2015

Oh, the hopes and goals I have for this year are a bit dangerous.  A bit lofty, but so many ways in which I hope to improve myself and my home.  And a whole lot of catching up from the things that fell by the wayside in 2014, otherwise known as the year I dedicated to the toilet and my bed.

I love the thought of a clean slate, blank pages to write dreams on, and standards to hold myself accountable.  It's fun and amazing to think of all that was unknown just a year ago.  I love to make a word into a theme for my yearly goals.  Last year, I intended to train myself in patience and in being intentional.  I'm not sure how many people laughed and laughed and laughed some more at the jokes 2014 played on me with patience being the punchline.

I recently read this:

When you make loving others the story of your life, there's never a final chapter, because the legacy continues.  You lend your light to one person, and he or she shines it on another and another and another.  And I know for sure that in the final analysis of our lives--when the to-do lists are no more, when the frenzy is finished, when our e-mail inboxes are empty--the only thing that will have any lasting value is whether we've loved others and whether they've loved us.

-Oprah

I want nothing more than for my friends and family to know I loved them so much I could hardly stand it.  I want my interactions to shine with love, even in the small moments.  Even when I'm ushering small people out the door in a frantic attempt to be early for once since Luca's arrival.  Even when I have only a moment to send a quick message.  Even in the simple things.  The complicated things.

Of course, my aspirations go beyond love, but with a foundation of love, you can't go wrong.  Those are tucked away neatly in the notes section of my phone.  Because that's how life rolls along these days.

2015: the year of love.  Because I'm too scared to ask for patience again.

--

tradition with a side of real life - treasures leftover from Christmas with friends, toys, and nursing/nap time to-dos.

We had a wonderful Christmas.  A little chaotic despite my most desperate attempts to slow things down and soak things up.  We left to visit family the day after Christmas which brought similar feelings of regret the morning after a party in college might.  Never again on that timeline.  I might be caught up with the resulting laundry and Christmas aftermath by May.

The chaos was worth the trip to visit family.  Life looks like a jumbled mess to Grandpa, and Grandma had a minor stroke in December.  It's fragile and so very fleeting.  I treasure every single moment I have with them, and watching them with my children sends love to a new level.

Luca saved his very first laugh for his great grandma in a moment that I know is locked away safely in her heart and mine.  If anyone but me was to get the first laugh, she was the perfect person, and with a poke to the nose on New Year's Eve, he left us all smiling with a tiny little giggle.

The girls found reasons to don themselves in princess makeup and have birthday parties with ice cream every single night.  Life was simple and love was plentiful.

Then we traveled home in a snow storm with a new {untrained} puppy for my mom.  For twelve hours.

And just like that, we're in 2015.