New Years Eve

Here we are, standing on the edge of 2013 and just about falling head first into the new year.

Last year when I stood here it was terrifying. Gabriel's first heavenly birthday was on the horizon and with the welcoming of new beginnings I also worried that my precious baby would be forgotten. It was the last year he had been alive and the only one he ever would be. As you can imagine, thinking about moving forward held a significant amount of pain, especially as I watched the minutes crawl towards midnight. I didn't believe I would survive another moment....but here I am.

So, what has my year been like? It has been peppered with moments of amazement and awe, sprinkled with love, and even had a dash of heart break here and there. I've been blessed by family and friends, and I've been hurt by others. I not only survived, I learned to live again! I experienced a true and heartfelt laugh after months of robotic motions. I had my very first out-of-state vacation with my husband and even survived an entire semester of college. To top it off, I've lost 18 pounds in the last few months with some simple diet changes. We even welcomed an unexpected fur baby into our lives. Overall, I had nothing to be scared of when it came to 2013.

I have high hopes for 2014, but this year I won't be writing any resolutions. I feel it works out better that way :-)

If you're up for a challenge, I encourage you to keep a "blessings" jar. Every day, or whenever you get the time too, write down something positive that happened and stick the piece of paper into the jar. If you prefer, you can do a wish collection or a combination of both. On New Years Eve of 2014, read everything you wrote down and see all the good things that happened during the year. I started this last year but didn't keep up with it. This year I plan too!

Happy New Year to all of you!