January 1, 2016

Reflecting and Looking Forward


As I sit here on New Year’s Eve and reflect on 2015, I don’t even know where to start. By all means it was a blessed year. Our kids are growing up and we accomplished many goals set forth a year ago. It hasn’t been an easy year by far. There were a lot of decisions made, some easy, some hard, but all in all, we wouldn’t take back where we are now. Not one second would I look back and wish I had made a different decision. A week ago I may not have said the same thing. But as I am half way through Jen Hatmaker’s book, For the Love, I have finally, at thirty-one years old, realized that I do have to run my race. I still have no idea what that race is and some day it will all come together. But without the hard work and hard decisions this year, we wouldn’t be where we are now.
A few things I learned in 2015:
-We can weather any storm with a strong marriage.
-Leftovers can be re-invented a million times if you already used your grocery budget for the month.
-You can leave the grocery store with $20 worth of goods if you only take in $20.
-People will hang up on you, not return phone calls and dust you aside…but that will bite them back in 2016. So I’ve learned to return every phone call, at least listen to every side and remember you make enemies and friends in the same amount of time. It is a lot easier to call a friend for help in the future than an enemy you made a year ago.
-Delete facebook friends and add blogs that you follow. This is a work in progress. As much as I enjoy following people around in the daily lives on facebook, that is a complete waste of my time, they don’t contribute one bit to my well-being. I’d much rather find a circle of like-minded bloggers to read about and stay in touch with that not only provide educational material, but also uplifting and genuine posts that make an impact on me and my family.

One of my Christmas presents was an Erin Condren calendar. While I’ve looked at this a million times I would have not spent that much money on a calendar in my lifetime. BUT, I can’t tell you the difference this calendar has already made on my 2016. While I love technology, I can throw a calendar in my purse, in the feed truck and on trips and always know what’s going to happen next. I’ve filled in a book list for the year, my New Year’s Resolutions, financial calendar and daily activities for the next month. I figured I needed one month to learn how to use the calendar and what I may want to add to it for the rest of the year.
Last thought – If you are waiting until January 1st to get your year in order…you are already a day behind.

1 comment:

  1. Katy,

    A strong marriage makes a huge difference. Just being on the same page can make or break a situation. Marriage is the hardest thing I've ever done. J and I don't have children, so I can say that. It can be hard work, but it's worth it.

    Living 30 miles from a small town grocery store and 100 miles from a big grocery store teaches us to stock up. Amazon has made our life 100% better! When we got to town our list is short and we don't have to run ourselves completely ragged. We get to the big city once a month, maybe. During calving and haying less than that, unless we need parts.

    I totally agree with you on the fake and disconnected facebook friends vs. bloggers you do connect with. Every so often I delete "acquaintances" and people I just do interact with. I do enjoy finding and connecting with a "new blog friend".

    Happy New Year to you and your family, I wish you the best of 2016!

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