2024 New Year’s Goals - What I Accomplished

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Today I’m recapping my 2024 goals!    

As a refresher, my word and overall focus for the year was…

GRATITUDE

After a difficult 2023, my mindset wasn’t in the most positive space at the start of 2024, mostly after suffering so long with vertigo, dizziness, and unsteadiness with no answers.  There was a lot of negativity swirling around in my brain, and we all know that leads to nothing good.  Negative thinking is damaging, and not only for our mental wellbeing, but for our physical wellbeing. 

For most of my adult life, my mind has typically tended to fixate on the bad things that are going on in my life, and I have always blamed my anxiety, my OCD, and the constant need to “fix” and “control” everything.  I had pretty much just accepted “that’s just the way God wired me,” but after finishing the book Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life by Craig Groeschel at the end of December 2023, I realized that it is possible to change, and I really wanted to try to work on this in 2024. 

(If you are stuck in your ways of negative thinking and can’t seem to find your way out, I highly recommend this book.  I have read many books on this topic, and none of them have actually given me the tools to change my thinking quite like this book did.  Groeschel’s tactics for changing your thinking are rooted in scripture, but also in science, and combining the two, he explains why we get in these ruts of negative thinking (our brain creates negative neural pathways) and then he lays out a step-by-step plan to teach you how to get out of these ruts (create new positive neural pathways) to rewire your brain.  One of my friends recommended this book to me in summer 2023, and I’m so grateful every day that he did because it was eye-opening.  Groeschel walks you through several exercises throughout the book to help you lay the foundation for your own personal journey, and there are blank spaces right there in the book for you to answer, so I do recommend buying your own copy.  Plus, you’ll also want your own copy so you can highlight, highlight, highlight.  I think I highlighted a third of the book because there are so. many. incredible pieces of advice.  The entire book is absolutely fascinating.)    

So how did I do with my word? 

Focusing on gratitude did definitely help me keep things in perspective.  No matter how bad life gets, there are always things for which to be grateful, and I think that over all, 2024 was better than 2023 because I tried to focus on the good things.  October hit hard with vicious dizziness and neck tension among other issues and then we had a rough November and even worse December, so there were definitely some hard days along the way.  But it was really helpful to sit down each day and list some things that I was grateful for, and I looked forward to that time every day.  I enjoyed it so much and found it so helpful that I plan to keep a daily gratitude journal again in 2025.

I also saw some improvement in my general outlook for life and my mood overall.  Am I the most positive, upbeat person you’ve ever met?  Nope.  But I did find that in 2024, I was able to let the little things roll off a lot easier than I used to.  And most importantly, I stopped dwelling on the bad things as much as I used to.

Has this daily gratitude practice completely changed my life?  I wouldn’t say completely, but I have found it to make a pretty big difference overall, so all in all I’d say it was a good word to choose for 2024.

Now for the rest of my goals…

Relationships

N   Go on one date per month with B. – We ended up going on 10 dates last year, which isn’t too bad!  We had 12 scheduled, but 2 were canceled due to illness at the end of the year.  We would have totally hit this goal if it wasn’t for all the sickness in December.

Y   Get together with girlfriends at least once a month. – We got together for an organized dinner/get together every single month last year, and I saw many of them for various other get togethers.

Y   Try to finish tasks earlier in the day so I can spend more time with kids after school. – I was really good at this at the beginning of the year and during the summer, but in May and then October – December, it was hard to get everything done that needed to be done in the day because it’s just such a darn busy time of year.  Giving myself a yes for this since I did well for more months of the year than not, but this is something that I want to work on more this year.

Y   Compliment someone or let someone know I’m grateful for them every day. – I’m not sure I did this every single day of the year (I didn’t keep track of it in any way), but I did go out of my way a lot last year to compliment people or do something kind for someone as often as I could.

 

Personal/Health/Wellness/Fitness/Beauty

Y   Meditate every day. – My app shows that I missed 3 days this year… 2 days were truly missed because we had kids spend the night and I got out of my routine and one night we were in Chicago and I forgot, but 1 wasn’t technically missed… the meditation just ended after midnight so the app didn’t count it for that day.  Over all, 364/366 sessions is great, so I’m giving myself a yes for this.

Y   Read affirmations every day. – Yep!

Y   Read devotional every day. – I did this every day… it’s one of my favorite parts of the day!

Y   Start a gratitude journal and write at least 3 things I’m grateful for every day. – I did this every day and it’s also one of my favorite parts of the day.

Y   Start a prayer journal. – I did this every day, too, and I’m continuing this in 2025.

Y   Read and meditate on the daily Bible verse in my Bible app every day. – I did this every day, but I missed one day… the day Olivia was sick with Flu A… it just slipped my mind because I was busy caring for a sick child.  But 365/366 days is excellent.

Y   Read the entire Bible cover to cover and complete The Bible Recap by December 31. – I did complete this, and what a rewarding journey it was!

