Thoughts on the New Year

So did you jump into 2016 feeling inspired and ready to go? Or did you need some more time to take it slow after the holidays? I was a little bit of both. On one hand, Luke going back to work after two weeks off and lots of family time was sad but I'm also feeling refreshed and ready to take on some new projects in 2016. I took some time to look back at 2015 and really think about what worked and what didn't and how I could work toward my goals in the new year.I love the beginning of a year, the promise of a new beginning and a fresh start. I read on instagram and I can't remember where, this one momma talking about the promise of a fresh start and how life moves in seasons and rhythms and how God designed us to live in these rhythms and that is one of the reasons we get excited about a fresh start. Its a natural part of our lives to move with the seasons. I thought that was so beautiful. 


 I watched a webinar by Emily Ley (who I have always liked, she is another twin momma) and Lara Casey called A Joyful 2016 and it was so good. You should totally follow them both on instagram. One of the things they talked about was really thinking about what you say yes to and what to say no to and how that relates to social media. Because we all know that social media can be such an encouragement (like everything written by instagrammer (@)thegraygang. She's incredible). Emily said that she created a mission statement for how she wanted to use instagram that helped her to refine what she was sharing as well as helping her not fall into the comparison trap that we all know it can be. Mallory from Style Your Senses wrote that blogging at times can  feel  "like a very public popularity contest" and I totally agree with that for all social media. Its a fine line to walk and I guess we will all struggle with it at some times or another. One of my goals for 2016 is to set up boundaries for myself with social media so I'm not mindlessly scrolling as much. I've turned off notifications from Instagram and that has made the biggest difference already. I'm thinking of my phone less so I reach for it less. I'm still working on a mission statement like Emily talked about, I think that will help too. 

We have finished phase one of the renovation, you can see all the before and afters here. Now its time for phase two and we are slowly gearing up for it. We are working on organizing all the closets right now. You know how when you move in you just shove stuff and forget where it is? Out of sight out of mind? Well we are going through and organizing and decluttering all those spaces, and its been a lot of 'oh thats where this was. I was looking for that.' I've been slowing reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and its as good as everyone said it would be. I'll be selling a few things so keep your eyes open for that. I'm excited about this phase two, its smaller weekend projects which I think will help us stay organized. We did the twins playroom over Christmas and it turned out so fun, I can't wait to share it with you! I'll be sharing more of our phase two plans, why we renovated what we did first and the overall goals of this year soon. 

We also have goals of pursuing family time this year. The girls are at such a fun age, (almost 18 months) and its been fun to get out and explore our city with them. One thing that is interesting with twins is that they are obviously always together so I don't really get any one on one time. When I do they get all excited to have me to themselves but they also spend lots of time looking around for sissy. We are planning on having one on one dates this year. So I'll take one of them for donuts and shopping (because duh) and Luke will take the other hiking (not as much fun). I'm excited to see more of their personalities come out.  

I've also been trying to decide what my plans are for this little space. I still love blogging and this community is really special but I don't have the time to devote consistent every day posts right now. Maybe I should have a goal of once a week? What do you want to see more of, less of? I'm on instagram almost every day and I do love that platform but I miss blogging. I'd love your thoughts.