Happy New Year

With the start of 2021 comes a new set of intentions for me. I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of reflecting these last few weeks. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect 2020 to look and feel the way it did. I really feel like I’m coming out of the year a very different, and better, version of myself than I went into it.

That being said, I do have some goals and intentions for the upcoming year. After 2020 we all realized we can’t predict or control how things go, but, I am anticipating 2021 being filled with new beginnings for our family. A lot of my hopes for the year hinge on some changes we’re expecting to make.

A few of my intentions for 2021 include:

Self-Care/Personal

  • Schedule regular preventive medical appointments
  • Run or XC ski at least 2x per week
  • Run a 30K in the summer or fall
  • Incorporate yoga and/or Pilates at least 1x per week
  • Design, build and grow a garden
  • Read at least one book each month

Marriage

  • Weekly check-ins
  • Share in the planning of a weekly date night in

Family

  • Prioritize one-on-one time with the kids
  • Create a family charter and vision
  • Increase kids’ responsibilities

Food & Nutrition

  • “Eat the Rainbow” daily
  • Have at least two meatless days per week
  • Plan & prep meals each week

Organization

  • Minimize clothes, shoes and accessories
  • Do a major de-clutter
  • Work with local carpenter to build some storage solutions
  • Build a garage!

For the first time ever, to go along with my list of intentions, I created a list of action items to help me follow through on everything.

I do want to pat myself on the back for a few habits I got into this year. I’ve never run as much or as consistently in my life as I did in 2020. I ran 537 miles, climbed just shy of 30,000 feet and logged a hike, run or bike ride 121 days in 2020. I’m pretty proud of that.

In addition, I challenged myself to do with significantly less, grocery shop every two weeks, cook with what we had, and bake a tremendous amount of bread. I started a garden and was immediately humbled, but I did get a nice crop of herbs, greens and tomatoes.

Finally, I thrived in relentless parenting. I was not about to get bogged down by the increase in responsibilities the pandemic threw at me. I decided from the beginning that we were going to thrive, and by golly, that is what we did.

2020 was a heck of a year. 2021 is here, now, and I am so looking forward to seeing what’s in store. Wishing you a healthy and prosperous new year!