Goodbye 2016

As we say goodbye to 2016, I have a lot to celebrate about the year. Our family grew by one, we moved across the country, sold 90 year old our fixer-upper, and we started a new chapter on the eastern plains of Colorado. We took our first road trip as a family of four and I was an adjunct instructor last fall.

Although, I wasn't very consistent at blogging this year, I'm glad I recorded a few stories along the way. It turns out teaching a college course for the first time is time consuming (!!!) and left me little time to write, among other things.

Looking forward to a new year, means new goals and fresh starts await. The week between Christmas and New Year's feels a little awkward to me. I want to dwell on the sparkling lights of Christmas, keep playing Christmas music and nibbling cookies.

BUT this year we took down the Christmas tree just days after Christmas. The house felt cluttered (mostly with new toys) and we had to make space. I felt sad to pack up or throw away so many fun things we'd done over the holiday season-- decorate gingerbread houses, DIY snow globes, "stained glass" trees, new Christmas books, and our "activity set" (read: Nativity). I will cherish the memories we made and saved a few things to pull out next year.

Despite my plan not always going the way I imagined, we had some fun starting traditions and making memories. As much as I'll miss the feeling of preparing for Christmas, I am looking forward to things returning to normalcy and starting new rhythms.

Next week, Maggie will return to preschool, but I will not be teaching in the spring semester. Bodie is crawling (A LOT) and there will be no shortage of things to keep us busy. My hope is to focus on our family more fully and be open to what 2017 has in store for us.