2019 Reflections

God’s plans are always better than ours, if only we would slow down and realize it.  

The message that keeps going through my head and I hope I have shared it with you this year, is do what fills your cup and remove the rest.  2018 we started this practice as a family, but 2019 was where we put it into full swing. Our family unit (mainly the hubs and I) made the priorities, but our kids play a huge role in this and will continue to as they grow older.  We picked the things to pour our time, energy and resources into, and the things that didn’t fill us up, we limited or removed completely. If you saw me in 2017, you would have seen a tired mother, friend, human and now to see the huge change, is truly a blessing, but also the impact it has had on our family.  Being able to have time and energy to pour into our family, kids and marriage has made all the difference in our family culture. We connect daily, we want to spend time together and we prioritize our time together, this is what makes us happier and stronger as a family.

  No matter where you are in your life, I believe you can prioritize what fills up your cup, what makes you feel alive and leave out all the things that you dread, the things that drain you as a person, family, member of society, you have the choice to pick.   I have some fun things coming up in the next year, I have been so inspired by how much my life has been blessed by simplifying, prioritizing and having energy to enjoy it! Stay tuned, but 2020 is going to have lots of fun things coming up!

Before 2019 comes to a close, I wanted to share my reflections on our year, arguably the best year we have had as a family. 2019 is going to be hard to beat, but we will see what God has in store for us.  

Our kids turned 5 and 3 this year, I know that time flies, but I wish I could bottle this age up, they are so excited about most things, and their energy is contagious, if we could all see the world through the eyes of children more often, it would make things much better.  

  Some of the highlights with our kids this year were:

• Dinner Conversations
• Dance Parties after dinner
• No more cribs at our house
• Cooking together
• Disney World
• Our kids first flights
• Beach Trips
• Pool Days
• Trips to the Farm
• Dance Recitals
• Family Reunions, Weddings, Birthdays
• Starting Kindergarten
• Learning to Fish
• Laughter with Cousins, Family and Friends

Our marriage had a great year, this is one year where I can say our priorities were inline with each other, which makes everything easier.  We didn’t have enough date nights out, but catching up at the end of the day on the couch with a glass of wine, was our date night this year and we were able to remain connected through all the chaos this year.  I married my best friend and it is such a blessing to continue to connect and evolve our relationship as we grow. It is amazing to think of us as two college kids and now how different we are, reminder that God has a much larger plan for us!  

I am truly amazing at the clarity I have received this year to what truly matters, what makes my soul sing, and makes me happy.  It has taken 35 years, but I am so very grateful for the clarity. I have always been a people pleaser and a looking for everyone’s approval, this is a tricky combination if not grounded priorities.  I can look back and see why I floundered so much as a new mom, why I was stressed out trying to do it all, but not doing anything. I thought we knew what we were doing in prioritizing our family time but we had no idea.  We struggled to manage our lives with two young kids, so made a decision to change how we manage our schedules, priorities and resources, but had no idea how truly blessed we would be affected by this. Knowing our priorities has not only helped our family, marriage and friendships, it has given me renew energy and focus! God’s plan for our lives is amazing and I can’t wait to see where else he takes our family through this journey.  

Blogging has helped provide a space for me to document my thoughts, our family’s journey and musings throughout the year, but has allowed for so much reflection and therefore clarity.  I am so very grateful for you being here as apart of this journey.  

My highlights for 2019:

• Healthy Family
• Family Time and Adventures
• Challenging Faith
• Family Mountain House
• Personal Growth 
• Blog 1 Year Anniversary

Happy New Year and Blessings to you in 2020!

-Amy