Y   Give things to God that are beyond my control and try let them go. – This is still a daily struggle, but I have gotten so much better at this.  I’ve developed the mantra “it is what it is” thanks to one of my favorite new artists and a band who we saw live in 2024, and it has actually been pretty helpful.

Y   If I find myself falling in a funk, feel the feelings briefly, and then try to let it go. – This was a tough one, too, as there were some tough times towards the end of the year, but I tried really hard to be aware of this.  Again, it can be a struggle, but over all, I think I fixated on the bad things way less than I usually do.

Y   Continue seeing my therapist regularly for my anxiety. – I saw her every 2-3 weeks all year and I still love her to pieces!

Y   Drink 64 oz. of water every day. – This did happen most days.

Y   Work out at least 4-5 times per week most weeks. – Yes, I made working out a huge priority for me in 2024.  I always feel better when I’m active.

Y   Continue focusing on stretching this year. – I implemented yoga stretch workouts every Sunday and I also started stretching more thoroughly after every run so this was successful.

Y   Incorporate more strength training into my workout routine. – I hate strength training, but I made it a point to implement more strength workouts this year.

Y   Continue maintaining a healthy diet that’s low in sugar and processed foods. – This was a success until the last couple of weeks of the year… but that’s to be expected.  Haha.  I stopped eating sandwiches/avocado toast/occasional chips for lunch and started eating protein egg bowls most days and drinking green smoothies every single day so I definitely partook way less in carbs and sugar last year.

Y   Continue to serve/volunteer at the school. – I was room mom for Jacob and Olivia last school year, I’m room mom for Olivia this school year, I’m still serving on the Home and School Advisory Board, I chaired and co-chaired many events, and I helped out with various other events last year.

N   Try to find other ways to serve my church and/or my community. – I had hoped to start serving at our church’s outreach center this year, but I just never got around to it.

Y   Read at least 15 books. – I smashed this goal by reading 31.

 

Family/School/Fun

Y   Set up a hygiene routine for the kids for non-negotiable hygiene tasks. – I do still have to remind them and followup with them sometimes, though.  Sigh.

Y   Revamp the kids’ chore charts to include new tasks. – Yep, did this and it’s hanging on the fridge where they can see it all the time.

Y   Teach the kids some more new life skills. – Both kids learned how to load the dishwasher properly (we were a little late on that), they both started using the toaster and microwave more often and they learned how to preheat the oven (even though they already knew how to), they both learned how to properly deep clean a toilet and deep clean the countertops and they do both every weekend now, they both learned how to strip their beds, wash their sheets, and then put the sheets back on their beds properly, Jacob learned how to own and use a cell phone responsibly, both kids learned email etiquette, and I also helped Jacob set up email folders + I taught him my method for filing emails (which ones to keep and which ones to delete) and when to file them to keep your inbox clutter free, Olivia and I went over some more “life stuff” about being a girl, the kids learned how to use the washing machine and the dryer and they now do their laundry on their own from start to finish, Olivia learned how to make homemade waffles from start to finish and how to use the waffle iron, and she learned how to bake Brian’s grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies, and both kids spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen chopping veggies and learning how to do various things in there.

Y   Continue fostering independence. – I’m a natural born caretaker, so I’ve always enjoyed doing things for the kids rather than letting them do it themselves, but I took a step back from many things this year.

Y   Read and finish The Body Book with Olivia. – We’re nearly done with the first one, so we’ll likely start the second one this year.

Y   Go to Disney World! – Yes, and it was the best trip ever!

Y   Go to the beach! – Yes, and it was another wonderful trip!

N   Go to an “away” Georgia game. – We’d discussed going to the Alabama game in Tuscaloosa in 2024, but we ended up not going because tickets were so expensive, and I’m glad we didn’t now since we lost.  Lol.

N   Get outside more. – We had an extremely hot, extremely long summer, and we had no access to a pool this summer, so we actually got outside less this year, I think.

N   Get the kids back on their bikes. – We’d hoped to purchase new bikes for the kids and get them riding again, but we just never got around to it.

Y   Use the One Second Everyday app to record our entire year. – Sure did and I’ll have the video done soon!

 

Home/Organization/Planning

Y   Clean out the whole house. – I got the whole house cleaned out other than the storage closet.  See below.

N   Clean out the storage closet from top to bottom (this will be a beast). – While I got the wrapping paper and our holiday décor completely organized, I didn’t work on the other half of the closet at all.

N   Part with some of the kids’ old baby toys I have been holding onto. – This was part of cleaning out that closet, so this didn’t get done either.

N   Update the laundry room. – We did get the light fixture updated, but I still need to have the cabinets painted and install a shelf in there.

N   Buy a new rug for the living room. – I couldn’t find one that I liked.

