Holly Would If She Could

Y’all, it’s been a while. And I’ve got to get back into blogging somehow or I will NEVER DO IT.

I stole this format from Amber as a quick way to get caught up, so here we go!!!!

The high of my week: Getting a new job at work! I’m about 72 hours into a new role, leading a new division that will definitely require some focus and learning. All of this excites me. It’s a little scary — it’s been a few years since I’ve embarked on something new. And it’s always a little bit nerve wracking to be leading something specialized when your background is in something different, but I think it will be a great challenge!

The low of my week: Holden has been waking up at 5:30 am (which is almost an hour before his usual wake up time of 6:20am) and that complicates getting ready in the morning during the work week. As with all things parenting, I know it’s just a phase at this point, which is fine. Luckily he wakes up chatty and giggly, so it’s a plus that he isn’t waking up unhappy. I actually thinks it’s a sleep regression based on him being almost 2 and his language development exploding. Nonetheless while you’re in it, it’s a little inconvenient. 🙂

For my workouts I completed: HAHAHAHA Right now getting 10,000 steps in a day counts as a workout, but I know that isn’t! Hoping to hop on my Peloton this weekend. (I’m #HollyWould over there if you are a fellow rider.)

I haven’t quite figured out how to fit workouts into my routine. Right after work (for me that’s around 5:30pm) seems like the ideal time during the week, but the reality is that Holden still goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 and I LOVE that time all of us get to spend together as a family. I just don’t want to spend it working out.

But by the time he’s down at 7, I’m hungry, tired and frankly don’t feeeeeeeeeeel like working out. And I’m already up at 5 to guarantee I get a shower before work in the morning (see Holden’s wakeups above) so I would have to be literally on the bike by 5am, which would mean setting my alarm for like 4:45am and YOU GUYS, JUST NO. This is not the season of restful sleep that makes 4:45 am feasible…YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? 🙂

It is what it is at this point. I’m trying to just find creative ways to move.

The best money I spent was on: Hmmmm…this is a tough one. What did I buy this week? Oh, I know – two things I picked up that I’ve been enjoying:

I bought a Make Your Own 12 pack of FlapJacked Mighty Muffin Protein Muffins. I’ve enjoyed a couple lately — they are easy and filling when I’m trying to squeeze in something to eat. And I thought some of the flavors I bought would be fun for Fall. I’m SO looking forward to the change in seasons.

Also I bought 3 new Milani Keep It Full Nourishing Lip Plumpers. These are my current favorite lip glosses. They are sheer and very shiny but not super tacky. Love. My Target doesn’t have them in their Milani display for some reason so I just ordered them on the Milani Website.  The code LABORDAY gets you 20% off right now, which is awesome.

What I’m listening to and loving: We are listening to a lot of Jason Aldean and Maren Morris around our house. They listen to country at Holden’s daycare and I guess he has taken a shine to those two artists so when we put them on Spotify at home he will dance, which is A-freaking-dorable!

What I’m watching: Totally OBSESSED with World of Dance (can’t decide who I have a bigger crush on: Derek Hough or J. Lo) I’m also staying current on Real Housewives of New York (so sad it’s basically over.) But no worries, Real Housewives of the OC and Dallas are right there to help me out of  my funk! LOL  Beyond that, I’m enjoying Very Cavallari (GUILTY PLEASURE ALERT! But I don’t think I’m feeling the revamp of The Hills) and I need to set aside some time to binge the last few episodes of Sharp Objects. YES!)  This weekend I think my mom and I are going to see Crazy Rich Asians (she saw it already and LOVED it and I haven’t been to a movie in ages) and that should be fun! I’m excited for the long weekend and time with my family and my mama!

What I’m reading: Ugh I’ve got many books going at once and none completed. Here’s the lowdown on what’s in progress.

Audiobooks:

I’ll Be Gone In The Dark – so good, but also I have to read it in small bits because it is heavy and scary and very local for me. When they caught the Golden State Killer he was living 4 miles from our old house, so you know– TOO CLOSE TO HOME. But the book is fantastic and so engaging.

