Another year has gone and a new one awaits us. I’m not usually big on the excitement of putting a year behind me and looking forward to what a new one might bring because I’m just too practical and feel like time is just a continuum anyway. It is, however, a good mark in time to just sit back and review what has come and what is to come in terms of goals, thankfulness, and valueing the blessings that have come my way before they pass by me unnoticed.
These days every day seems physically hard. Every year has it’s challenges. I think it is just a feature of this stage of life when there are so many responsibilities and the daily task of caring for all the living beings in our life can feel overwhelming. The good news is that it truely is a fantastic time of life! What could be better that having babies to love and make you laugh? Or what about the fact that Jacob and I are doing what we are interested in career-wise? Additionally, despite Jacob’s surgical scare, we’ve enjoyed overall good health. And this year we’ve been married for 15 amazing years. On top of everything, we’ve finally moved into our wonderful home that we’ve dreamed of for most of those 15 years. Then there’s the fact that, as in other years, we’ve enjoyed great friends, family, and the most wonderful gift of faith and salvation.
Though we are tired, it’s been a good year! We are so thankful for every day we live in this highly functional, beautiful house, which we moved into in March. We’ve worked hard to settle in, and we still have so much to do here, but it has already improved our life. We’re also really excited about how Jacob’s business is doing and what we expect in the next year. He added a new aspect to the business by going to a honey flow in Ohio in the summer. It made for busy times when he was gone, but it proved to be a good business decision. We also said goodbye to Molly, our dog of 14 years, this summer which saddened us all. Jacob also had a scare in the fall with a large mass in his neck. It turned out to be a benign cyst and was removed, thankfully. It took about about 2 months and a chunk of change to deal with, but in the end all was well and it’s on it’s way to being a distant memory. Elijah started VPK and, due to unfortunate events, had to change schools a few months later, but is now doing really well. Josiah is in 1st grade and, while he’s not thrilled with school, we are proud of how he’s progressing. Joshua is cruzing right along as an incredibly vivacious little man. And now we have a fourth little rugrat on the way!
This past year has been a wild ride and as we look toward 2016 it doesn’t appear that it will slow down one bit. Jacob’s bee season will be in full swing soon as will kitten season. Between birthdays, work, school, and everything in between, we’ll soon find ourselves awaiting #4. Hopefully Jacob won’t be in OH when he or she decides to come! Hopefully I’ll also be able to take a decent maternity leave and maybe even decrease the amount of time I spend at work overall. (We’ll have to see about that!) Then Elijah will be starting Kindergarten while Josiah moves up the ladder, too. Other than getting a few more home projects done, we’re hoping the rest of the year will be uneventful.
As I said, I’m not too big on the hoopla of New Years so I never do New Years resolutions, but I did hear something the other day on the radio about having a word of the year, an idea to move towards, keep in mind, and practice throughout the year. I kinda liked the idea and have tossed around the idea of using “Joy” as my word. It’s going to be a hectic year with lots of reasons to stress and lose my joy, so I want to make an effort to grasp and hold onto the things that matter and find the joy in them.
So, that’s going to be my theme for 2016! Joy! I’m pretty sure I’ll fail most of the time, but as long as I continue to move forward with improvement then I’ll be happy. My life is wonderful and I want to appreciate it rather than stressing the hardships.
Happy New Year!
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