The Bad…
It was the year that my Nana
(daddy’s mom) began to decline rapidly.
She went totally blind, moved into a nursing home, and dementia stole
most of her waking moments from her for the rest of the year. It broke my heart to see her that way, and it
broke my heart even more for my sweet Daddy who cared for her day in and day
out.
It was the year that my Papa
John (Nana’s companion of 25+ years and basically my grandfather even though
not technically by marriage) had a stroke and had to be moved to an assisted
living facility where he passed away a couple months later.
It was the year that we went
through a very tough situation with someone who we love dearly. I didn’t talk about it on the blog for the
privacy of others, but it was the main event that rocked my world and sent my
anxiety into a tailspin.
It was the year that a massive tornado ripped through our city, hitting just 1/2 mile from our
home. Fortunately it was on the ground
so long that we had just enough time to grab the bare necessities and get out
and drive to my parents’ house. My
brother called and told us it was heading straight for our house and to GET
OUT. We drove in the pouring rain and
thunder and lightning while the tornado sirens were going off and it was the
scariest drive of my entire life.
Thankfully, it missed our house, but it left a massive path of
destruction for 30+ miles, hitting just down the street from us. 2019 could have been so much worse for us,
but fortunately we were spared.
Unfortunately, it resulted in some PTSD for me and was the cause of much
of my anxiety for the rest of the year.
Every time we had severe weather here (which is fairly often since we
live in the south), my anxiety went through the roof, but I’m learning to
manage it now.
It was the year that Brian
sprained his ankle while playing tennis.
Fortunately, it didn’t require surgery or anything like that, but it
happened right in the midst of all of the other crap and it just added to our
beating this year. When it rains it
pours, right?
It was the year that my
Daddy’s cousin passed away from brain cancer.
It was the year that I thought I was having a heart attack and had to be taken to the hospital via
ambulance. I spent the next 24 hours
there being poked and prodded and tested and they never found anything. The verdict was that I had an esophageal
spasm, but there’s no way that we’ll ever know for sure. Some doctors are now speculating that it was
a panic attack although they specifically checked for that when it was
occurring and they didn’t think it was the case. It was one of the scariest moments of my
whole life, though, and it set me up for a doozy of a rest of the year.
It was the year that I
thought my allergies/reflux/asthma flared to an all-time high. We’re talking daily issues for THE ENTIRE
YEAR. I only recently discovered that
what’s been plaguing me all year is likely anxiety due to the crappy first
couple of months we had. According to my
testing, my allergies and asthma are very well managed and it’s looking like I never
even had reflux at all…
It was the year that the
snakes were out in full-force in our yard/neighborhood. Yes, I know this sounds ridiculous and minor
compared to everything else, but again, even minor things = scary when you’re
already suffering from anxiety. After
finding a four-footer in our back yard + another one a few days later I was
DONE. Not to mention lots of our
neighbors posted loads of pictures of rattle snakes and copperheads and other
snakes that they’d seen in their back yards on our neighborhood Facebook page
all year. It made me terrified to even
let the kids and Maui go outside. I hate snakes, y’all. HATE them.
It was the year that Brian’s
longtime employer was acquired by a larger company and we were worried about
him losing his job. His company is very
large but it’s homegrown right here in our hometown, so to say we were
blindsided and shocked is a huge understatement. We are praying that B’s job is safe, but with
buy-outs you just never know, and it’s something that we may have to worry
about from here on out as they’ve had ongoing “restructuring” AKA downsizing
since the merger.
It was the year that one of Brian’s
tennis teammates was killed in a car accident due to some nasty weather on the
way to their state tournament… the same tournament B was supposed to attend. She has two kids at our school and we’re just
so heart-broken for them. I’m just so
thankful that B had waited to go until the next day. It ended up getting canceled (as you can
probably imagine) so he never left the house.
It was the year that Jacob
got a stomach virus on the first day of school and he missed his first day of
school ever. (Minor, but so fitting for
this year.)
It was the year that my
parents had to put their dog of 11 years down.
It was the year that Olivia
got the stomach virus. (Again, minor in
the scheme of things, but ugggghhhh. The
stomach virus gives me so much anxiety.
And we have been lucky in that our kiddos don’t really get it very often
or very severely, knock on wood.)