Food Freedom Forever – Mostly because I’m always trying to figure this out. We did a Whole 30 in July and it was SO AWESOME. August was like…NOT awesome. So you know…a work in progress. 🙂 I just like Melissa Hartwig.

You Think It, I’ll Say It – Man, I just love Curtis Sittenfeld. Her writing is A+ and these short stories demonstrate that. I found this fun to listen to on my commutes to work, but then I got focused on I’ll Be Gone In The Dark and haven’t wanted to listen to fiction.

On My Kindle:

The President is Missing – I thought I would breeze through this because we all know James Patterson writes like 3 page Chapters that always end with a cliffhanger, but my eyes get heavy very quickly at the end of the night and lately I’ve been bringing a little work home so I’m not reading as much before I get into bed.

The Secrets You Keep – This is moving slower than I am used to Kate White books moving so I’ve lost a little steam.

On My Nightstand:

Multiple books with bookmarks. I can’t even remember what they are so it’s been awhile.

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So that’s where things are lately. Are we sufficiently caught up? hahahaha Not even close.

But life is good, and it’s hard to get back into habits you’ve fallen out of (I miss you blogging AND exercise!) But I haven’t given up! LOL

Will you pick one of those questions and answer in the comments, so I can hear a little bit about what you’ve been up to? I miss our chats. 🙂

Tis the season for reflective naval gazing, yes? Honestly, 2017 was a year for quiet, contemplative naval gazing — obviouslsy evidenced by the fact that I haven’t posted since May. In the past when I’ve gone through major shifts (like I feel like I did this year) I’ve written through it and shared a lot here. This year I just…couldn’t.
I think this was a tough year for a lot of people. Personally, politically, there was just a lot of turmoil out there in the ether and I didn’t really know how to talk about that here. That is some of the reason why I didn’t write much.

But the other part, for me at least, was that in 2017 there were so many changes that I could have shared that I just couldn’t keep pace with them. Honestly, had I written through them, I probably would have given you whiplash. You’re welcome for keeping quiet for a bit.  But here we are at the end of the year and I am feeling pulled to share a little bit. I don’t know what to do with this dusty old blog, but I’m not quite ready to give it up.

I thought we could start with everyone’s favorite end of the year wrap up?

1. What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before?
I have never really been a devotee to the “word of the year” phenomenon, but in hindsight I definitely see that there was a theme for me throughout this past year. 2017 was the year of Surrender. The year I had to say to myself – Holly, you can not do it all. And I couldn’t. And I didn’t. And if you know anything about me, you know that was a very tough pill to swallow. I mean, for evidence, please see the name and content of this blog for the last decade.
In 2017 I didn’t set a single goal. I didn’t aim to improve myself, or push myself, or plan for something, or execute on a big project. None of it. And honestly that was hard for me. There were so many times I felt lost and un-anchored and desperate for some structure. But there was also part of me that felt free. Free to just flow with where life took me. And I did that. And so many times I felt energized, and alive and surprised by what surrounded me. It’s been an interesting thing to reconcile.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My goals at the top of this website are from 2016 – so that should tell you pretty clearly about whether or not I kept any resolutions. Ha! I’m not sure if I’m going to make goals for 2018. We’ll see.
Never say never. I mean, I am turning 40 in 2018, so…

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No one in my immediate family gave birth but a good friend did.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No deaths in my immediate family. It was another year of feeling oddly connected to dying celebrities though. I think this has to do with the fact that I’m getting older.

5. Where did you travel?
Zero trips this year, which was just fine by me. But I definitely have the itch to go back to Palm Springs something fierce next year.

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?
More sleep.
Holden woke up 2-3 times a night until we sleep trained him in June. BEST DECISION WE EVER MADE OMG WHY DID WE WAIT SO LONG. It literally took one night and he has been a champion sleeper ever since. But I went 8 months straight without really sleeping more than 4 hours at a clip and that took a toll. We’ve been sleeping a solid 6 months now but it took quite a few months FOR ME to get back the ability to actually sleep through the night. My sleep isn’t perfect but it is steadily improving and I look forward to feeling slightly more rested in 2018.

