2016

Anna posted a great blog reflecting on her year and it got me thinking about our year. A year that included very little blogging, sadly. But, I was thinking this could be a good way to start again. Maybe a way to reset? Like, a start to a goal? Ha, just kidding. I'm not going to talk about New Year's resolutions.

2016 was a busy year for us.

+ Nick started his first year of nursing school. It's the first start to his dream of being a nurse practitioner. It's great, but it means that we're juggling my job, Nick's job, Nick's new class schedule, and our kids. I'm glad we live in a house with other family members (more on that someday).

+ Nick also became a vegan (by choice). This was a big deal at the beginning, but now that we're about 6 months into it, it's not that bad. I eat less meat and dairy because of it, which is something that I've been wanting to do anyways. But, I can't get over some of the foods he eats now. Cooked spinach...lentils...seitan...yeah. They're not my favorite.

+ Oliver did all of his firsts. He turned one, went from crawling to running, and has been the first child to get into EVERYTHING. Seriously. He's figured out how to pull off the outlet covers - baby-proofing fail. He gets into everything he shouldn't, even after being told no 43 times AND being put in time out. And, he's the most persistent little boy I know. You can move him away from the potted plant and he'll pretend to walk away, but after about 5 steps he'll turn around and run back for it. Every. Time.  Can I just say that I'm incredibly nervous to go camping over the summer? That's not being over-cautious, right?

+ Ellie started dance class and she has been rocking it. Okay, she was the worst jumper, leaper, and tip-toer, but after 3 months she can now jump with BOTH feet off the ground and is starting to run and jump over things. This is huge! Her gross motor skills weren't very coordinated before. We'll see what happens when we make her try out soccer.

Yes, we are the parents that are planning to let our kids try a little bit of everything. Why not? Maybe she'll find something she's really into. And if she hates everything, that's fine too. She's a bookworm already so she's got that going for her.

+ Speaking of bookworms, I read a lot this year. I read a great handful of historical fiction and finally jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon. Yup. I don't know why i didn't to jump into those books when they were first popular. I enjoyed the movies, but man do the movies get better when you read the books. I know everyone says it, but the books are so much better. There's just so much more there! And each book is better than the previous. I'm just finishing book 6 and it's probably one of my favorites so far.

+ We binged on some great shows this year. WestWorld, House of Cards, Stranger Things, Mozart in the Jungle, Vikings, This is Us (okay, Nick didn't watch that one), and we just started Lemony Snicket's show on Netflix. All of those were so good.

+ I finally got myself to the gym and even joined The Sisterhood (no, that's not a cult). It's taken awhile to get back at it because my kids don't like to really sleep in or sleep at the same time AND I work during the day, but, one step at a time, right?


Maybe this year I'll write a blog post not written with bullet points. Goals, right?