It was the year that I spent
the entire month of December sick as a dog – three of the weeks with a terrible
cold that would NOT go away and one of the weeks with some weird stomach virus
that caused me to feel awful – nausea, stomachaches, fatigue, and zero appetite
for eight whole days. I didn’t let it
hold me back from attending all of the fun events during the week, but feeling
that bad sure did put a damper on my favorite time of year.
And finally, it was the year
that my Nana decided to leave this world… on Christmas Eve.
Sigh.
Y’all. 2019 was tough. But I also know that it could have been so
much worse, and we are grateful to have made it through healthy and strong
(-ish… I gotta finish kicking this anxiety first) and pointed in the right
direction to make 2020 an even better year!
Now that the bad things are
out of the way, please, please let’s
move on to all of the good things!
The Good…
It was the year that we
celebrated our jolly gal’s 5th birthday!
It was the year that I
celebrated my 37th birthday!
It was the year that Olivia danced in her first ballet recital... and I learned how to do a perfect ballet bun. ;o)
It was my second summer home
with the kids and we had another great one together!
Week 2 (see beach recaps below)
It was the year that we celebrated Jacob’s eighth birthday.
It was the year that Jacob
played in his first baseball season ever and their team TOOK HOME THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! Not too shabby for a first season!
It was the year that we hosted some of B's family whom I'd never met and we got to spend some quality time with them and get to know them better.
It was the year that B and I
celebrated our TWELFTH wedding anniversary.
Holy moly, where did the last decade go?
It was the year that we took
an extended beach trip to our favorite place, 30A! And it was one of my favorite trips there to date!
It was the year that we
tried out a new mountain house in Blueridge ,
GA
It was the year that we went on several day trips and weekend getaways.
It was the year that we went
to 5 concerts and we collectively had some of the best seats we’ve ever had!
It was the year that we went to two
It was the year that B and I went on 12 dates yet again! We always try to average one per month and we did it yet again for the third year in a row!
It was another year of
wonderful holiday celebrations.
It was the year that I volunteered more than ever at the kids’ school and I’m just so thankful that I have the opportunity to do this now. I wrapped up my first year as a room mom for Jacob’s second grade class and I started my second year as a room mom for his third grade class. I also joined the Home and School Association for the current school year and I completed my second year on the fall carnival committee.
It was the year that we
connected with new friends at the school and I joined a bible study group with
a terrific group of ladies. I was also
able to spend lots of quality time with my mom and cousins and girlfriends and
the kids got to spend time with their friends as well.
It was the year that I
experienced the least amount of physical pain since Jacob’s birth. I’ve had chronic back/pelvic issues from a
traumatic birthing experience, and by the urging of my wonderful, amazing,
angel of a physical therapist, I had injections to my SI joints in January of
2019 and have been virtually pain-free most days since then. I never in a million years thought I would
ever be this comfortable in my body again and I’m SO SO thankful to have found
these wonderful ladies. I am now free of
physical therapy and other treatments for the first time in EIGHT YEARS and my
injections have lasted longer than the average ones do… I’m praying they continue
to keep me feeling great!
It was the year I shared a
couple of new recipes with you here on the blog.
It was the year that I
shared some fun organizing tips and DIY projects with you.
How I Organized My Entire Life by Creating a Series of Lists + How I Use My Planner to Maintain Them
It was the year that I
declared that I was going to get things DONE and, boy, did I ever! We had our kitchen cabinets and entertainment center painted white, we upgraded Olivia to a big girl bedroom, we upgraded our bedding in our master bedroom, and I cleaned out and decorated every inch of
our house to perfection. I also whittled
my massive Master To-Do List down by more than half, and I accomplished so many
goals. More on this soon when I share my
2019 New Year’s Goals recap next week.
;o)
It was the year that I had yet another blog post go viral on Pinterest and that has been wonderful! More on that below...
It was the year that I
doubled my income from the previous year and made more money than I ever have
on the blog! I’m still a ways away from
replacing my corporate salary, but I’m pleased that the income is on an upward
trend.
It was the year that I
worked with brands like Sam’s Club, Candytopia, Shutterfly, and so many
more.