7. What dates from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Holden’s first birthday. (Joy)
The night before my mom had a major surgery. (Anxiety)
Christmas Eve. (Because Holden slept in until 8am and so did I, and WOW I woke up feeling festive and rested and we had a wonderful day with family.)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I found balance between work and motherhood. It’s a new pace for me, and it took ¾ of the year to figure out, but I’m there and I feel good and I don’t feel like I’m failing at everything in life.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Fitness.
I maybe worked out 5 times this year? That might be giving myself more credit than is due. I completely lost my fitness mojo. Obviously I wasn’t sleeping until July and working out just wasn’t going to happen – my body was pumping out enough cortisol just to survive. But in 2018 I would really like to get back to moving my body in a way that feels good physically. It’s so good for my MENTAL health, and I really missed that in my life this year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Pregnancy a C-Section and the natural loss of some core stability shined a light on a congenital back issue that I have going on that caused me to suffer quite a bit of pain this year. I began seeking help for it in spring and only in the last few weeks have I felt a decent amount of relief. It’s been a long, slow process and it’s made me realize that CrossFit is not in the cards for me in the near future (or maybe ever again.) This was a very sad thing for me to come to terms with this year. I want to continue rehabilitating my back in 2018, lose some weight since that will only help things, and find new fitness that both me and my back will love.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
We bought our first home in September after looking for almost 12 months. It was exhilarating, scary and hands down the best thing we bought. I feel grateful every single day for this house. It is all the things we hoped for but thought we would have to compromise on. It was really an exercise in patience because we saw so many houses, made multiple offers, had our hearts broken and really thought we may never find The One. But then our house came along and literally everything from start to finish was easy, effortless and exactly what we had been asking for all those months. It felt like a literal gift from The Universe.

12. Where did most of your money go?
OOF, that house down payment.
13. What did you get really excited about?
Holden sleeping through the night. Celebrating two years of marriage. Surviving the first year of parenthood. Buying a house. Moving three miles away from my mom. The Holidays in our new home. Feeling like I am getting a bit of my personal mojo back after having a baby.

14. What song will always remind you of 2017?
This one.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Oh gosh, that’s hard. I mean – last year I was a blissfully pregnant dog mom and so excited about what was to come. This year we lived through some of the harsh realities of the first year of parenting. Haha
That said, overall I am definitely happier.
– thinner or fatter? I weigh less than I did pregnant.But definitely flabbier.
– richer or poorer? Richer for sure. In all the ways that matter.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish we had dined out more when Holden wasn’t mobile 🙂

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I had done less panicking. I go from zero to a hundred REAL QUICK on the anxiety scale when I am not exercising. As you can imagine so this year was a hard one on the emotional management front. New baby, re-entering the work environment, family health issues, all of it. I just did a lot of panicking that probably wasn’t necessary.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
We slept in. My mom stayed the night. We had family over. There was cooking and Christmas music and way too much dessert and I went to bed with the fullest, happiest heart.

19. What was your favorite TV program?
We fell hard for The Great British Baking Show this year. That show is just too cute.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
I only read 4 books this year and I don’t know if any were really favorites.
Hillbilly Elegy (Pretty darn good.)
Love Warrior (Meh.)
The Dry (Great.)
You Are A Bad Ass (Hated.)
A Return to Love (Re-Read)
I was just happy to get through them. I hope to read a lot more in 2018.
21. What was your favorite music this year?
I have been on a Country streak ever since I was on maternity leave and up all night nursing and watching old episodes of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. Spotify tells me Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton, Lady Gaga and Beirut were my most played artists. Seems about right.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
Did I even watch a film this year? I don’t think I did and that is sad.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 39 and I can’t remember what I did. Is that mom brain? Did we just relax? I’m not sure. Hoping to make this next year’s milestone birthday one to remember.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
It was pretty darn good, I don’t want to be greedy.

