1. What did you do in 2017 that you'd never done before? Visited Chicago! New favorite city. Spent 9 days away from our kids on another trip- that was a little too long. Rode in a boat underneath a waterfall. Rented a bounce house for a birthday party. Went to see Macklemore with my younger cousin Gavin.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? We crossed off all but 3 items on our year long To-Do list. I'm making a new list this year and luckily it seems to have much more fun projects on it than in previous years. My other goals are monthly date night; with the ultimate goal to get to bi-weekly by the end of the year. Also to practice re-framing my thinking to be kinder to myself.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Rachel had her beautiful third baby Ryan Avery! And Jess had her second daughter- Jackie Jean! :)
4. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully again, no.
5. What countries did you visit? Argentina! We went to Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires. We met 3 other couples and just got along so well that we are planning a reunion even though we all live in different states. Almost took a Taxi into Brazil. Almost took a Ferry over to Uruguay. Almost!!
6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017? Balance between working from home and being a stay at home mom, this year I seemed to let them overlap way too much. I don't want the girls to have to try hard to get my attention.
7. What date from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 17th because it was our 10th Anniversary. We were in Chicago and Bean pulled out a beautiful vintage style ring as a gift and then we went to an amazing restaurant called Boka for dinner where we spent four hours enjoying a tasting menu, including head cheese and fois gras along with the wine pairing. We laughed so much, and had a blast with the waiter.
9. What was your biggest failure? I yelled at my kids. It's something nobody talks about. I don't want to do it and I try to stop but I don't quite recognize what my triggers are. So part of being kinder to myself means recognizing when I'm at my limit before I cross over into yelling territory.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not specifically, although I do think my hormones were out of whack part of the time.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Hamilton Tickets
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Abigail. She has really taken to being a big sister and is good about sharing her big feelings, even when they are uncomfortable.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Nobody this year. What a weird question... other people can't really make you feel that way unless you just want to.
14. Where did most of your money go? Repairing the foundation on the house; landscaping the front flower beds; and into savings for future projects. Refinancing our mortgage to shave off years and interest and reduce the monthly amount.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Going to see Hamilton in Chicago! Once the lights went down, I was so excited I couldn't even calm down to be in the moment and it seemed like the show went by way too fast. It was incredible. I've never noticed the choreography of a show before but that's what stood out to me since I already knew every musical nuance going into it.
16. What song will always remind you of 2017? Any kind of Tango music!
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? happier day by day
ii. thinner or fatter? thinner
iii. richer or poorer? richer
18. Is there anything you wish you'd done more of? sleep and yoga
19. Is there anything you wish you'd done less of? Worry and over analyze things
20. Where will you be spending the Holidays? We spent 4 days before Christmas down in Houston; we visited family and a couple of friends, had a nice dinner, and ran into an old school friend at the mall!
21. Any athletic achievements? I went on a walk one evening and ran a few blocks a few different times.
22. Did you fall in love in 2017? Yes. On our Anniversary Dinner. We were able to just be ourselves with no outside pressure. The way it was when we met.
23. How many one-night stands? none
24. What was your favorite TV program? The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu; Big Little Lies on HBO Go, This Is Us, and Project Runway.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah, it's not worth my time.
26. What was the best book you read? I just finished a suspenseful story called 'Don't Become Alarmed' about some kids who go missing on a family cruise. I couldn't put it down! Also currently unable to put down the memoir of a girl who's the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS who is in prison for sex crimes against children. I'm glad I was able to wrap up the year with two good books because I gave up on at least 5 books this year, which is weird for me. Usually when I start reading, I finish it.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? The soundtrack to Big Little Lies. The songs they chose went perfectly with the mood of the show in the moment.
28. What did you want and get? A weighted blanket. How did I ever relax without it?
-What did you get but forgot you wanted? A new stick vacuum. I can't wait to finish remodeling our laundry room to go hang it up and plug it in!
29. What did you want and not get? A winning lottery ticket. I bought three for stocking stuffers, and one was a big ticket one and I was convinced we would be millionaires by the end of scratching everything off. We didn't even win one dollar.
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Coco!
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 34. Bean took me on a date night where I got to wear a pink lace dress from RTR; we started in the early afternoon with a couple of drinks and some sushi; then went to a movie at the Angelika- the movie was laughably terrible! and finally dinner at The Keeper where we had some awesome seafood and Aquavit Gimlets and watched some couple making out at the bar- it was so obvious that lots of other tables were watching them too and we all had a laugh when they finally left.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If I felt that the money we spent on the house made a big difference in how things look. I know it's important to fix the foundation and all that but it's not glamorous. And I hate spending money on landscaping. I want it to look a certain way but I don't want to spend several grand getting it that way.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017? I tried something new this year: Rent The Runway. I rented outfits for our two trips and for the two months in between I rented clothes to wear out to dinner with my friends. It was really fun trying new things like a fur vest, a sequined dress, and vegan leather pants.
34. What kept you sane? Frequent phone chats with my favorite friends; and weekly dinners out with friends; planning Francie's First Fiesta birthday party- and it was a great party!
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Macklemore, because he is funny and the same age as me. I feel like we could be friends.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Voting in the local elections. All of them, even the runoff. I wonder what it would be like to run for office.
37. Who did you miss? Liz of course; and Donna. Francie said some interesting things this year about Pop and pointing at her rocking chair. I pointed to a picture of Pop paw Hanna and she said 'huh' which means yes. So we think maybe he came to say hi to her. She's said it several times now.
38. Who was the best new person you met? They are technically not new; but in music class with Francie, I found out that a girl I enjoyed talking to in prenatal yoga when I was pregnant with Francie was in our class; plus the librarian we used to see every week when Abby was younger was in the class as well! I loved that connection, and I hope to grow those friendships in 2018. Also I should add the leader of Tinkergarten, which we started this year because she inspired me to be a calm mom. And her six year old son, who was so kind and fun.
39. Rate this year on a scale of 1-10: 7. I wanted to say 8 but then I remembered the landscaping and foundation stuff. hahaha!
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