2018: Year In Review

Because I'm always thinking about writing and being a writer and ideas of things to write about and then I just let the busyness of little kids and school and working from home and taking care of my house get completely in the way of my favorite way to express myself. Maybe I can improve in 2019. 

Wait, did I just come up with my first New Year's Resolution?!

Also because I checked in and it will have been a full year since my last post. Weird.

1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before? Had a kid in Kindergarten, became a Girl Scout Leader, walked to and from school almost every day (this is 40 minutes of exercise a day!), packed a lunch for at least one kid every week day, and a couple of medical things that are a little private to share- one for me and one for one of my kids. haha! Also I learned about Ayurveda which is Eastern Medicine at a workshop; I learned that I'm classified as a Vata which is Air/Space and it really makes a lot of my life make more sense. I also realize that talking about it makes me sound so weird. 

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? This year we crossed off the most items on our To-Do list that we ever have! The Monthly date night we get a solid D. The first several months were great, we had some fun outings... and then I had some health things come up and we ended up on a longer than anticipated break (6 months!). Don't worry, we finished out the year strong with November and December dates!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! I now have two sweet Maddie's in my life: Madelyn Anh who belongs to Melissa and Madison Jewel who belongs to Elissa! Also my friend Brittney added her 5th child: John Elton to her family.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Liz's dad passed a few months ago. It was a sad reason to be around her lovely family. 

5. What countries did you visit? Portugal! Definitely not somewhere we planned to ever go, but we were awarded the trip again this year and couldn't turn it down. It was a beautiful country and we had one particularly adventurous and fun day!

6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?  A calm mind- more control over my thoughts, or the ability to observe and let them go instead of reacting to every one. 

7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? September 15th, it was the day we went on an adventure in Portugal. We got on a train with no tickets because it was the only one going to the little town we wanted to be in for the day. We went there with a couple of new friends that we met just a couple of days prior. We explored Evora, ate lunch in an outdoor café, walked through the hilly cobblestone streets, and talked about anything that came to mind. Went to the roof of a castle, saw an ossuary- a bone church- made with human bones, and I finally realized that it was Bud's 35th birthday. She was on my mind as always, but she would have LOVED the adventure that day. 

9. What was your biggest failure? Spanking Francine while she learned to sleep in a big girl bed. She is so strong willed and I'm so stubborn that her testing limits combined with my need to get a break was a bad mix. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's, an autoimmune condition that affects the way the thyroid works. I've probably had it for years and had no idea what the root cause of my thyroid issues were, but I'm glad to know now and continuing on the healthy path. I had to go through an elimination diet to find the root cause (it's gluten and dairy), and now I'm on a paleo diet forever and feeling great. The only bad part is ordering at restaurants and how people eat gluten free as a way to lose weight, so there's a little stigma there. I've definitely been in situations where gluten is in foods that are supposed to be free from it and I'm sick for a few days afterward. 

11. What was the best thing you bought? The vintage door we plan to fix up and hang in our master bathroom

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Scott as always, he just knows how to balance me out. 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Sweet Francine. I'm laughing as I write this because she is the cutest child, with the sweetest voice, and she is also VERY good at showing me where my faults are and what I need to do to help her. Like removing all of the furniture from her room so she can feel comfortable in her big girl bed. Spunky and fearless are her keywords.

14. Where did most of your money go? Installing a new horizontal fence in the backyard! And adding landscaping all over. The backyard is beautiful and relaxing, just how I always wanted it to feel, just in time for the freezing cold weather. haha!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Watching that fence being installed!

16. What song will always remind you of 2018? The soundtrack from A Star Is Born

17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder? happier 

ii. thinner or fatter? skeletor thin- that's what too much thyroid meds do to you

iii. richer or poorer? richer

18. Is there anything you wish you'd done more of? Meditate. I finally did much more yoga this year!!

19. Is there anything you wish you'd done less of? put such high expectations on myself

20. Where will you be spending the Holidays? We spent Thanksgiving in Houston with my mom's side of the family and had a baby shower for my little cousin. Christmas was at home and we will be back in Houston to finish out the year, with a couple of special visits in between. 

21. Any athletic achievements? I joined the gym in the first half of the year and have been to yoga at least once a week, usually more since then! I absolutely love it and need it for my mental health.

22. Did you fall in love in 2018? Every date night helps reignite that spark; hoping to keep it growing in 2019

23. How many one-night stands? none. Seriously, I need to delete this question because I've been doing this exact same quiz since I was in college and the answer has literally always been the same. 

24. What was your favorite TV program? This Is Us, Camping, My Brilliant Friend, Call the Midwife, Jamestown, also rewatching all of Victoria (sooo…. HBO and PBS)

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah

26. What was the best book you read? I've been slowly getting through The Conscious Parent and The Awakened Family by Shefali Tsabury. It's a lot to digest and I feel like I need to go back and highlight and memorize things, which is weird because usually I just read things and understand them and move on. It's nice to be challenged to learn something new. 

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Katie Pruitt. She opened for Anderson East and only has about 5 songs on Spotify but her voice is powerful!

28. What did you want and get? All of the books on my To-Read list!

     -What did you get but forgot you wanted? chocolate with mint in it

29. What did you want and not get?  fancy yoga clothes. haha!

30. What was your favorite film of this year?  A Star Is Born. The saddest movie I've ever seen. I can relate to it, the music is awesome, and the performances were amazing.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 35 and had a little get together at the house. I served all paleo food and everyone seemed to like it because most of it was gone. We also had wine from Portugal, I wore a flower crown (always wanted to!), and rented a dress which was fun. It was a weird time so we had several people unable to make it but lots of my favorites did come so it was smaller than usual but still so nice. Oh and I had a bounce house for the kids so the parents could actually relax. It definitely worked for me! The cherry on top was a surprise visit from a friend I hadn't seen in 6 years, the reason Scott and I even started dating to begin with. I was so thrilled he came and we were able to catch up.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Getting one of my many business ideas out of my head and into real life. I'm tossing around at least 4 decent sized business ideas right this minute.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?  Rent the Runway. It is so fun! I use it for vacation, for months when I have lots of parties / social events / dates all clustered together. I've done unlimited, where you can return items as much as you want; and I've done the cheaper version where you rent 4 items and keep them all for the month (and wear them more than once!) and I've done where you rent a specific item for a specific day and I love every option. I feel so comfortable in my skin the past several months that it made fashion fun again. 

34. What kept you sane? Yoga. It saves my life. 

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Dax Shephard. Love his podcast and how he is honest about his feelings. He is my friend, along with Ira Glass. 

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Beto! I like how he didn't accept money from PACs and visited all counties in our state. He may have only won the biggest cities / border counties, but he made a big difference. The fact that so many more people made it to the polls- whatever the reason, even if it was to vote against him!- is amazing. And lets not forget all of the new female congresswomen- this is a great year for politics! 

37. Who did you miss? Bud, and Donna, and that spark of hope from expecting a child

38. Who was the best new person you met? My co- Girl Scout Leader. We originally met at the playground at school before Kindergarten started and I enjoyed chatting with her that day but of course I never saw her again. Then I was thrilled to be asked to be a Girl Scout leader and she had signed on and we set up our first meeting and when I saw her walk in we both started smiling and laughing! haha! We get along easily and have the shared understanding of grief, and also are willing to put in the same amount of work to make our troop great. It's been so nice!

39. Rate this year on a scale of 1-10: A solid 8.5. Great all around.