25. What was the political issue you that stirred you?
Like so many, I think everything under the entire feminist umbrella made me feel stirred up and like taking action.

26. What kept you sane?
Am I sane? Is that a fact? I am not sure sure. I don’t know if I would bet on that you guys — I went a really, really long time without any sleep. 🙂

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017.
I am much stronger than I thought I was, despite the fact that I have much less muscle.

Howdy friends!

These days are going by in a flash so I thought I better pop in and do a little brain dump or this month is going to fly by just like April and I will post nothing! I already hate that I’m only averaging a post once a month, so I at least have to keep that pace up!

I think I’m experiencing that lame blogger feeling where you feel like so much time has passed that you would have to give some long sweeping updates (for example: Holden’s darn birth story) in order to just start posting about fun, little things again and that is giving me a feeling of overwhelm. So if you see me popping in and just randomly blogging and you’re like “WHAT THE HECK?” just know I am just over here trying to get my blog mojo back. Anyway, on to some random updates!

Last Friday Holden was 7 months old, and so far this age is my favorite. He is so fun, interactive and mobile — but not TOO mobile that I have to chase him everywhere. He just delights in everything and is constantly curious and smiling. It is so cliche, but seeing the world through your child’s eyes is really a magical thing.

A month or so ago they had a “Picture Day” at his daycare, and you guys — YOU GUYS — when we got the proofs back we basically just offered them all of our money because OMG, it’s a baby! Doing Portraits! ha! The whole things just cracks me up, but obviously we had to order them.

His sleep right now is mostly good, but inconsistent, and I just feel like: what a wild ride my life is daily. It is the best and most exhausting thing, all at the same time!

Speaking of exhausting, my caffeine intake is still OFF. THE. CHARTS. right now and I’m hoping to rein that in sometime soon but I have to pick my battles these days and being functional at work (and at home!) is required and the coffee helps. I recently helped my mom move and as a thank you she sent me $50 in Starbucks gift cards. She and I talk every morning on the way to work so she is totally in on my habit these days, but when Garrett saw that he was like “WOW, that will take you forever to spend.” and I just chuckled. It didn’t last me two weeks. 🙂

Apropos of nothing, I have to admit that I am really enjoying Instagram Stories. I have basically completely abandoned Snapchat, which isn’t saying much since I lurked on both and didn’t actually put out content, but I am very much enjoying seeing my favorite friends and Instagrammers use video. I think at this time in my life video is easier to ingest than words (yep, that’s my brain that you hear melting) but FWIW, I’m really enjoying them! I wish PRODUCING video type content came easy to me because I think it looks so fun but I legit can’t handle anything new right now.

Maybe I’ll dabble in a story or two but I feel weird talking to my phone. Is there anything you would be interested in seeing on my Instagram stories? (Are you even following me over there? Is anyone even still out there? Is this thing on? tap tap 🙂

If you are still tuning in, you might remember in my February post I mentioned how much I was missing CrossFit but I was having some lingering postpartum issues that were preventing me from going back. Well two things have happened in the past two months that are basically killing that dream to go back to getting my WOD on.

The first, on the injury front, I’m dealing with some pretty bad lower back pain and I’ve found the source of it and it’s kind of a bummer. I have a lot of degeneration in my L5 disc in my back that is clearly causing the pain. It’s congenital (there is no sign that it was caused from trauma and I really haven’t experienced any back trauma ever, so that makes sense) and my doc thinks it was probably that way before I had Holden but since I had a very stable core (heavy lifting, for the win!) I didn’t experience any pain, plus this top buy co-dydramol uk – EU Meds was a great help. Now here we are post-having a baby, and my core is less stable, so NOW I’m experiencing pain related to that disc degeneration. It’s good that my friend recommended me this wellness center like Charleston SC Joint Pain Clinic | Alternative Knee Pain Treatment | QC Kinetix (Mt Pleasant) for my perfect pain treatment and medication. Anyway — long story short: I’m restoring my core, heavy lifting and high intensity exercise are off the table until I make some progress (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) so CrossFit is out.

