A New Year

I never would have believed anyone if they told me last January that by the end of December of the same year I would be married to my sweet man, moved to California, and pregnant with our second baby. It would have seemed laughable that so much change was possible in just one year. The insane part is that these changes actually happened in the last 6 months of the year. The beginning was mellow compared to the whirlwind that finished the year up.

While we have definitely struggled on this epic journey we embraced, I feel we are FINALLY at a place where I don't feel so lost anymore. I still worry about finding community and how exactly I'm going to survive two little girls two years apart without any friends or family around, but I'm not as worried as I was say two months ago. Which means that as time continues to move on, the worries will shift and lessen and I will continue to plant some form of roots here in California.

The difference a year can make! December 2011-December 2012

For 2013, I know that life will bring with it many challenges for my family. Mainly the challenge of a new little baby to open our hearts to. But she will also be an incredible blessing, like so many of the things that have shifted and moulded our lives over the last year. I am not usually a resolution maker because I forget by, you know, the middle of January, but this year I truly want to change some of the things about my life that are not serving me or could be serving me better.

1) Do more yoga! I always preach to others about the importance of practicing yoga and yet I find myself barely doing any yoga at all. That has resulted in a sore sciatic nerve and a serious loss in flexibility. Its time to get back to doing yoga, even just on my bedroom floor for fifteen minutes every night before bed.

2) Read more. I always find I'm drawn to reading about breastfeeding, parenting, my favorite blogs and pretty much anything related to understanding and helping me gain knowledge about being a mama. And this is great. But it doesn't help me gain knowledge and momentum towards being a writer. So I need to focus again on reading books of fiction, poetry, and plays.

3) Write more. This goes hand in hand with reading. The more inspired I am by other writings the more I tend to write. But making something a priority that doesn't make money can be hard when you already have a full time job caring for your child and are exhausted by pregnancy. I don't anticipate this to be any easier when Mackenzie is born but I know if I don't start making this a priority I will surely go insane. And that just isn't good for anyone.

4) Speak consciously. Sometimes when I lose my cool, I say things that I immediately regret. And then there are times that I complain about the aspects of my life that are just constant and can't really be changed. If I spoke with a conscious mind around the words I chose I may find that others are more positive towards me and that those seemingly negative situations are filled with positive capabilities that I was too angry to see.

Tonight, we are going to our neighbour's house to celebrate the end of this year and the beginning of a new one. We will eat and play games and Lennon will run around like an excited little girl surrounded by people who love her. For this new friendship, we are very grateful and excited to watch it flourish in the coming year.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and that tomorrow marks the beginning of many new and exciting adventures.