N   Buy new towels and rugs for the primary bathroom. – I found Downy Rinse and Refresh which completely revived our towels, so we don’t need new ones anymore, but I never found rugs for the bathroom that I liked.

Y   Pressure wash driveway, porches, curb. – Sure did!

N   Dedicate a space to items that are listed for sale and organize them. – This was part of cleaning out the storage closet and I never did it.

Y   Be intentional with the things I buy to keep clutter light. – I was pretty good about this mostly.  Haha.

N   Update all album artwork in iTunes (some of them are blank because of the old Napster/Limewire Days.  Lol.). – I worked on this diligently for the first half of the year, but I didn’t finish because I just got too busy with other things.  I also have over 6,000 songs in my library, so it’s going to take quite some time.

Y   Back up all pictures and videos (I got behind on this in 2023 due to Amazon changing their system). – Sure did!

Y   Cut down my Master To-Do List by 5%.  (As of January 1, 2024, my Master To-Do List is 143 lines long, so I need to do at least 7-8 items to accomplish this goal in 2024.) – I crossed 9 items off the list so I did accomplish this goal!

 

Blog/Social Media

Y   Start doing monthly gratitude recap posts. – Yes, and I loved them so much that I’m going to continue them in 2025.

Y   Create at least one Instagram Reel per month. – I did 16 for the year.

N   Create more evergreen content (recipes, organization, crafts, holiday content). – Sure didn’t.  Lol.

N   Start doing some throwback blog posts and write about things that happened pre-blog. – Never got around to doing many of these either.

Y   Work on year-end blog post (Ode to 2024) all year-long. – Yes, and it made it so much easier to finish it up at the end of the year. 

Y   Blog at least one week ahead as much as possible. – This was about half and half for the year, I’d say, so I’m giving myself a yes.

Summary

37 items accomplished

14 items not accomplished

 

Yearly Stats

Books Read: 31

    Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life – Donald Whitney

    Theo of Golden – Allen Levi

    Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith – Bill Hybels

    The Last Letter – Rebecca Yarros

    The Case for Christ – Lee Strobel

    The Younger Wife – Sally Hepworth

    Only Love Can Hurt Like This – Paige Toon

    None of This is True – Lisa Jewell

    The Good Sister – Sally Hepworth

    The Good Part – Sophie Cousens

    Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating – Christina Lauren

    First Lie Wins – Ashley Elston

    The Mother-in-Law – Sally Hepworth

    The Arrangement – Robyn Harding

    Darling Girls – Sally Hepworth

    Pretty Girls – Karin Slaughter

    This Summer Will Be Different – Carley Fortune

    Bye, Baby – Carola Lovering

    Too Good to Be True – Carola Lovering

    Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life – Craig Groschel

    Maybe in Another Life – Taylor Jenkins Reid

    Expiration Dates – Rebecca Serle

    The Summer Pact – Emily Giffin

    Can’t Look Away – Carola Lovering

    Heal. Grow. Love: Words to Help You Become – Pierre Alex Jeanty

    The 4:8 Principle: The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life – Tommy Newberry

    Hope in the Dark: Believing God is Good When Life is Not – Craig Groeschel

    The Bible – Zondervan

    The Bible Recap – Tara Leigh Cobble

    The Perfect Marriage – Jeneva Rose

    New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional – Paul David Tripp

        

Meditation Days: 363 days, 364 times

 

Workouts Completed: 343

    Barre: 2

    Core Training: 0

    Dance: 0

    High Intensity Interval Training: 0

    Hiking: 0

    Mixed Cardio: 53

    Outdoor Run: 40 (90.69 miles)

    Outdoor Walk: 99 (134.85 miles)

    Pilates: 0

    Pool Swim: 0

    Stair Stepper: 48

    Strength Training: 55

    Yoga: 46

 

Time Spent Working Out: 187:06:17 (hours:minutes:seconds)

Calories Burned During Workouts: 40,963

Donated Blood: 0 times (can’t do this right now because of my dizziness issues)

Total Steps Walked: 3,082,237

 

Goals by Month

 January 2024

February 2024

March 2024

April 2024

May 2024

June 2024

July 2024

August 2024

September 2024

October 2024

November 2024

December 2024

 

2025 goals + my word of the year will be posted soon so be sure to check back!  And if you want to see previous yearly accomplishments, you can see the summaries below.

2016 New Year’s Goals – What I Accomplished

2017 New Year’s Goals – What I Accomplished

2018 New Year’s Goals – What I Accomplished

2019 New Year’s Goals – What I Accomplished

2020 New Year’s Goals – What I Accomplished

2021 New Year's Goals – What I Accomplished

2022 New Year's Goals – What I Accomplished

2023 New Year's Goals - What I Accomplished

 Happy Wednesday, y’all!

Our Week - The One with an Emergency Vet Visit, Two Christmas Makeups, a New Year’s Eve Party, Sleepovers, and an Impromptu Date Night

Last week was our last week of Christmas break.  Christmas break is always my favorite two weeks of the whole year, but I have to say, this Christmas break wasn’t my favorite.  We’ve had a bit of a sad start to the year, but such is life, I suppose.

Monday, December 30

Monday morning, Brian had to work, but he was working from home, so he didn’t have to get up too early as he was able to roll out of bed and head downstairs to his office.  I dragged myself out of bed at 8… we have been going to bed so late and waking up around 8:30/8:45 all Christmas break, so our sleep schedule has gotten all out of whack as it always does during this break.

When I got downstairs, the first thing I did was take down the main Christmas tree in the living room.  It was the only thing left to take down after Christmas, and thankfully, I had started pulling ornaments off the night before, so all I had to do was box up all of the ornaments (that I’d left lying on the floor the night before), and pull off the balls and the garlands, and I was done. 

I stopped to eat breakfast once everything was off of the tree, and then after that, Brian came in to take it apart and get it in the box.  Y’all, I was always team real tree, but after year #2 of having our artificial tree, I will never go back to having a real tree again.  Set up and cleanup is WORLDS easier with an artificial tree.  No pine needles everywhere!

By the time we were done with that, the kids were awake, so I got a load of laundry started, and then B and I got all of the Christmas décor back in the closet in his office.  It felt so good to have it all down, but I was actually a little sad about taking it down this year since Christmas didn’t really feel quite as Christmasy this year since we missed out on so much with all the sickness.

I went to my office after that to work on my year-end blog post as it takes foreverrrr because it’s so long, and then I got showered and ready for the day.

Olivia had been fever free for four days at that point, so it was time for her to get back out in the world – FINALLY – so the kids and I headed to the library to drop off a book and pick one up, and then we went to Walmart and Publix to grab groceries for the week ahead + our New Year’s Eve get together. 

By the time we got home, it was way past lunchtime, so we threw something together really quickly, and then I got dinner in the slow cooker. 

At that point, Maui had barely eaten anything since Christmas Eve, so I called the vet to see what her thoughts were.  I got a response that scared me – after asking me a lot of questions, they told me I needed to bring her in immediately.  They said that they could see her at 3:30, so I flipped the laundry and got another load in, and then I headed out.

My end-of-year blog post had to be completed by the end of the day, so I had intended to work on it all afternoon, but that was, of course, out the window after spending two hours at the vet. 

While we were there, they checked all of her vitals, and everything looked good.  The main thing they wanted to check her for was dehydration, but she said that she was surprisingly well hydrated.  While we were there, she gave Maui a taste of a different kind of food, and she gobbled it up, so the doctor sent us home with a couple of cans of that for her to try.  It wasn’t her prescription food for her kidneys, but the doc said at that point the most important thing was just to get her to eat. 

While we were there, I answered a lot more questions that the vet asked and based on my answers she told me that Maui likely has dementia, which made me the saddest.  While she’s been getting around pretty well and has been acting mostly normal, she has been very restless in the evening, and she has started doing things out of her routine.  She has also started asking to go out and then she either won’t go out when the door is opened, or she’ll go out and then scratch to come right back in.  And she’ll do that over and over like a vicious cycle.  She has also started asking to get in my lap only to get down and then ask to get in my lap again only to get down, and it just goes round and round.  And another sign of the dementia is that she has started getting stuck in corners… she’ll think she’s going out the door, but instead, she’s standing in the corner where the door hinges meet the wall.  It makes me so sad.  I wasn’t prepared for that news, so I was pretty sad by the time I got home.

We didn’t get home until after five, and I was very overwhelmed between getting the news about Maui and knowing that my blog post was nowhere near done, the floors still hadn’t been vacuumed and mopped after taking down the Christmas stuff, there was still crap all over the house that hadn’t been tidied, and it was almost dinnertime.  Not to mention, Maui has been peeing all over the house lately, and it has been exhausting cleaning up after her.  Bless her.  The doc said it’s probably due to her kidney disease but could also be part of her dementia.

God bless Brian, he took over and did all of the vacuuming and mopping so I could sneak in an hour of blog work before dinner, and then he made us some margs before dinner since we were having chicken tacos.  That marg just hit different after stressing out about Maui all afternoon.

The weather was finally sunny and warm-ish on Monday, so the kids were able to play outside for a long time before dinner, so that was a relief.  We were all cooped up for way too long the week before that.

After dinner, the kids played for a bit and then they got showered and ready for bed.  While they did all that, I finished my blog post.  I finished it hastily (AKA sloppily), but I got it done.

We had originally wanted to take the kids to see a house that has TONS of lights that dance to music, but we found out that they didn’t do it this year because they moved.  So that was disappointing, but I guess it was all good since it was late anyway by the time the kids were done getting ready for bed.

Brian and the kids watched another episode of Time Bandits, and while they did that, I put away some of the laundry that had been sitting out for days, and I got a new string of lights on the ficus tree that we have in our living room year-round.

After the kids went to bed, Brian and I watched the last two episodes of Shrinking, season 2, and y’all, the second season was even better than the first!  It is SUCH a fantastic show.  I laugh out loud multiple times during every episode and I cry at nearly episode, too.  It is just the perfect amount of heartwarming and hilarious.  And the timing for their comic relief is impeccable – well timed and tasteful.

 

Tuesday, December 31

Tuesday, Brian was off of work, but he had an appointment at 8:30, so I woke up a little earlier again to get my booty out of the bed and get going since we had a busy day.  I had breakfast and got the dishwasher unloaded, and I was just going upstairs to work in my office for a bit when the kids finally woke and went downstairs. 

After doing some work, I got some more laundry put away, and then I made pineapple casserole for our Christmas lunch with my father-in-law.  We finally got to make up both Christmases with Brian’s family since we’d had to postpone them when Olivia got the flu.

After the casserole was in the oven, I headed upstairs to get ready, and then we headed to my father-in-law’s.  My sister-in-law and one nephew were there, and we all had lunch.  My other sister-in-law who lives in town had to work until 2, so they were late getting there, but it was the only day that we could get everyone together, so we made it work.  She arrived with my brother-in-law and my other two nephews around 3, and then we opened presents.

Shortly after that, we left because I needed to run an errand and then go get ready for our New Year’s Eve party later that evening.  We all ran to Homegoods so I could grab a cute notebook for my new gratitude journal for 2025 because life got in the way and I never had time to grab one in previous weeks as I’d planned.

After we got home, I got a couple of things done in my office, I read my last devotional of 2024, I opened some packages, and I tidied the whole house.  I STILL had laundry to put away, so I finished that, too, and then I decorated for New Year’s Eve and tied up some other loose ends around the house before everyone came over.

Brian made his famous guac, and then he got the back porch ready for everyone, and then I actually had a few minutes to paint my nails and sit for a second to let them dry before I had to start making food.  Maui came over to sit in my lap, but I couldn’t pick her up with my wet nails, so she stood patiently like this until Brian could come over and lift her onto my lap so she could settle in for a few minutes.  Look at her little paws on my feet, y’all.  I love her so much.

At 6:45, I got up and prepared all the food – we had pizza, pigs in a blanket, Brian’s guac, some fruit (gotta throw something healthy in there – LOL), a giant dessert tray, and my Momma brought meatballs and a taco dip that she does every New Year’s Eve. 

Everyone arrived at 7:30 and it was the same group as last year – my parents, my Mama Cass, my father-in-law, and the four of us.  We all mixed up some drinks and ate first, and then I chatted with my mom, dad, and Mama Cass in the dining room for a long time while Brian and the kids played Farkle with my father-in-law in the kitchen.

We had some old UGA yearbooks that one of Brian’s coworkers had just given to us, and one of them happened to be 1947, which was my Big Daddy’s (my Mama Cass’s late husband) senior year.  We thumbed through those for a while and Mama Cass told us all kinds of stories.  One that stood out was that my Big Daddy used to play basketball against Jimmy Carter!  She said that my Big Daddy played for his high school in Albany, and President Carter played for his high school in Plains, so they played against each other.  So wild!  I had never heard that story before, and it was awesome to be able to spend so much time with Mama Cass hear those stories without any distractions.

Around 10, we headed outside to do fireworks, and that only lasted about 15 minutes because everybody was cold.  Haha.  Brian and the kids had also only gotten just a few fireworks anyway.  While we were doing fireworks, I couldn't find Maui anywhere so my dad and I searched the entire house from top to bottom.  Just as I was starting to panic, I found her in Jacob's beanbag in the play room, sound asleep.  She has literally never once lay there in her entire life, so it was just odd seeing her curled up there.  I'm assuming that must have something to do with her dementia, too.  She's been doing all sorts of things that are out of character for her lately.

When we came inside, I cleaned up a little, and then Brian, my Momma, my father-in-law, the kids, and I all sat around the kitchen table playing Scattegories while Mama Cass and Daddy watched.  I hadn’t played that game since I was, probably, 12 or 13 and I’d forgotten how fun it was!

At 11:45, we put away the game, turned on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, and popped the champagne to get ready for our midnight toast.  Once we all toasted and hugged and kissed, we took a few pictures to kick off the new year, and then everyone left around 12:30 AM.  We got the kids in bed right after that, and then B and I stayed up until about 1:30 AM because we had to give Maui her treat and let her get her Mommy lap time.

Wednesday, January 1

Wednesday morning, I got up a little after 9, and after checking social media, I saw the news of the tragedy that had happened in New Orleans just a few hours prior to that.  Georgia was playing in the Sugar Bowl that night, so my cousin along with the entire team and football staff were there in NOLA already, so I texted my aunt immediately to see if she’d heard from my cousin.

I knew he was safe because Kirby never lets the team or the staff go out the night before a football game, so I wasn’t worried that he had been one of the victims but I was so worried for his safety in general.  She told me she had texted him but hadn’t heard back, probably because he was still sleeping, and shortly afterward, she texted me again to tell me he was ok and that all of the team was accounted for as they had all stayed in on New Year’s Eve night.  Thank God.

The rest of the morning was spent cleaning up after our New Year’s Eve party and fielding texts, DMs, and calls from family, friends, and blog readers.  If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you know we are diehard Georgia fans, we have season tickets to home games, and we often travel to see them.  My cousin works for the football team, so he travels with them everywhere, and his parents, sister, and girlfriend (my aunt, uncle, and cousin) go to pretty much every single game.  Thankfully, they had decided to stay home, and they didn’t go this time.  Thankfully, we decided to stay home, and we didn’t go this time either.  Thank you, God, for protecting all of us.

And thank you to all of you for checking on us.  We have lots of friends (and my cousin) who were there, but thankfully, they were not involved in any of the terrible things that happened on January 1.

I was done cleaning a little after 10, and then I sat in my office for a bit responding to everyone, staying in touch with my aunt about game information, and basically just sitting in my chair scrolling social media about the horrible event.  I had a massive headache that wouldn’t go away (hormone related… not from drinking too much on New Year’s Eve – LOL), so I didn’t feel like doing much. 

I had good intentions to get in a good workout, start my new gratitude journal, do a Bible study, prep my editorial calendar for the blog for 2025, and a whole bunch more, but I just didn’t feel like doing anything between the headache and the tragedy that had unfolded that was way too close to home.

We had another makeup Christmas get together at 1:30 that day, so I made pineapple casserole again, and then we headed that way after everyone was showered and ready.  Shortly after arriving at my MIL and step-FIL’s, we got word that the Georgia vs. Notre Dame game had been moved to Thursday for everyone’s safety.  A good call in my opinion out of respect for the families of the victims, and a good call for the safety of everyone who had to be in the dome for the game.

The rest of the afternoon was spent eating another good Christmas lunch, opening presents, and hanging out with our family.  My niece and her fiancé had just recovered from Covid (SO much sickness everywhere, y’all), so thankfully, they were able to join us, too.  And my brother-in-law whose mother passed away on Christmas Eve was able to be there even though they’d had a very small memorial to say goodbye to their mom earlier that morning. 

There were good things that came from New Year’s Day this year, but it over all, it was quite a sad start to the new year with everything going on in the world and in our family.

By the time we got home, it was already 4:30, so I didn’t really have much time to go in my office and work, and instead, I got the rest of the dishes put away from the New Year’s Eve party and I watched the end of the crazy Texas vs. Arizona State game.  What an ending!

At 5:45, we headed to my parents’ house for our traditional New Year’s Day dinner – porkchops, rice, turnip greens, and black-eyed peas.  Maui had already stopped eating her new food by the time Wednesday rolled around, so my mom gave her some rice and porkchops (after we washed off the seasonings) and she scarfed it down, thank you, God.  Then afterward, she fell asleep in my arms... another first.

I was positively stuffed and exhausted by the time we were done, so we left around 8 (with leftovers in tow for Maui for the next day), got the kids in the bed early, and then Brian and I watched some of an old Shark Tank before heading to bed at regular time as if it was a school night. 

 

Thursday, January 2

Brian had to work in the office Thursday for the first time in two weeks, so he left early, and I was out of bed by 7:45, much as I wanted to sleep in even more.  I headed downstairs to eat breakfast, and then I spent the whole morning in my office because I was so dang behind on the blog.  I finally got my editorial calendar set up and planned out for 2025 with all of the regularly scheduled content that I do.  Normally, I have that done by mid-to-late December, but y’all, December was just ROUGH and I had no time.  Then I started a new blog post… the one you’re reading now.

It was time for lunch by the time that was done, so the kids and I ate together.  They had some leftovers from the New Year’s Eve party, and I got back on track meal-wise with some leftover chicken and a green protein smoothie. 

I fed Maui before we ate lunch, and I tried mixing some of the leftover rice (that she loves) with her dog food, but she’s too smart for her own good, and she picked out all of the dog food and put it on the floor and then ate the rice.  Bless.

After lunch, I showered and got ready while the kids played outside for a while, and then I unpacked some Amazon packages and decided what to keep and what to return.  I’d bought three different bracelet organizers for the bracelets that Olivia makes for me, and I decided which one to keep.  I boxed the others up and got the returns ready to go. 

After that, I worked on this blog post some more, and then I headed downstairs to watch the Georgia vs. Notre Dame playoff game that had been rescheduled from New Year’s Day.  Brian got home from work a little after 4, and he joined me. 

The game ended up being a heartbreaker – we lost even though our backup quarterback played pretty well considering it was his first time starting.  Our QB 1 was injured late in the season and had to have surgery and couldn’t play. 

At halftime, I got dinner in the oven – sheet pan sausage and veggies + cinnamon muffins – and then I did a stair stepper workout while it baked and while we finished watching the game.

We had dinner when it was ready, and then after dinner, the kids got showered.  While they did that, I did my Bible study, and then we got them in the bed.  Brian and I started a new show on Apple TV called Silo, and it’s pretty intriguing so far.

 

Friday, January 3

Friday morning, I set an alarm to get up at 8, right when B was getting up to work downstairs in his office, but I must’ve accidentally turned it off in my sleep because the next thing I knew, it was 8:30 and I was just waking up.  Oops.

I headed downstairs to eat breakfast and get the dishwasher unloaded as we finally had someone coming to install our new one Friday afternoon.  Our dishwasher stopped draining all the way a few months ago, and Brian tried to fix it, but it didn’t work.  So, he has been having to siphon all of the water out of it manually every morning for weeks so it won’t overflow.  Because we had so much standing water in the base every morning, mildew had started to grow in there and it is just GROSS. 

We found a new dishwasher and paid for it at the beginning of December, but the techs couldn’t get anyone out here to install it until just last Friday, so we’re SO grateful to finally have it done.  What a pain it’s been the last few months for Brian.  The silver lining to having to pay for a new dishwasher – we were finally able to get one of the ultra quiet ones.  Ours is 15 years old (the original one from when we built our house), and it is SO loud that we’ve never been able to run it during the day… we’ve always had to turn it on each night before bed because otherwise we can’t hear the TV or even have a conversation while it’s running.

The rest of the morning was spent in my office working on the blog, and then a little after 11, I went to get showered for the day.  After that, the kids and I ate a very quick lunch as Jacob’s friend, Alex, was being dropped off a little after noon, and the guy was arriving to install the dishwasher.  Look at the before and after... the new one is a beauty!

While the dishwasher was being installed, I pulled out some acrylic shelves I’d bought and Olivia helped me decide which ones to keep.  I also did some tidying around the house. 

After he left, Olivia and I headed to Target because she had two gift cards that were burning a hole in her pocket.  Brian was working from home, so he stayed with the boys.  They were playing video games when we left.

I didn’t really need much from Target, so Olivia and I just browsed.  She ended up purchasing two small stuffed animals, a guided gratitude journal/planner, and a slime kit (ugh! Haha) and I grabbed some dry erase markers, some Sharpies, and some mechanical pencils to replenish our drawer downstairs since Olivia is always stealing them and not putting them back.  Haha. 

We headed back home after that because both kids were invited to sleep over at friends’ houses and it was time to get ready to go.  I did a Bible study while they packed, and then the three of us headed out.  We dropped Jacob off at his friend, WJ’s, house first, and then Olivia and I headed to her friend, Maren’s, house. 

I headed straight home after that, changed into something a little fancier, and then Brian and I had an impromptu date night since we were childless for the evening!  Both of our kids go to sleepovers quite often, but they’ve never been invited on the same night before, so we unlocked a new level of parenting Friday night.  Haha.

We were excited to have the chance to go out because we never had a chance to go out for our anniversary between being busy, me having Covid, and then Olivia having flu in December.  We always go to the same restaurant for our anniversary as it’s our favorite in town, but since it was a last-minute thing, our favorite restaurant was completely booked for the night.

There was another local restaurant who had a Christmas popup bar in December.  Their last day for that was supposed to be December 31, and we were sad to have missed it, but we ended up getting lucky because it was still going strong on Friday night.  We had a delicious dinner downstairs first – Brian got the steak and frites and I got the porkchop with whipped potatoes and veggies – and we both tried a little of each other’s. 

After dinner, we walked upstairs to the Christmas popup bar, and it was so festive!!  They had lights hanging from every post, wall, and the ceiling, and they had a fire projected on the giant TV outside.  The bar is an indoor/outdoor bar, but thankfully, they had the garage doors closed because it was freezing outside.  I thought about venturing outside since they had heated lamps, but it was really windy, too, so we stayed inside.

Brian had a New Fashion (Old Forester Bourbon, maple, green peppercorn, and angostura) and I had the Touch of Grey (Murrell’s Row Gin-Gin, Crème-de-Violette, elderflower, and honey) and both were delicious.

We hung out for a bit after we’d finished our drinks, and on our way out, I asked a guy if he’d take our picture.  I told him to get us head to toe so my cute bow shoes would be in the picture, and I think he really overcompensated for the shoes because he cut Brian’s head off.  Hahahaha.

After we were done there, we drove a couple of blocks to our favorite local beer and wine store, and we grabbed some new beers to try along with a couple of bottles of wine.  We walked back to the car after that and headed home.

