December flew in and out in a flurry of Christmas activities like it always does. We had school functions with the older 2 kiddos, many visits to the mall (and one to meet Santa), and lots of baking.
December also involved the hubster going to Prague the week before Christmas which was a little stressful for me. It's usually not a big deal when he goes out of town. I'm a big girl, I can handle the fort while he's gone. But right before Christmas was a little hard. But we did get some pretty cool gifts when he came back....cause, I mean, how many times do you get to go to Prague??!
December also included a bunch of things left undone...recipes I didn't get to try, gingerbread houses still sitting in their box, Christmas cards unmailed, decorations still left in their boxes, December Daily half finished (but that will get done in the next week!).
Despite the things that didn't get done we still had some great holiday memories. And as I look over the past year I'm thankful for so much, even in the midst of the occasional and inevitable stressful times. I have a pretty good life here...moving to Washington was one of the best decisions we were fortunate to be able to make. I have thoroughly enjoyed being on the Noel Mignon design team and I'm happy to continue with that into 2015. I was able to be part of the Sweet Stamp Shop design team which was so much fun and reignited my love of stamping and card making.
I'm also realizing that I just can't do it all. It's a hard thing to admit. As a mom it's hard to admit when you're failing at something. It suddenly occured to me that in less than 2 years my youngest will be starting Kindergarten which means I have less than 2 years to spend time with her. In some ways I feel like I've wasted some of that time with her doing 'other' things. Don't get me wrong, we have lots of fun together. And while I think it's good for kids to see that you have a life outside of being a mom I don't want to look back and wish I wouldn't have spent so much time doing 'this' or 'that'. In the next year I want to be more selective with time that is taken away from my family (and, quite frankly, from me).
So with that being said I've realized that some things need to change in 2015. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that entails. It kind of stresses me out (I was up til nearly 4am this morning cause, yeah, that's just the kind of person I am when I'm trying to figure things out). But there's changes that need to be made for myself and with my family to make things run smoother and, quite honestly, for my health (having Crohn's is hard enough without adding stress to the mix).
But with some of these changes I'm looking forward to a great 2015. Who's with me??!!
