Only problem is, I didn't know what to start with. Luckily, there are lots of prompts floating around the internet about summing up the last year. Might as well start with the recent past before we jump into the good stuff.
Happy New Year!
1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?
Became a foster parent. Best and hardest thing I've ever done.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I did make any resolutions last year. The resolutions for this year: blog regularly and make date nights a more regular thing. On that note, is anyone interested in babysitting one night every other week?
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not in 2013. But this same question next year will hopefully have a very long list.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. Grandpa Jim, my Mom's dad, died in the early fall. Most days I am thankful for the time I spent with him, to carry his name, to have pictures of him holding my boy. But there are moments where a smell or a song or a picture will take my breath away and I'm a teary mess all over again. Can't wait to see him again someday.
I don't think we even went outside the state of Indiana overnight this year. It was a pretty boring year in that regard, although, I mostly blame it on the paperwork difficulties of traveling with a foster child and the just plain difficulties of being a moving vehicle with morning sickness.
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
More purposeful family time and a weekend get-a-way or two with just Sean
7. What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 8th we brought home our first foster daughter and June 24th we sent her home. November 4th I found out I was pregnant.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I finished my Bachelor's degree. The whole thing was fairly anticlimatic, but thank God it was done before the morning sickness started.
9. What was your biggest failure?
I never take enough pictures and I regret it every day. Should make this another resolution.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just pregnancy.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
We actually got her at the very end of 2012, but this past year realized how wonderful she actually is for our family: Belle. E's (actually Sean's) beloved kitty has been the best thing in E's life this past year in the midst of lots of confusing changes.
12. Where did most of your money go?
Fixing the flooded basement and broken pipe that caused it. So much for my cute, little house.
13. What did you get really excited about?
E's transition from barely intelligible one-word grunts to sentences. Finding out who he is and what he thinks about the world is the best thing in my life.
14. What song will always remind you of 2013?
Timshel by Mumford and Sons. It's a couple years old, but became a favorite this year. I got to see them sing it live in August and it was a highlight of the year.
15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Sadder
– thinner or fatter? Just a few pounds thinner, thanks to pregnancy puking
– richer or poorer? Poorer, thanks to the great basement flood of 2013
16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I took more pictures, knit more baby booties, and wrote more thank you notes.
17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I watched less tv. Netflix has made binge watching way too easy for me. Ugh.
18. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas Eve we did "family christmas" opening presents just the three of us. Santa didn't come because E asked him not to. He's totally freaked out at the idea of someone coming in our house and eating our food. Next year, he said Santa could leave the presents in the yard and Daddy can bring them in. Christmas Day we spent just across town with my parents and siblings. Wonderful to live so close.
19. What was your favorite TV program?
I'm way late to the party, but discovered Doctor Who this year. I have never, ever been so emotional over a tv show. BBC is doing television better than all of Hollywood. Firefly, New Girl, and Scandal all also kept me (too!) glued to the tv this year.
20. What were your favorite books of the year?
I read a bunch, but favorite fiction was The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer and my favorite non-fiction was re-reading Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans.
21. What was your favorite music from this year?
Easily Mumford and Sons the first half of the year.
22. What was your favorite film of the year?
Seriously, we are so boring. I think we've been to see three new movies all year. I don't even think I've seen a movie this year that's going to end up on the "favorites of all time" list.
23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 25 last February, went out to lunch with great friends from high school youth group, and then came home and went to bed early while Sean put the two toddlers to bed. Blissful.
24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
There is a whole list of things I would have liked to have gone differently in 2013, but nothing I had any control over.
25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
Fashion concept? I don't know if that even exists. Skinny jeans, Toms, a rotating selection of shirts, and a side braid were my mom uniform this year. I did learn to walk respectably in heels, a skill I have vowed to keep up throughout this pregnancy.
26. What kept you sane?
Good friends who don't bat an eye over the stuff I cry over. A steady, supportive, sane relationship with my husband. Snuggles and story time with my boy. Book club with my mom and sister.
27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.
Don't pull up WIC information on your smart phone at check out. And definitely don't post about the subsequent judgmental experience on Facebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment