New Years Refelection 2014/2015

I'm so proud of myself for doing these four years running! 

Here are my former reflections:
2011/2012
2012/2013
2013/2014

What did you create?

• A Dakota Forrest Harrison
• I began writing 2 stories: one unnamed one that Calvin made up in a dream, and one called To find an island, which is social media based
• Feeding the Wolfe: a cookbook for kids, just need the illustrations and I can go to print/ e-book publishing
• A capsule wardrobe
• 52 weekly menu plans & grocery lists

What challenges did you face with courage and strength?

• Pumping breast milk for Dakota, I've never been a pumper: it's hard!
• Losing Papa Ed
• Feeding 200 people at our church's summer BBQ (pulled pork tacos), catering the Christmas Eve Service (cookies, snacks & an espresso bar)

What promises did you keep? 

• Wear a seatbelt, proper carseat usage
• Show up to work
• Natural birth
• The rest I can't say ;)

What brave choices did you make?

• Returning to work after 10 months of maternity leave
• I drove all the way to the cottage by myself 
• A number of encounters with patients at our mental health care building
• Taking Oliver to emerg because of his face injury
• Breastfeeding despite the biting that comes along with teething

What are you proud of?

•  We bought a home, it looks incredible
• I put up all of the blinds except 1 window
• I built a bathroom cabinet and a kitchen pantry
• How wonderful my family is
• My younger sister getting a great job and her own apartment

What was disappointing?

• Not being chosen for an internal posting I hoped for
• Realizing I'm a better mother than I am a wife, must try harder

What was scary?

• Oliver's last year as a non-school age child
• Sleeping alone when Calvin was away at the studio
• Cutting all my hair off, but not that scary

What was hard?

• Waking up at 5am, eating breakfast at 5:15am, driving at 5:30am
• Showering, when you have two kids who need attention
• Sleeping, in general
• Moving

What can you forgive yourself for?

• Everything
• I forgive myself for the amount of chocolate I've eaten
• I forgive myself for not getting the kids outside to play when it's freezing cold
• I forgive myself for having terrible fashion sense

The next step is to say out loud, “I declare 2014 complete!”

How do you feel?

I'll be honest, I didn't do it.

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

Mine last year was: “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.”

My intention this year is to find a routine. That I can see a week and know our rhythm. To reduce the chaos. For my children to feel secure in where they'll be and who will care for them every day of the week. To always pack my lunches, pull out my clothes and have my bags ready for the day ahead. To snuggle my two treasures constantly, and be amazed by them, and listen every time they're talking, and never chose a screen over them. To write them emails to read in the future, and take pictures of everything. To find out who they are, what they need, what drives them and what exhausts them, and how I can make them better, every day. To invest in them and model what a good person is like, so that they can say that I was a positive example in their lives. And to ship them off to bed at a reasonable hour so that I can spend one-on-one time with the only man I need be spending one-on-one time with. To actively do things to make it known that he is special. To never leave him seeking for attention, compliments or approval. To give credit where credit is due, and then even extra where it's not. To give more than I receive. To over-praise and under-complain. To be a treat and a joy to be around, 99% of the time. And to myself: to get enough sleep, enough water, enough activity, enough greens, enough alone time, to be my very best at almost-all times.

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.