I hope your 2018 is off to a great start. I've been quiet for awhile and I'm a little late in posting this because ever since all the super fun holiday celebrating, I've been sick. Just like all of you, right? It's just a sinus infection but it's been kicking my butt! This coupled with the arctic weather has made me hibernate more than usual. But maybe I'm not late, I'm just on trend.
I did manage to contemplate the end of 2017 and think about starting the new year. I love the quite time after the holidays to reflect on the past year and look ahead.
Like every year, there were ups and downs. Some of the highlights were:
- Starting a new job which I love
- My Mom improving a lot from her stroke last year
- Spending some major quality time with my bestie in NC
- Visiting The Lakehouse Inn & Winery and Ashtabula County - stay tuned for more details about that!
- Buffy turned 16
- We went on three trips to breweries: Kalamazoo, Lake Chautauqua and Columbus
- I met a whole bunch of new local bloggers and we're have been having some great meet ups
- Went to the first annual Donut Fest
Tickets for this year's go on sale today at noon! Pro tip: Bring a doggy bag.
The hardest thing we went through this year was finding out that Buffy has breast cancer. Lots of tears were shed as we tried to figure out what was best for our furry little baby. We decided to move forward with the surgery and thankfully she not only survived, she has done better than we ever expected. The news wasn't 100% good because it's Stage 2, but for now, she is doing really good. Having a senior pet is hard but we hope to keep on spoiling her rotten for many more years.
Do you make resolutions? This year I didn't make any specific list. I'm just trying to focus on a couple things. First of all, I'm trying to be better. Eat better. Be better about exercising. Be a better friend, daughter, wife. I'm hoping that just working towards this one word will make it easier to stay focused.
Part of the whole "being better" thing is me trying to be better to the planet. This includes shopping with intention, reducing food waste and trying to decrease my impact on the environment.
We're also working on being better gardeners and increasing our garden this year. We joined our Community Garden last year and learned a lot. Our best crops were cucumbers, kale, Asian greens and cherry tomatoes. Our biggest disappointments were peppers, beets and brussels sprouts.
Finally, while I didn't make a list of resolutions, I do like lists! So I'm trying journaling for the first time. I purchased this book because it's weekly not daily. I feel like daily is unrealistic for me and would pretty much ensure failure. I can totally dedictate time once a week to focus on positivity, joy and happiness. I feel like it's going to a great $12 investment!
What hopes and goals do you have for 2018?