Happy New Year & On To 2018
Hello! It's been a little while – almost a year, actually.
2017 brought my family & I plenty to celebrate as well as cause to mourn. All in all it was a good year, full of unexpected turns – wonderful, exciting, unbelievable, and heartbreaking. We made some big decisions and I think it definitely looked different than we imagined, in good and sad ways. Here's a recap:
We lost two loved ones in the Russell family; one in March and one in April
We almost lost a third, but thankfully she's recovering
We went to Tijuana to build houses with our church and decided to serve on the high school ministry team
We celebrated our first wedding anniversary 🥂
I started a new position at my company that has been both challenging and rewarding, and was not something I expected. Tommy & I talked it through on a road trip to Rhode Island in June and decided to go for it; I started my new role in August, and my company also took on two new, big clients
Tommy grew his real estate business while finishing a big flip - see it here!
We bought a house! (!! also not really expected, but wonderful!) Now, we're working on making our house a home and a place where others feel welcome
Tommy added a brand new kitchen to our walkout basement level so we can have housemates 🎉
I failed at my goal of starting an etsy shop for lettering from @emilykateletters. It doesn't feel good to say I failed, but I'm also ok with it because as I noted above, life took some unexpected turns this year and I know that failure is a part of growing if you don't get bogged down in it. Now, I'm thinking through my goals for designing in 2018; I have a few ideas, and hopefully will share something about it in January.
Somewhat ironically, I included a quote about failure in my post from January 2017, where I announced that I intended to start an Etsy business. It seems that goals like that often fall by the wayside unless the goal-setter is reaaaally determined to keep it going; but, surprisingly to me, I'm ok being one of the people who didn't succeed. I'm not sure why. I still have goals/ideas for a creative outlet, but maybe I'll go in a different direction that I envisioned a year ago. I guess I'm just ok with not having that side of me figured out yet and with being a work in progress.
So this year, I'm not going to make any promises. I do have an idea I'd like to try, but I'm going to keep it to myself for now ;)
Other things I'd like to do more of in 2018:
Read my Bible
Exercise (I have this great idea to listen to my Bible while exercising and also while driving)
Read (mostly for fun other than bullet #1 above)
Listen to more podcasts (also something to do while driving or exercising)
Actually go grocery shopping! and cook dinner!
Who knows? Leaving a bullet open for possibilities. None of these are set resolutions, but they are general goals that I'd like to turn into habits, whether that's this year or another year. But hopefully sooner than later. Feel free to ask me how I'm doing with them!
Happy new year! I'm hoping 2018 brings more joy than sorrow, a spirit of generosity, new habits, and plenty of growth, fellowship, and new experiences.