2018 Goals and Resolutions and My Word of the Year

I love the symbolic fresh start of a New Year.  I like evaluating the previous year and making goals for the coming year.  This year was no different.  I worked on my goals as the 2018 approached.  Today I am going to share those goals with you and my word of the year.

1.)  Send more happy mail.  I love getting mail.  I don't mean bills and flyers, but actual mail.  Texting and email has sadly replaced much of the 'happy' mail that used to come by post.  I understand the change.  Snail mail is expensive and not nearly as convenient as technological communication.  I do miss it, though.  Miss. E has really started to take interest in our mail and she loves making pictures for our family and friends.  She often requests that I send her pictures and 'letters' in the mail.  This year I decided to just that.  A card or note with an adorable drawing from a 3 year old might bring some sunshine to our loved one's day.

2.)  Catch up photo books.  I am ashamed to say that the most recent photo book that I have put together is from the Easter before Miss. E's 1st birthday.  I just never seem to get to making new photo books.  I plan to catch up this year.  I would like to have all of our photo books up to date by the end of the year.

3.)  Upload photos monthly.  I made this resolution to help me stay on top my photo books from now on.  I am pretty good at dumping my photos on my laptop, but they don't get any further than that.  I plan to upload my photos to a in-progress photo book monthly.

4.)  Organize Blog and Implement Schedule.  I have some structural changes and a few ideas that I would like to bring to the blog this year.  I have also worked out a schedule that I think will work for the blog.   I want to bring these changes to the blog and settle into a routine this year.

5.)  Embrace frugality.  I want to work on being more frugal with our money this year.  I have taken an 18 month maternity leave from my job.  We will have less income during this time so I want to focus on being intentional with the income that we do have.  I am also hoping to put away some money for some family purchases that we would like to make.

I have also chosen a word of the year for 2018.  This year I chose the word adapt.  We have experienced some big changes this year and I am definitely going to have a couple learning curves to navigate.  I want to learn to be flexible this year and embrace the changes coming my way.

What are your goals/resolutions for the new year?  Did you choose a word of the year?  Leave a comment below!  I would love to hear all about it.

High Five For Friday- 19.01.17

I haven't done a link up for a few weeks.  I am going to share 5 highlights from the last few weeks.  I am linking up with Katie, Becky, Tif, and Della.

1.)  The arrival of Emelia!  We welcomed our second daughter on January 2, 2018.  You can read the announcement here..

2.)  One of our neighbours brought us buns and cinnamon buns after Emelia's arrival.  We were very thankful for the gift.  Food is always welcome after a new baby!

3.)  Elizabeth has been doing quite well with the new baby.   She loves to help Mommy and Daddy, which is really nice.  She is happy to run and grab something you need.  She also loves to get the new diaper out for the baby during diaper changes.  It has been so sweet to see her interact with her baby sister.  She sings songs for her and loves to tell her how cute she is!

4.)  My parents were so very helpful while we were in hospital.  With Emelia's NICU stay we were in the city for a week and my parents kept Elizabeth during that time.  It was difficult being away for that time, but we knew she was safe and happy with her grandparents.  They also checked our house and kept our dog.  We really appreciated all the help!

5.)  We are so thankful for the well wishes and prayers we received during the last few weeks.  It was uplifting to know that people were thinking of us the whole time and praying for our safety and good health.  The support has been wonderful and we are thankful to have received it.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  Check out the lovely ladies above to read some fabulous Friday posts!

Our New Addition

Our daughter Emelia arrived just before midnight on January 2, 2018.  We are absolutely thrilled to have her join our family and are so thankful for her safe arrival.  Elizabeth was enamored with her baby sister from the start.  She has been very busy making up songs to sing to the new baby and helping Mommy and Daddy. 

Emelia spent a short time in the NICU for breathing difficulties. Those resolved after a few days and we were able to bring her home.  We were blessed to have wonderful doctors and nurses caring for us during our stay in the hospital.  The NICU nurses were exceptional and Emelia's doctor was wonderful.

We are slowly settling into our life at home with Emelia and Elizabeth.  The newborn stage is always interesting and changing so we are doing our best to maintain a routine with Elizabeth.  Hubby was home for a week after we were discharged, so that helped immensely.

I am working to get new blog posts up as we settle into a routine in this new stage of life.  January will be a learning curve and I hope that you will bear with me.  For regular updates you can follow me on Instagram.  You can follow me @peacefulsimplelifeblog .

December- Goals and The No Spend Year

Happy New Year!  2017 is over.  I feel like the past year whizzed past.  I am going to do one last recap of last year's goals and resolutions.  I am trying to carefully consider what I want to work on 2018.  I will share that in a post soon. 

