2013: Grow

Posted on | January 1, 2013 | 8 Comments

It’s funny, you know, how a year flies by. I can’t believe a year ago tomorrow, we were brand new home owners, terrified and excited. We were ready to take on our biggest challenge ever as a family. We were going to learn and grow and build together in our new home. Last January, I picked “build” as my word for the year. It has been a more appropriate word than I anticipated. It has been the anthem of our lives. We have grown in our faith, in our marriage, in our parenting, and in our home.

We have built up a new life. A beautiful, strong, crazy, and sometimes chaotic life. But it is ours, and it has become such a good life, and I am so proud of that.

But this year needs to be different. While last year was one of the best of our lives, it was also one of the most trying. As Taylor started a new job, we experienced strains that we had never had to go through prior to this year. Our house, the one we so lovingly gutted and rebuilt, sometimes felt like a money pit. We laughed and cried and yelled our way through renovations, and it has been a huge piece of work. Our finances took a hit as we had so many unexpected expenses come up during the process. A new septic tank pump here. A new heating and air system there. And before we knew it, our once solid foundation felt weaker. We struggled through raising a two-year-old, and in the midst of the tantrums, I found myself pumping breast milk at all hours of the night and running into walls because of exhaustion. We fought and loved and held on tightly to each other, and I can gratefully say, we are stronger than ever.

So this year? This year my word is “Grow.” It’s similar to “build” in that it evokes the idea of becoming something more. But build is incredibly hard work. Build is sweat and blood and tears. And “grow” is natural. “Grow” is the normal, smooth, sweet progress of becoming a better person. Of watching our children grow, and enjoying their growth. Of growing in our marriage through fun, through dates, and through loving even when it’s hard. Not that there won’t be hardships. There will. There will be bumps and breaks. But I want them to be natural. I want us to grow to learn to sail through the rough patches and not let things bring us to a screeching halt as we figure out what to do. I want to learn to handle difficulties with grace and poise. I want to grow in my writing, in my parenting, in my role as a wife, in my role as a daughter and sister and friend. I want to grow in my relationship with God. And I want to grow that darn bank account so that I can find more comfort in financial stability. I want to grow in my knowledge as I begin my master’s program this year. I want to grow in maturity and wisdom. I want to grow in about every area but my waistline.

My only real resolution is to help get our family out of debt. We took on a bit more than we could chew this year to make a house a home, and now it’s time to get back to basics and back to our comfort zone. More on that later…

(Story of my life, if I look put together, my house is probably a wreck.)

(2012 Battalion Dining Out)

Happy New Year, y’all. I wish you all the best this year. I am so grateful for your support, your kindness, and your friendship this past year.

XOXO.

It's always nice to share with your friends.

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"I'm a twenty-five-year old mama to two little boys and married to the love of my life. I have a serious Diet Coke addiction and a tendency to overshare. My biggest dream is to write a book. A good book that tons of people buy and relate to and love. In the mean time, this is the story of us as we flounder through raising our wild, little boys, moving a million times, and buying and renovating our 1968 Ranch home."

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