And since this is technically
a Five on Friday post, I’ll leave you with my top five most viewed posts that
were written in 2019…
The majority of my posts get
near 2K views, so there were probably 200 posts that were vying for the #5 spot,
but this was the one that made the cut for 5th place at 1,935 views.
F O U R – What I Ordered from Amazon in July 2019
This post is at 4th place
with 2,048 pageviews. I have a feeling
this one was popular because Amazon Prime Day was in July and everyone wanted
to see what we purchased from the sale.
:o)
This post is currently in 3rd
place at 2,344 views and still growing (slowly). If you missed out on something you wanted
really badly in the NSale this past year, check out this post… you may just
find something similar!
T W O – How to Organize ALL Keepsakes from Your Child’s First 22 Years of Life… Like, EVERY SINGLE THING
This post was the follow-up
to my How to Organize All of Your Child’s School Papers in Just One Box. That post is now my all-time most viewed post
with 252,847 views. This post came in 2nd
place for the year at 2,517 views. I had
hoped that it would take off on Pinterest and go viral, but no such luck yet!
And finally, this post was
my most popular post written in 2019 by a landslide. It is currently in 1st place with 55,384
views and growing daily. This post is
SUPER informative and I give very specific details of the daily, weekly,
monthly, and master lists I keep, tasks that are on said lists, and how I use
those lists in my every day life. I’m
still using this exact method and it’s still working just as well over a year
later!
So the verdict for posts
written in 2019 – I had one new post go viral in 2019 to add to the other ten
or so from previous years that are still viral and generating the majority of
my website traffic!
And just for kicks, my Top 9 most liked Instagram posts of 2019...
And finally some funnies. Because it wouldn't be a Five on Friday post without them!
 |
| Why oh why did they not make this happen?! |
 |
| LIT |
 |
| I swear this is true... |
 |
| He definitely has my vote. |
 |
| I do love a man in a suit. |
 |
| We're gonna need a bigger garden. |
Okay, BYEEEE, 2019!!
Heeeey, 2020! How you doin’?
*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites and Della Devoted for High Five for Friday.
It really has been a year for you all! I feel like there is so much to say, but I am pretty sure we have already talked about it all, or will, haha. I will say am loving that last quote about making the tears from 2019 water the seeds for 2020. Cheers to that!
ReplyDeleteMy birthday is on Friday the 13th this year and I don't know if it is going to be lit, but I am pretty excited about it, haha! Also, SAME with 1980 being 20 years ago. How is it not?!
I’m so thankful 2019 is behind us. Cheers to fresh, new pages, places and memories.
ReplyDeleteWow, 2019 was a year for you all - I am so sorry for the deaths and sadness it brought. So many wonderful memories were also made though! Life sure is a ride! Here's to 2020!
ReplyDeleteWOW! What a year. Sorry for the loss of your loved ones. Prayers that 2020 will bring lots of happiness! And the Time Person of the Year - It's my favorite. That cat makes me laugh so much.
ReplyDelete2019 wasn't a very good year when you look at all the sad and hard things that happened. I'm glad you found a lot of good too though. We may be starting with some of that bad luck - Zachary has a stomach virus right now. :( Also, I totally agree that 1980 was 20 years ago. I mean, really, I'm 41?
ReplyDeleteA year with losses is never easy, but so many wonderful moments for you and your sweet family too! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry there were some really tough moments for you throughout the year but I am so glad to also see the great milestone moments and family memories you created. I'm hoping 2020 is extra good to you all!
ReplyDeleteWith every sun, some rain must fall....
ReplyDeleteLove how you did this post - it is good to finish up with the good though. Know its always there or coming back.
FYI - we have spent MANYYYYY a trip to the ER because my hubby has had panic attacks that he has swore are heart attacks. Even when they tell him its that, he's still not convinced. Be your own advocate - you know your body the best. I'm sure that was horrifying for you.
I just couldn't believe how the "bad" part of this post just kept going on and on. It was tough year for y'all!!! I think a lot of folks feel the same way, and many are ready to move on to the new year. I'm glad you also had lots of good parts of the year too. Way to go on the viral posts! I'm going to start pinning more to spread the word about your awesome blog. :)
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe how much bad you guys had this year. I hope 2020 is a healthier, happier and a lot less death this year. I am sending you and your family lots of positive thoughts and you guys are in my prayers.
ReplyDelete