When we got home, we got in our PJs and watched another episode and a half of Silo, and then we headed to bed (super late) yet again.  I swear, re-entry to the real world is going to be ROUGH on Tuesday (the day you’re reading this).  Our sleep and wake schedule always gets so out of whack during Christmas break!

 

Saturday, January 4

Saturday, I slept until 9.  There were no kids home to cook breakfast for, so I allowed myself to be lazyyyy and then I headed downstairs to eat eggs for breakfast.  I grabbed a leftover cinnamon muffin and some hot cinnamon tea afterward, and then I snuggled up under my heated blanket in my office to work all morning on blog stuff.  I had neglected it tremendously throughout all of Christmas break, so it was high time that I sat and got some work done.  I ended up knocking out my entire blog post from start to finish for Monday, and I worked some more on the post you’re reading today.

A little after 12, I threw some towels in the wash, I tidied the house, and then I got in a mixed cardio workout.  Brian had gone to play tennis at 11, and right as I was finishing up my workout, he came home to drop Olivia off from her sleepover.  He’d gone to pick up both kids while he was out and about, and he had to drive right by our house to go pick up Jacob, so he dropped Olivia on the way.

When she got home, I made some lunch for her and for myself, and she talked my ear off about her sleepover with Maren.  They had jumped on the trampoline and crafted and done spa makeover and made bracelets and all kinds of other stuff. 

By the time we’d finished eating, Brian and Jacob were right around the corner, so I made some cheese quesadillas for them per their request, and I pulled them out of the oven right as they were getting in the door.  Jacob had also had a blast at WJ’s.  They’d gone out for dinner to have pizza and then they went to Fantasy in Lights (the place we went before Thanksgiving), and then he and WJ had spent the rest of their time playing music and playing video games.

Neither kid got a whole lot of sleep (per usual for a sleepover), so they were both looking tired.  After lunch, they both showered, unpacked, and cleaned a bit, and then I got my Bible study done before getting ready for church.  It's been fun to look back over all of my notes and doodles from last year!

We all went to 5:30 Mass and then after dinner, we went to the local pub down the street from church with my parents, my Aunt Joy and Uncle Greg, and Mama Cass. 

We ended up getting home fairly late, so the kids headed straight to bed since they’d gotten no sleep the night before.  Jacob still had trouble falling asleep, though, so he ended up downstairs with us for a bit.  Once we finally got him settled in, we watched another episode of Silo and then called it a night.

 

Sunday, January 5

Sunday morning, we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then I got my yoga workout in while I watched my Sunday morning sermon.  Then, it was planning for the week ahead along with a Bible study. 

We all got ready after that and headed out for some errands/fun.  Jacob wanted to eat at Jersey Mike’s, so we headed there for lunch, did some Amazon returns at the UPS Store, dropped some plastic bags at Publix for recycling, and then we headed to Target so Jacob could spend some of his money he’d been saving.

He ended up getting a small Lego set there, but he’d really wanted Pokemon cards (which Target had none), so we ended up going to Barnes and Noble afterward.  While we were at Target, I finallyyyy found a set of bathmats for our primary bathroom that check all of the boxes – cute, correct size, and have the rubber backing so they don’t slide around the floor.  I looked high and low last year as it was on my list of things to do for 2024, but I couldn’t find anything that was cute and had the rubber backing.  Target to the rescue first thing in 2025 and they were on sale!

It started POURING while we were in Target (and it was cold), so that made for a yucky drive to Barnes and Noble.  Jacob found the Pokemon set he wanted, and Olivia found a crafting set that teaches you how to crochet, so they both bought those things with their own money.

Then on the way home, we stopped for gas and to exchange the lottery tickets we’d won money from (that B and I had put in each other’s stockings), and the rest of the afternoon was spent snuggled up in my office with my heated blanket working.  Jacob sorted his new cards and Olivia worked on her knitting, and it was a cozy afternoon.

Thursday and Friday Maui barely ate anything other than my mom’s leftovers, but then she got sick the next day and couldn’t keep them down.  Then, Saturday, she didn’t eat all day, and then on Sunday we couldn’t get her to eat either, and it has been stressing me out tremendously.  She’s not acting as if she feels bad… she’s honestly just acting like she doesn’t want what we’re giving her, so I don’t know what to do at this point.

Sunday we also got the news that my uncle who has dementia isn’t doing well at all, and my aunt sent a message in our family Facebook group to let everyone know that she doesn’t think he’s going to make it through the next few days.  So if you’re the praying type, please keep our family in your prayers, especially my aunt and my cousin who have been caring for him tirelessly. 

Sunday evening, we went to my parents’ house for dinner, and my Momma made her famous spaghetti – one of our favorites!  We stayed over there for a couple of hours, and then we headed back home.  We watched another episode of Time Bandits with the kids, and then Brian and I watched more of Silo before heading to bed late yet again because we had one more day off on Monday!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!