The second, is that my CrossFit gym closed. WEEP!!! You guys, I am so sad about this. Above is all of us on the last day at the gym, helping tear things down. Man, it’s a bummer. It’s a great thing for our gym owner for sure, but it feels like such a loss of community. It also comes on the heels of one of our dear coaches passing away, so it’s been a double whammy as of late on the CrossFit front.

To say we are feeling a bit untethered as far as fitness goes in an understatement. I’ve been doing CrossFit at the same gym for 7 years and now I have a new baby, a new schedule, new priorities to juggle, a new injury, and no gym to go back to. I’m considering to buy used gym equipment so I can continue my fitness journey at home. It’s definitely a pickle, but if you know me all you know that I am doing my best to map out what’s next because fitness is MY SANITY. (And I’m very protective of my sanity these days! haha)

I hate to end this with a negative story, so on a happier note — the weather has been SO BEAUTIFUL lately and that, combined with Holden being a little older and a little more independent means that Garrett and I are getting out into the world so much more these days, being more social, and getting to bring Holden with us everywhere. It has just been the best! I anticipate lots of time outdoors this weekend and this season and just enjoying our little family. Life is so, so good right now and while it is not without it’s challenges, it is really nice to capture all of the good happening lately.

Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods. Hope to be back here sooner rather than later!

Despite drinking ALL THE COFFEE, ALL DAY LONG I haven’t made an appearance around here in a while. I literally come home from work every single night and say “Tonight is the night I will blog!” and instead I do the following:

*Snuggle my delicious baby who has been at daycare all day
*Feed said baby
*Read him a story with Garrett and do our general “Hey, it’s time to go to sleep” night time routine
*Cook Dinner
*Eat Dinner
*Wash dishes, bottles, sometimes even myself (HEY-O, showers! Luxury of all luxuries!)
*Pump
*And then, then if my eyelids are still open, sometimes I even sit down with that handsome husband of mine and chat, or watch like 30 minutes of some trashy Bravo program until we are both snoring heaps on the couch by about 8:30. Which is good because that baby is usually awake to eat at midnight and then again around 3am. (You know, before he is up for the day about 5am. RIP SLEEP!)

So, ahem, yes — blogging. I Not Be Doing It. And I miss it so hardcore it hurts, but I know from experience that I will figure out how to balance my personal hobbies with my sweet little baby one thing at a time. Seasons of life, and all that.

In the meantime, I thought we could catch up with a little Currently action. Here is what is going over here, currently:

Blowing My Mind:

Y’all, as of today I HAVE A 5 MONTH OLD! That is literally the fastest 5 months of my life and I feel like I have traveled to the ends of the earth and stayed in the exact same spot ALL AT ONCE! Weirdest and best experience ever, I tell ya.

I can count the days on one hand that I have slept uninterupted through the night (well, more accurately on one finger: it was on my birthday back in October) so I’m slightly insane at most moments of the day, but five months! We’ve made it 5 months! And we’re all still standing! Well, Holden isn’t yet but he sure does want to!

Reading:
Going back to work at the beginning of the month was a pretty major adjustment, but with the tough parts have also come a huge reclaiming of my own independence. I’ve gotten back some parts of my life that I was missing and one of the most exciting has been reading time! (I’m pumping at work which affords me a few minutes of uninterrupted reading every day. YAY!)

I kicked off the year reading something serious, then moved to something even heavier, started a book that was so fast paced and awesome but I had to return it before finishing because it was due back at the library – SAD! Now I just need a good old fashioned easy read, and that’s what I’ve got. Fun so far.

But I’m reading! REUNITED AND IT FEELS SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!

