Monday, December 31, 2012

End of the Year List!!!!

There are thirty minutes on the kitchen timer and a warm cup of coffee sitting on the table next to me.  I am allowing my self that much time, no more, no less to come up with the 10 best things that happened to me in 2012.  (Only ten things?  This might be hard.)

1. House.  We bought a house, (with a lot of help). That is pretty amazing right?
2. The Clay Studio of Missoula.  I finally talked my self into taking a ceramics class and leaving bedtime to Adam.
3. Joined the YMCA.  Why, oh why did I wait until September to finally get all the paper work together to join the Y?  It has been one of the most liberating, fun and affordable things I have done this year.  This morning on my way to yoga class Ivory gave me a hug and a kiss and Sylvan opened the gate into the drop off center by himself, turned to me and waved me good bye with a big smile on his face.  It made my heart melt. I had to take a moment to proudly observe just how big and independent they are both getting.  Best of all, I could walk away with out the least bit of guilt - knowing they are both having a blast while I am upstairs, upside down, breathing myself into a better mama.
4. Family Visits.  My dad and step mom came to visit, we got to travel to Pennsylvania for my brother's wedding and Adam's folks came to visit us....  there are many other family members dear to me that I would have loved to see and touch, but I am thankful for the visits that happened and for skype, facebook and phones that keep every one in touch.
5. A bike trailer for two. So much faster than walking. Enough said.
6. MADE fair. rocked.  Hopefully Adam and I can figure out all the little details and come up with a legitimate business plan and business in 2013.  I am excited.  More great things to come from Sticks and Stones Workshop!!
7. Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes.  While I and everyone else in our house was sick a friend replied to a facebook post in which I lamented not having anything to read by bringing me a few books.  This one being one of them.  It was perfect: just what I needed.  I recommend it to every person out there not quite willing to buy into the usual 9-5 grind and looking for an alternative existence.
8. I applied for a job. I got rejected. It was perfect.   I applied for a full time job at a company I believe is doing good, nay, great things, for our future.  As soon as I submitted my application I knew I just wasn't ready to go to work.  All I could think about was what was going to happen with the kids, the garden, the chickens, the laundry... and who was going to bake all the bread?  It seems like I just figured out how to rock at being a happy, content, stay at home mom... and now I was going to switch everything up???  Sure more money would be great, but would be need another car? would I need to buy new clothes? where would we be able to find childcare at this time of the year?  While I was waiting on a reply I read the a fore mentioned book, and decided that maybe we were on track after all...  our own track, that happens to make sense for us at the moment.  Sure, maybe we don't buy new things often, go out to eat or travel much, but I get to cuddle up with Sylvan ever afternoon at nap time, Ivory and I get to work on projects and we can make anything an adventure because even the mundane tasks of grocery store runs are allowed to last all day.
9. Walks in the woods.  Any of them.  and we need more of them.  It should be a family new year's resolution.
10.  Meal planning.  I always try to have an idea at least the weeks meals in my mind before I go to the grocery store... but towards the end of the month we always still ran low on our food stamps.  (Yup. We have food stamps.)  A few months ago I got serious about planning our meals.  Really serious.  I plan about three weeks ahead of time and have almost the entire months grocery list compiled in advance.  It requires me to use more recipes, which is a bit new for us, we were pretty good at concocting our own dishes..  but this way I can divide up the shopping in the most affordable way and we manage to eat mostly organic, fresh and home cooked meals.  Another perk is that if Adam ever needs to cook dinner he can just flip open my calender, find the days listing and get started.

The timer just went off..  there: the top ten I came up with in thirty minutes.
I feel blessed to lead a rich, fulfilling life surrounded by a loving family,  inspiring friends and neighbors in one of the most beautiful places I have ever lived...  The only down side is that the rest of our families are so far away, but hey, they get to come visit us here...  in one of the most beautiful places we have ever lived.

On to the new year!

2 comments:

  1. Happy New Year, Heidi! If anyone could find more happiness than you feel right now, YOU can.


    Love,
    Grandma

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love you, Heidi! So inspiring. You're beautiful!

    ReplyDelete

Time in Lists

Every morning I make a list of three things that made me happy the day before. A practice I started when life became crazy - and that was a ...