So it’s the last day of January. In a new year. A new, fresh start. 2016 is behind us. 31 days behind us to be exact. We made it. We can keep going.
Looking back over my last year and a half - gosh what happened? Or maybe I should say, what didn’t happen?
We went on vacation. We moved. We found out we were pregnant. We moved due to mandatory bedrest. We spent a week in the hospital for me. We spent 77 more days in the hospital because of Lorelei. We experienced loss. We experienced miracles. We moved again. We were finally home. Lorelei was finally home. We learned. We grew. We cried. We cried a lot. We had unexpected surgeries and procedures, and more hospital stays. We began to fall into our new, uncomfortable normal.
And here we are. In a new year. A new start. A new normal.
If you’re not new here, you know every single year I try to write something on my blog with goals, aspirations and plans for the year. I feel like if you write it and throw it out into the universe, maybe, just maybe it will happen. Looking back on past years’ goals… eh. Some of them didn’t happen. But a lot of them did. I mean, hello paleo life! Thanks for making that one finally stick, 2014.
This year, I’m not going to make resolutions. Because if 2016 taught me one thing, it taught me that God blatantly, albeit lovingly, laughs at my plans. But only because his plans are so, so much bigger than I could ever dream up. That being said, I’ve learned a lot about who I was, and coming out of a dark 18 months, I’m still trying to figure out who this new Suz really is… this year I am going to try to make a few lifestyle changes.
- I’m going to turn music on and shut the TV off. (Not all the time, but more frequently.) Even if it’s 90’s classics like *NSYNC or Counting Crows. Music is good for the soul. And it’s gotta be better than the same negative stories over, and over, and over again on the news…
- I’m going to be present. When Lorelei is around, if I am not working (I work from home) I will not be on social media or scrolling mindlessly through my phone. Guys, this is hard. I can’t be the only one who struggles with this, can I? (Bueller? Bueller?) I’m not promised forever with her. The last thing I ever want are my memories of staring at cat memes to ever outweigh my memories of Lorelei cuddles and playtimes.
- Fundraise. Fundraise. Fundraise. Other than God, our only hope to find a cure for my daughter’s disease is to raise funds for Mitochondrial Disease research. We are lucky enough to have the opportunity to raise money to go directly to the lab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that is studying her exact FBXL4 Mitochondrial Disease genetic mutation. This is a progressive disease that could easily affect any future children we have… we need to find a cure!
- Be creative. I miss writing. I miss creating. I miss being crafty and working those “think outside of the box” juices. So in my free time… I will write. I will read. I will create. I will take advantage of nap times and do something other than watch reality television!
So there ya have it world. I’ve thrown it out there. We have 1/12th of the year behind us… let’s see what the rest of 2017 has in store.
