I've officially decided that this is one of my favorite posts to write each year. It's a time for me to slow down, reflect and push out into the world a plan I have for my entire year. Doing something like that, for me, has proven to help set my year up and I swear it sticks with me every single day. This is the 5th year Kirby and I have sat together and reflected on what we wanted this new year to bring. Each year has brought so much growth, adventure and change. I can easily say that this year excites me and gives me more anxiety than most years before. I have a lot of change I'm wanting to make and feeling closer than ever to hitting some big dreams/goals I've had set for some time. So this new year, 2020 is the year of living with intent.
The Year of Living With Intent
Making changes in life is something I enjoy doing, unless the change is something I'm scared of losing. In some way it can be so dang easy making all these little changes and expecting something big to happen. It's when you take leaps and bounds that something extraordinary can happen.
2019 was...
Reflecting on 2019 wasn't easy. It was the year of rejuvenation and it was full of growing pains. I used this last year to find myself again, a new self. After having moving back to MN at 23 weeks pregnant and having a birth that went nothing like planned, I was a little out of my body. I 100% lost touch with my pre-mom life and felt stuck. To be honest, the feeling of stuck hasn't fully left me, but I am on the verge of big change and trust that last year was exactly what I needed. I spent so much time testing different processes out in life & business, learning true life as a work from home mom, refocusing on my marriage and truly listening to my mind, body and heart as one. By doing this, I've been able figure out a lot about me that I love and some things I'm not too fond of. So yeah, I feel rejuvenated and so thankful for the many talks, moments alone with tears and late nights overthinking everything. All that has brought me to feel this way and all of that is pushing me into the next stage.
New Address
By far the biggest change for us last year was the purchase of our very first home! As I sit here writing this post in my brand new office I can't help but smile. Just 6 months ago I was sitting in the middle of our apartment dreaming of having my own space. Truth: Kirby and I didn't feel as though we had our space in Minnesota after making a life in Denver for 6 years. We still don't fully feel that way, but now having our home to create memories in, gather our friends & family in and put our own stamp on has been just want we need.
Our home is over 100 years old (build in 1914!) and we've been having so much fun slowly refreshing & updated different spaces. Stay tuned for before/afters & room reveals to hit the blog this year!
Setting up 2020
This new year has brought the most anxiety for me. I know I have big changes ahead that aren't all going to be easy. Their is a vision of myself that I'm striving to get to and as I mentioned before I feel closer than ever to reaching. I starting the year leaping into some changes and thought it could be fun to share some of what's on my mind:
Travel
Last year was spent on finding & buying a new home. We had a couple fun adventures, but both Kirby and I are yearning to do more in 2020. We have a big Europe trip booked for the beginning of August and I'm so dang excited. 2 weeks traveling will be crazy with an almost 2 year old, but exploring more of Europe is a dream come true! Palm Springs is also on my list for May which will be a first for me and my sweet cousin getting married will bring a few trips back to Chicago. Yay!
Family & Marriage
If you would have asked me last year about extending our family, I would have said we'd probably start trying around Addison's first birthday. Welp, here we are with an almost 16 month old and I'm feeling not so ready for trying. I went through finding so much of myself and I don't quite feel set to bring another babe into the mix. Is that a dream we have? ABSOLUTELY! Will we try this year? Probably! Is there any set plan... Heck no. With being in a family wedding and having Europe booked I have faith that things will happen when they're supposed to. I will be brutally honest with you and say that I had no intention of waiting until September 2020 to start trying... But God has a plan and I'm trusting it!
Kirby and I have gone through so much growth this last year in our marriage. Navigating through parenthood and learning together definitely comes with its challenges. We are far from perfect and work at our marriage everyday. Kirby and I are best friends and love doing everything we can together. This year we have a goal of taking a little bit more time for ourselves - separate & together. Loving yourself and having time to reenergize with friends or alone is so important.
Business
I'm into the 5th year from my very first official blog post and I'm setting some big personal goals. One thing I'm trying to accomplish early on is setting more of a schedule for my weeks. A huge benefit of my job is being able to work from home and have really flexible hours. Being able to do that as my own boss is a dream come true. However, it can come with working all of the time and not having boundaries from work to home. One goal of mine is trying to schedule myself better and really taken into account how long each task is taking me. Studying my schedule will make each process run smoother overall.
Life
As I mentioned above, 2019 was a big year for soul searching. I've been using all of my senses to become more aware of things I want to change or refresh to get to be a better version of me. I felt so many roadblocks this year and I'm happy I did. Lots of growth has come from it and there is still so much ahead. My overall goal for 2020 is to live with more intent, be more decisive and bring back a zest for adventure. Kirby and I went through HUGE changes the last 2 years. We had a baby, moved across the country, took on the blog as my full time job + Kirb got a new job, and we bought our first home... We sure know how to end a decade with a bang.
To top it all off... I turn 30 in March! Aaaah! Cheers to 2020 - thank you so so much for all the constant support!
If you're still searching for a word or saying for 2020 check out my past years! Hopefully they can help bring you some motivation and inspiration for your goals:
2017: The Year of Focus and Success
Shop my 10 Best Selling Items of 2019
