My elderly neighbors always tell me, “Don’t get old,” and here we are - another year has flown by.
It was equal parts beautiful and difficult, but overall, I have SUCH an appreciation for the little things in life and intentionally choosing to build relationships with people.
Without further ado, here is the round-up!
Wins of 2023
Starting a Substack / celebrating / game nights / laughter / listening to my body in labor / a 3 week road trip with 2 little kids / getting outdoors / family movie nights / setting a book goal / campfires with friends / marriage counseling / the flow of our day on Christmas / poetry - reading & writing it / being a part of Exhale / being pickier about my "yeses" and "noes" / cracking up at memes / baking fewer Christmas cookies / having a list of people we want to have over / keeping my doula business low-key and word of mouth / going to bed and getting up earlier / batch prepping freezer meals to have on hand / letting my toddler mostly potty-train herself instead of stressing over it / scoring items off our local Buy Nothing page / entering giveaways / having a Nesting Party in lieu of a baby shower / looking closer at nature / seeing MeatEater Live! / everything to do with our library / our end-of-year AirBnb goal retreat
The Books
This is my favorite part of ending the year, reading everyone’s book lists and adding a bunch more to my GoodReads lists! I set a goal of 60 books and I’m finishing up the last one now (looking at you, Bandersnatch..)
It’s hard to do a Top Ten or something when you love books so here are my favorites by category.
Applicable
Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms by Justin Whitmel Earley
Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad: The Perspective Shift That Could Completely Change the Way You Mother by Abbie Halberstadt
Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood by Ashlee Gadd
Practicing Presence: A Mother’s Guide to Savoring Life through the Photos You’re Already Taking by Joy Prouty
Memoir
How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
Jet Girl: My Life in War, Peace, and the Cockpit of the Navy’s Most Lethal Aircraft by Caroline Johnson
Sanctuary: The True Story of an Irish Village, a Man Who Lost His Way, and the Rescue Donkeys That Led Him Home by Patrick Barrett
Non-Fiction
MeatEater’s Campfire Stories: Narrow Escapes & More Close Calls by Steven Rinella (highly recommend audio!!)
Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings by Diana Pavlac Glyer
This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley
Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver
Linea Nigra by Jazmina Barrera
Poetry
Sitting by My Laughing Fire by Ruth Graham Bell
I Hope This Finds You Well by Kate Baer (And And Yet and What Kind of Woman by her also)
Talking to the Wild by Becky Helmsley
You Are Only Just Beginning: Lessons for the Journey Ahead by Morgan Harper Nichols
Birthing Beauty: a poetry collection on motherhood, anxiety, & healing by Rubie Shiphrah
Fiction
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (caveats: I listened to it on audio and LOVED it. The character Cameron is the whiniest character I’ve ever met and he drove me crazy most of the book!)
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdich
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski
Rom-Coms
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson
Reign (American Royals #4) by Katharine McGee
First to Fall (Lost Story Bookshop #2) by Jenny B. Jones
The Rules of Mistletoe (The Nelson Sisters #2) by Taylor Epperson
Middle Grade
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (loved this one and can’t wait to listen to the rest of the series!)
We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly
What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski
The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill
To see my full list of books, here is the link to my Instagram Highlights.
It was a great reading year, and I’m honestly surprised I read as much as I did, but you know how it goes, the TBR Stack is still through the roof!
Missing the Mark, but Still Taking Shots
I didn’t quite make 1000 Hours Outside with the girls. We will be ending the year around 830 hours (about 100 less than we made in 2022). Still a win, still a goal for next year!
We didn’t pay down as much debt as I would have liked, but that is part of the cost of being an entrepreneur and starting businesses. In good progress though, we had flood insurance on our rental that flooded this summer (Praise Jesus!) and we are off to a better start with the business going into 2024.
Routine date nights went by the wayside for the most part, however the things we managed to do were awesome - watching Professional Bull Riding competition, Casting Crowns: The Healer Tour with We Are Messengers and Ben Fuller, and attending Steve Rinella’s MeatEater Live!
A little bit more of a general recap here on my previous blog post—
Luminosity
Like the flickering candle that I light on the kitchen table most days, light amidst shadows was 2023. The shadows of financial stress hung heavy over us most of the year as we continue to build businesses. Yet these shadows were brightened with the miracles of supernatural provision in the nick of bill-paying time. I’m thankful for a level-headed and h…
December Glimpse
In the spirit of Joy Prouty and Ashlee Gadd, I tried to be better about taking pictures and taking better pictures this year! It’s still a work in progress but I love these glimpses into some sweet moments throughout the holidays.
December has been a beautiful ending to the year, full of joy and light and all the little moments of celebration. We had a busy holiday weekend and then spent Christmas just with our little family. I really wanted a peaceful and fun pace to the day, not just a giant flurry of presents than a disappointing afternoon. I jumped in the shower as everyone else woke up. Then we read Luke 2 and Jael found the coordinating pieces in the Nativity scene. Luis hid her stocking, so she found it and we opened stockings. We read the book “Fry Bread” and made our own using pizza dough from Aldi as a special treat with our breakfast quiche. We slowly opened up presents and took time to play. It was a gorgeous day out so we went for a hike at our local state park then came home to a Christmas movie and hot chocolate and jammies, before curling up in bed and going to sleep content and at peace.
We are heading to our New Year’s Eve Airbnb as I write this to take an overnight mini-retreat to reflect, goal set, and use our last dregs of 2023 well. Peace and grace to you as we enter a new year!
Your family's Christmas Day sounded so lovely! <3
Remarkably Bright Creatures was my favorite listen of the year! Glad I choose to listen rather than read.