Watching:
I don’t have a ton of time or energy for watching TV and movies, but I’ve managed to watch some fun stuff in the past month or two. Granted one of these movies took us 4 days to get through, but hey — we watched it! (Bad Redbox investment for the record though. We decided after that experience that we probably just need to stick with what’s on Netflix and Amazon in this phase of our lives lol)

On the movie front we watched Deep Water Horizon (Marky Mark 4EVA!), Hell or High Water (Both were good movies that appealed to me and Garrett.) I watched Minimalism (and honestly felt a little eye rolly about it.) Maybe it’s because I heard too much hype? I don’t know. It didn’t feel life changing to me.

On the TV front I have been catching up on Scandal again while nursing. Also I am LOVING HBO’s adaptation of Big Little Lies. I loved the book and I think the show is so good so far! I’m kind of a Reese Witherspoon fangirl so this is not a surprise.

Obsessing:
My two current obsessions are both beauty related and impulse purchases picked up at Target. Those are the best, right? The first is this hand cream. Holy hell, I love it! Smells great (not sunscreen-y), isn’t at all greasy and is suuuuuuuper moisturizing! And then I went a little HAM on the NYX Butter Lipstick display and picked up a big range of shades because they were on sale and I love that formula. (Its so moisturizing that it doesn’t have hours of staying power but it feels like lip balm going on, so whatever.) I picked up Root Beer Float and Snack Shack (scary looking, but actually GREAT nudes for fair/light skin) and Moonlit Night (which is a gorgeous berry color.) Impulses for the win!

Missing:
Crossfit! But you probably knew that. I just really haven’t figured out a way to fit in working out AT ALL since Holden was born. I miss my friends, the workouts, the feeling of accomplishment, the rough barbell in my hands, EVERYTHING!!!!
TEARS!
But I’m also have some lingering post c-section issues that I need to get in check before I get back to working out anyway. I have 2 Dr.’s Appt’s this week to hopefully do some digging, but man — people aren’t kidding when they say pregnancy can ravage the bod. I’m hoping it is just some piriformis and hip flexor issues that are exacerbated by weaker abdominals. I don’t really want to think about the other possibilities. UGH. Keep your fingers crossed, would ya?

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So what’s happening with you CURRENTLY? Tell me some things! I feel like a bad friend. 😛

This post is probably a day or two late and a dollar short, but since I have a ton of catching up to do, this seemed a manageable place to start today. Beware, my kid is probably going to factor in heavily here. 🙂

1. What did you do in 2016 that you had never done before?
Saw a positive pregnancy test, grew a human, birthed that human, struggled to figure out how to care for a newborn. I mean, let’s be honest: this year had A LOT of firsts.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?
My 2016 goals (as usual) were many. But honestly, after finding out we were expecting many of them were just not feasible. I am pround of a few things though: I sent a ton of birthday cards, I spent a good amount of time with friends and family, and I finally got a damn headboard for our bed! (If you’ve been reading here a long time you know that’s been a goal for like…YEARS. I don’t know what the hold up was.) Looking for a great headboard? We got ours from Calgary Interiors.

3. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve
We spent our NYE “sleeping when the baby sleeps.” He’s going to bed between 7:30 and 8 these days and I’m rarely up for more than an hour after he is. I guard my sleep like a crazy person, and I caught the Mariah Carey disaster when I woke up in the middle of the night to feed him. It made me glad I didn’t stay up.

4. Did anyone close to you give birth? Did anyone close to you die?
Yes! My family had so many births this year it was so exciting! My cousin Jenny gave birth to a son 6 months to the day before I did. My cousin John and his wife gave birth to a son 3 months after Holden was born. It’s so fun that we had three baby boy cousins all born in the same year. The thought of them all growing up together like I did with my cousins just melts my heart.

There were also a ton of babies born between some great co-workers of mine. There was a serious “Don’t drink the water” situation happening at work because I think there were 8 of us having babies around the same time. Nuts.

As for anyone close to me dying — we had to say goodbye to my sweet Buster and I am still not over it.

5. Did you travel this year?
After we cancelled our official honeymoon to Maui when I had serious morning sickness, I didn’t think to much about travel. Some years are exploratory, and others you stay close to home. This was the latter and it was great to nest, reorganize, and focus on the homefront.

