Grateful
I can't express how thankful I am to the readers of my blog, writing has been so therapuetic - 2021 was quite the experience and a definite year of change. But I am quite excited for 2022 to start and will be working on a self-love journey.
Last year I was literally in repair from burnout and just trying to recuperate. Now that I've gotten through that extremely rough spot, I feel more human and see things in a whole new light. I've done quite a bit of meditation, reading about how to repair from codependency and trauma from back in the day; after all of that hard work, I can finally feel myself starting to move into a whole new realm. It's hard not to fall back into old patterns because some parts of my previous ways were really easy, but as Melody Beattie so eloquently said, 'All your growth, all your work, has not been to lead you away from your passions, to turn you into a robot. It has been to bring you back to life, put you in touch with the vital energy of the universe an energy permeates all that is…expressing passion and gratitude will guide your life.'
For so long, I tried to control way too much; those who know me well, I'm sure, can testify to my control-freak perfectionist tendencies. However, over the next year I will let things unfold naturally and I plan to work on the following:
Keep improving myself so I'm fully present and emotionally supportive of my family.
Follow work aligned with my passion and ensure I'm updating my website weekly.
Get back to the insulin-resistant style of living.
Try the 1,000-hours outside challenge.
Start one big project that I've been afraid to do for years this winter/spring.
So let it be written, so let it be done. Does anyone know that quote?
I'm not considering the list above resolutions because I know that I won't be able to stick to it 100%, but I will continue to work on them through the year, and hopefully, by the end of the year, I'll be moving in the right direction.
Now that I've written my aspirations for the year down, here's a brief recap of hopefully our last COVID Holiday season. We spent Christmas Eve and half of Christmas day in the Northwoods, which was pretty magical having the 4 of us together with the fire blazing, snow-covered landscape, and snuggling together watching Christmas movies! We were all battling a cold (not COVID, thankfully) Kevin and Gavin seemed to have the worst of it.
On Christmas Eve, we did our annual family tradition of baking cookies, cakes, and Banket (or Bonket as my Great Grandma wrote it, but I was corrected on the spelling in a Dutch Recipes in English Facebook group). I also made Lasagna, and the kids took about two bites after eating treats all day - go figure! We opened some fun gifts from Aunt Kelly, Piper, Aunt Dody & Uncle Chip. Also, we started doing an Icelandic tradition called Jólabókaflóðið I thought I understood but just now looking for a link to explain it, I realized we were doing it wrong. We initially thought you were supposed to eat as much chocolate as you wanted while reading books you were gifted in bed - but I was incorrect; you're just supposed to sip on a cup of hot chocolate - maybe a personal Freudian slip. This year after Kevin traditionally read 'The Night Before Christmas' and I snapped my pictures of the kids laying peacefully in bed while listening, Gavin ended up bouncing around upstairs for about an hour straight before he would even consider laying down to sleep. From this point forward, we'll stick to the original tradition of hot chocolate.
On Christmas Day, it was so fun to watch the kid's excitement as they opened their gifts and saw all of the fun Bluey figurines on display. After the kids played for a bit, we had our amazing donuts from the St. Germain Bakery. Typically, I'm not too fond of donuts because they leave a weird film in my mouth; these are more like cake deliciousness with amazing frostings, excellent custards, and unstoppable cream cheese danishes.
Around noon, we took off to hang with my Brother's family and my Dad on Saturday evening. Then, Grandma Susan came to visit the next day. Kim made a fantastic ham dinner on Saturday, and on Sunday, we ordered pizza from the Antioch Pizza shop - nothing beats pizza near Chicago! The kids played nonstop and were so happy to see each other - they introduced us to the Oculus, and everyone hilariously got into Virtual Reality. My Brother also had us watch the Alanis Morrisette documentary, which made me laugh and cry. I've loved her since high school, and it was such a good trip down memory lane; she's an old mom like me, so I could connect with her badassery even more.
We then made our way to Northern IL to hang with Grandpa Skip, Nana Sharon, and Aunt Rachel. On the way, Kevin made a quick stop into Costco to pick up his own Oculus, and we spent quite a bit of time playing. It was so fun to get everyone playing - our new family goal is to beat Aunt Rachel at Beat Saber; she is pretty amazing at it!
Unfortunately, we couldn't see Grandma Debby and Papa Mike due to a COVID close contact. Grandma Lulu and Grandpa John were lucky to enjoy the AZ sunshine. We missed seeing them but were able to do calls and Facetimes - you have to love technology for reasons like that.
New Year's was fantastic - we drove back up North and had our good friends Jorge, Brandi, and Dave up to celebrate. A lot was going on with colds and such, but we still had a great time. We were lazy in the mornings, played lots of games, ate good food, and drank tasty cocktails. It was a chill NYE, just the way I like it, and we couldn't have asked for better company!
We are excited for the New Year and can't wait to see what's in store for us in 2022 in the beautiful Northwoods!
