals to go with it. Goals and fresh starts are my jam. Read more →

Every year I love the holiday season: the lights, the music, the time with family, and slowing down. I savored all of that this year but I might be enjoying the post-Christmas, pre-New Year's week even more. Chris and I have been in major decluttering and organizing mode this week, which always seems to find us after Christmas with the influx of new stuff. This year our efforts have matched up nicely with the stretches of independent play from the boys, courtesy of new Christmas toys. (Although there's been plenty of fighting, too!) We spent yesterday morning taking down all... Read more →

I always look forward to the fresh feeling of a new year but this year I felt especially eager to put the past year behind us. Although it was a really good year for our family overall, parts of the fall semester were pretty stressful with Chris's new (more demanding) leadership role at work. And throughout the year, the state of our country and of the world weighed on me more than ever before. And so, usually I like to let Christmas linger but this year I was craving that slightly sparse feeling in the house when the tree, garland,... Read more →