Wow. 2016 didn’t start the way I had anticipated and planned. Although I think the concept of New Years Eve and staying up until midnight to ring in a New Year is kinda weird, I do look forward to new years and the feeling of fresh starts.
Last year I started writing down my goals and found a lot of great resources to help me make, set, and keep better goals.
We spent New Years Eve in Laketown by Bear Lake in Utah. It was cold (-6 degrees at night) but beautiful and nice to get away from the house. We spent time with family and friends in a quaint little house filled with 6 adults and 11 kids under the age of 11. It was crazy-town.
When we got home, I had high hopes of working on my goals (narrowing them down and getting them on paper), continuing with my effort to de-clutter the entire house using the Kon Mari method, and work on some of the health and fitness goals I’m planning for this year.
And then I got strep throat. A day after feeling better from that (strep hurts–bad), I got a nasty stomach virus along with two of my kids. Since then, someone in our family has been sick for the last 17 days. Once I started feeling better, each member of the family worked their way through the bug and we’re still trying to fully recover.
Friday I went skiing with a friend to get out of the house and regroup after two very long weeks. After 5 or 6 runs down the mountain, I got crazy dizzy, light-headed and super nauseous. I ended up in the Lodge in a puddle of a mess and begged my friend to take a few more runs on her own (ski tickets are anything but cheap and we had been so excited for our day together–super frustrating). I slept on-and-off on a table in the lodge while she got herself stuck on the edge of the cliff and was lucky to make it down in one piece. By the time I made it home I was a mess.
After consulting with my dad (who is a doctor), it appears I possibly have an inner ear infection which makes you dizzy and nauseous anytime you move your head. It’s less than ideal. And quite frustrating after weeks of family illness.
But. I can’t put off all the things I want/need to do any longer. And being here, on the blog, is a high priority for me this year. I love this space and the opportunity it gives me to connect with all of you. So I’m holding my head really still and grateful for the medication that seems to be helping.
Onward and Upward. Sort of.
I thought I’d share the top 5 most popular posts from 2015 in case anyone missed some of these, starting with the 5th most popular and working our way down.
Number Five: How much do you weigh This is a series about how I lost all my baby weight after four kids. I’ll actually be re-visiting this series in the days to come so stay tuned.
Number Four: The Project Life App. A game changer. If you’ve been around long, you know my love for the Project Life App and how it’s helping me catch up and stay current with documenting our family through photos. Later this week I’ll be talking about how I’m documenting 2016 and how I’m catching up on previous years of photos.
Number Three: Ten Phone Photography Tips that will change everything about your photos. If you don’t have this free eBook yet, I think you’ll like it. Ten simple tips to help you make photos from your phone look better. Although I’ll always advocate for using better dSLR cameras when we can, more and more of us are documenting our daily lives with our phones. These ten tips can dramatically improve those photos.
Number Two: Books that inspire better more meaningful living. Every one of these books is worth reading. Some of my favorites of all time. You can also find more book suggestions in the “worth reading” tab in the menu bar above.
And the NUMBER ONE post from all of last year: How to help someone in need for ANY reason. This post took a ton of time and I had dozens of people help me and give me suggestions for this one. It’s one of the best posts I’ve ever put together and incredibly helpful. I refer to it often when trying to do things for other people. Tons of suggestions and ideas on things to DO and GIVE to people who are in need for whatever reason. Definitely worth checking out.
As always, THANK YOU for being here. For your support. For coming back over and over again to read the things I write. I am nothing but grateful. 2016 started out rough, but I’m planning on a lot of great things this year.
If this is your first time here, check out the about page and see what the intent of this blog is and stick around for awhile.
