A New Years Reflection (2013/2014)

Here is my 2012/2013 Reflection and my 2011/2012 Reflection.

What did you create?

•  A new baby!
• Some Ikea furniture
• More recipes for the blog
• A wonderful new career at the hospital

What challenges did you face with courage and strength?

• Driving on black ice
• Presenting a seminar at the Birth & Beyond Conference (so many people!)

What promises did you keep? 

• Don't text and drive
• Email Oliver's secret email address regularly so he can read them when he's older

What brave choices did you make?

• To wake up when I have to work at 6am

What are you proud of?

• Presenting at the Birth and Beyond Conference 

What was disappointing?

• Blowing a tire the weekend that Calvin was away with his band

What was scary?

• Driving to St. Thomas in the snow
• A television audition (secret!) 

What was hard?

• Being pregnant while breastfeeding a toddler
• Being pregnant even once your toddler is weaned

What can you forgive yourself for?

• Gaining 25 pounds? Ha ha. 

The next step is to say out loud, “I declare 2013 complete!”
How do you feel? If you don’t feel quite right, there might be one more thing to say…

Like a fraud because I didn't do it. (What? There are a bunch of people around!) 

The final step is to consider your primary focus for the year to come. What is your primary intention or theme for 2014?

“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”

A New Year's Reflection

I did this reflection last year - see here.

What did you create?

• A whole new extension of our family with the addition of international students into our home (Pedro, Ahmed, Mohammed, Aziz and soon Felipe)

What challenges did you face with courage and strength?

• Going back to work, part-time
• Taking a switch to full-time work
• Returning to the part-time position
• Other pretty significant, but private, matters 

What promises did you keep? 

• Like last year, to never text and drive
• To volunteer in the church nursery

What brave choices did you make?

• I presented at the YMCA's annual Fitness Jam

What are you proud of?

• My family
• My home
• My choices

What was disappointing?

• Well, just in the past five minutes: when Oliver threw his pasta all over the floor, when I bent down to clean it up and he threw a spoon at my head, when my pot boiled over on the stove
• When my blue pants ripped
• When our car's steering was the worst 

What was scary?

• Everytime Oliver chokes on food
• Driving on black ice
• Sleeping without Cal while his band was recording out of town 

What was hard?

• Cooking while carrying a toddler

What can you forgive yourself for?

• Ruining my Blackberry by letting Oliver play with it - and throw it in the toilet
• Ruining my digital camera by leaving it in my purse - and it turned on and broke the lens
• Ruining my Keurig by NOTHING - it's just programmed to die after the warantee is up 

The next step is to say out loud, “I declare 2012 complete!”
How do you feel? If you don’t feel quite right, there might be one more thing to say…

It doesn't even feel like a new year.

The final step is to consider your primary focus for the year to come. What is your primary intention or theme for 2013?

To better my career without sacrificing my family life/spiritual health.