Life By Kristen

2014- Year of Peace

My word for 2014: Peace.

Peace with the death of Dad. Peace with my life as it is now, not how I think it should be at this point in life. Peace with the disorganization of house, the inability to have a clean car, and the fact that I’ll never read all the books, movies, etc. Peace with knowing that I’m living the best life I can at this moment, making the choices that seem like a good decision for me, my man, my family, work, and friends.

21 days in and I’m doing alright I think. With my day off yesterday, I didn’t obsess about the to do list or freak out about not getting around to cleaning the kitchen floor again. I just enjoyed the day off with my man and let things happen as they did. It was a good feeling at the end of the day knowing I did what I wanted and didn’t feel compelled or attached to some list or idea of things that “had to get done.”

I’ve a lot of other goals for 2014, the biggest part of it is just adjusting to this new normal and way of life AD ( After Dad). I had a bit of a freak out about that on Friday night when I realized how much things have changed ( and how quickly things can change), but keeping “peace” in mind, I’m really trying to stop worrying about everyone and everything that’s out of my control, and focus on what’s in front of me.

That being said here are my goals for the year ahead:

( in random order)

1. Pay off credit card and make a dent in student loan payback, all the while increase my savings and start making bigger contribution to retirement.

2. Build my relationship/sense of family with my man and his son

3. Cultivate my green thumb, hoping that the lessons and guidance my Dad gave me will help me do it on my own this year!

4. Plans with friends more frequently

5. Challenge myself in the kitchen with recipes, new foods, etc.

6. More yoga, painting, writing, and reading especially reading the books on my physical bookshelf before the books on the hypothetical read list!

7. More day trips and exploring local spots

8. Hiking in the spring/summer/fall

9. Do something about garage ( leaky roof, mildewed old paneling interior, etc.)

10. Take a vacation. It’s only 21 days into the year, but I need one already.