1.)  Complete a No Spend Year

I did it!  It was a great year and I really reined in my spending.  There were a few times that I broke my no spend year, but when I did break the rule it was carefully considered.  This was a fabulous resolution and I am glad I did it.  It has made me much more aware of my shopping "triggers", made me much more resourceful and taught me the importance of self care.  I do have a short list of items that I want to purchase, but I managed to put off the purchases until 2018.

SUCCESS!

2.)  Establish a Self-Care Routine

My self-care routine is going strong and it greatly contributed to the success of my no spend year.  Self care has made me a much calmer person.  In general, I have been better at dealing with overwhelming situations and I have more 'tools' at my disposal when I am stressed.

SUCCESS!

3.)  Say Yes to Family Time

This goal has gone really well.  It was easy once we set our family boundaries.  Making our rules made it easy for us to turn down other demands.

SUCCESS!

4.)  Start school in September.

This goal was put off due to my pregnancy.  I will revisit this idea in the future, but for now I have my hands full.

ON HOLD.

5.)  Learn more about traditional prayers and incorporate them into my prayer life.

This goal went well.  The end result is different than what I thought it would be but I am happy with how I have been able to incorporate the traditional prayers into my life.

SUCCESS!

6.)  Establish a routine for the blog and stick to the blog's vision.

I did make some progress with my blog this year.  I got my own domain and I was better about trying to stick to my posting schedule.  I had hoped to do more with my blog this year, but at least I have taken a few steps forward.

WORK IN PROGRESS.

2017 held so many wonderful moments and surprises for me.  I am happy with how my goals went this year.  I am looking forward to 2018.  Thank you for following along!

High Five For Friday- 29.12.17

I am writing this post on Thursday morning.  As of right now, Baby has not made an appearance.  If I make it to Friday, Baby will be one week past his/her due date.  We had a lovely Christmas weekend.  I am linking up with Tif, Della, Katie, and Becky to share 5 highlights from the past week.

1.)  We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve.  It was a really fun day.  The girls all played together quite well.  The food was amazing (I love Mom's cooking) and it was so nice to spend time with family!

2.  I was pleased with how Miss. E's hair turned out for Christmas.  She is so wiggly that sometimes I have trouble getting a decent hairdo done!

3.)  Hubby's Oma always buys socks for everyone at Christmas time.  Elizabeth was so excited!  She sorted her socks, tried them all on and decided what outfits they should go with.  Ha ha.  It was so cute.

4.)  We had a lovely Christmas morning at home by ourselves.  Miss E had a great time opening her presents.  We relaxed and sat in front of the fireplace.  It was really nice.  We are experiencing quite a cold snap here so we enjoyed staying warm and cozy.

5.)  My last OB appointment went well and we are still waiting for our little one's arrival.  Baby should be coming soon!  Perhaps Babe is waiting for warmer weather...

I hope you all had an awesome weekend and Christmas.  Have a safe and happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Today I am 40 weeks pregnant and I am waiting for Baby's arrival.  We are all ready for Christmas and for Baby.  I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  I hope that you all have a beautiful holiday season filled with love, joy and laughter.  Thank you for visiting my little space of the internet.  I so appreciate it!  I really value the friendships that I have made through blogging and I am thankful for each and every one of you.

I have no planned posts over this holiday season.  I may pop in here once or twice to say hello.  It really depends how things are going.  Just in case I don't make it back here before 2018, thank you for helping to make my 2017 so wonderful.  Have a safe and happy holiday season!

High Five For Friday- 15.12.17

Ahhhhh.... Today is my last day of work.  I can feel the relief spreading over me.  I am happy to embrace a few days off before Baby makes his/her arrival! 

I am linking up with Katie, Della, Tif and Becky to share the 5 highlights from my week!

1.)  Last weekend I got the basement all cleaned up.  I organized the laundry room and the playroom.  It was quite a bit of work but it looks so good!  I am so excited to have it all done. 

2.)  I had a visit with my best friend from school and her kids this week.  I love how she and I can always pick up right where we left off and not skip a beat.  I so enjoyed our visit and I am excited to go see a movie with her tonight!

3.)   Today, I am offically 39 weeks pregnant.  My appointment went well this week and I am excited to meet our new little one in the near future.

Last Friday's picture at 38 weeks

4.)  I went for a haircut on Tuesday and it felt so good!  My hairdresser is wonderful and I so appreciate her.  I have had some issues with my hair in the last few years and she has really helped me figure those out!  I cut quite a bit of hair and went for a lob.  It feels good to have it shorter!

5.)  Miss. E wore her princess dress for supper the other night.  She really cracks me up right now.  3 can be such a fun (and challenging...) age!  Her imagination really runs wild and it is so adorable.

How was your week?  Don't forget to check out the lovely ladies above for some great blogs!