6. What would you like to have had in 2017 that you didn’t have in 2016?
Not much. This year was so full of literal blessings that anything I could have wanted for has been completely overshadowed.

7. What moment from 2016 will remain etched in your memory, and why?
This one has that “etched in my memory” vibe.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
You know, I would say successfully navigating my life with a real understanding that I am not in control. I mean, yes, that sounds a little hippie woo-woo and, no, I’m not a recovered control freak yet; however, 2016 was a real practice in that area and I feel accomplished at the end of it.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Writing here. And I mean that. 2016 feels like a huge success in so many ways. It’s a year I’ll remember forever. But I definitely felt a hole where this blog lives. I know people are saying blogs are dead, or rather the personal (non corporate) blogs are dead. But I’m just not ready to believe that. This has been my life’s scrapbook for over a decade now. I’m not quite ready to let it go.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I went through the entire year illness free though ironically it is the year I vomited the most in my entire lifetime. (Sorry, but it had to be noted. UGH Do. Not. Miss. That.) As far as injury goes, nothing official, but I’ll tell you what — having a c-section is no joke and I feel like my body still has some ground to gain in the muscle department. But I’m doing it smartly and slowly and with absolutely zero judgment about my physical appearance. Having a baby has been so liberating in that way!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
It’s probably a toss up between this and this. And of course I didn’t buy either of them, my mom gifted them both to us and OBVIOUSLY moms know best.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Into our savings account. We would like to buy a house this year and looking into PenFed Realty homes so we were total misers in 2016.

13. What song will always remind you of 2016?
So I cried the entire way home from the hospital after Holden was born (birth story forthcoming in 2017, I promise) and all I can say about that is — Hello, hormone dump! Ok, and also a little bit of panic. But my point is:we heard this song like 3 times on the drive home from the hospital. Then at his first pediatrician appointment we heard in multiple times on the way there and on the way back. (Sacramento radio, play some variety would ya?) Anyway, we started calling it Holden’s song and it will always remind me of this year.

14. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Written here. Read books.

15. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Not much. I had a really lovely year. I mean, I guess I wish I had worried about my child less (before he was born/after he was born), but I don’t think that will stop anytime soon.

16. What was your favorite new tv program?
Like everyone else in America I adored Stranger Things. I hope it doesn’t have the Netflix Season Two curse because I’m really looking forward to a new one.

17. Compared to this time last year are you:
Happier or Sadder – Immensely happier.
Fatter or Thinner – Well this is a weird one. I’m about 20 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight (Thanks breastfeeding!) but I know so much of that is muscle, which makes me sad. So I guess fatter, but I weigh less…LOL
Richer or Poorer – Richer in all the ways that matter.

18. What was the best book you read?
Did I even finish a book last year? Sigh.

19. Greatest Musical Discovery?
Old lady alert: I finally figured out how to use Spotify in a way that enhances my life. And for some reason this year I also revived my love for Country.

20. Favorite Film of the year?
The only movie I remember watching was that hypnobirthing movie and I can’t say it was a favorite. 🙂

21. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 38 a mere 16 days after Holden was born and the morning of my birthday Garrett made sure I got a 4 hour stretch of sleep and it was the first one I had gotten in those 16 days and boy did it feel like a gift!

22. Greatest Food Discovery?
Anything that can be eaten using only one hand got my stamp of approval.

23. Describe your personal fashion concept?
Wear Maternity clothes and try not to look completely unprofessional.

24. What did you want and not get?
Another year with Buster.

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned:
Gratitude (and lots of coffee) can get you through anything.

26. What pictures best represent 2016?
My Instagram Feed for certain. I mean, yes it has turned into a lot of baby pictures. But let’s be real, that is the best representation of 2016.

Hope you all had a lovely holiday. I’m wishing you a renewed 2017 and I hope we get to chat more around here in the coming year. I’m going to try and do better at that. Thanks for being patient.