The holidays are a time of celebration and reflection. The stockings are hung, most of the gifts are wrapped, and cards have been mailed. I’m usually not this on top of it, so I’m feeling pretty good about myself this year. Now that I have a few weeks to wait until the big day, it gives me time to reflect on this past year as a family and blog and set goals for the year to come, so I wanted to give you, my readers and friends, a year in review just as if you’re family.
The Move
A year ago this week, we packed up our cat, dog, 6 month old, and our entire home in South Carolina and moved to Tennessee. It was a stressful but much needed move for our family. We bought our cozy little charmer before we even stepped foot in it (because we’re crazy!), and haven’t regretted it once.
Chattanooga quickly became home with family and long time friends close by. Patrick and I have often shared what a blessing it is to be here after events like attending all of our nieces and nephews birthday parties, have Patrick’s grandad over for dinner many times, and watching our daughter bond with her grandparents in a way that would’ve been challenging living nearly 5 hours away. Though we miss our relationships in SC, we love that fact that this place is where our family will grow and call home.
Special Home Projects
My mind immediately started churning for how I envisioned our home to look and feel, and we made huge progress in the last 12 months! I tried my best to document it all on here, so make sure to click through some of my older posts like THIS one and THIS one.
My favorite, and largest project of the year, was our kitchen remodel. You can check out the full reveal with many tutorial posts leading up to it.
A One-Year-Old
Olive turned 1 halfway through the year. She was once our baby and quickly became our little girl. This time last year, she was just beginning to crawl and exploring new pureed foods. Now she’s running, jumping, climbing, and specifically asking for what she wants to eat, which is usually a “CRACKA” yelled very loudly. She loves to explore, read, take care of her babies, and play outside. She’s smart and spunky with loads of personality and energy. It’s such a fun age to witness the world through the eyes of a 18 month old. Olive truly is our bundle of peace and bushel of joy!
Goals for 2019
In a nutshell, my goals for 2019 are simplicity, mindfulness, and community. These aspects will hopefully be a theme throughout my personal life and on the blog.
For Dahlias and Dimes, I’ve spent the last year and a half with the wrong mindset and it has reflected with readership and my motivation. Though I want to create capstone posts for you, it’s not all about the big project or the next DIY. I’m really trying to figure out what YOU want to see and what motivates me to spend my time on here. Big plans are in the works that will reflect my theme of simplicity, mindfulness, and community, so stay tuned!
Personally, I’m not alone when I say that anxiety steals precious moments that could be spent in joy. Writing out an action plan that includes a whole lot of Jesus and ways to care for myself physically and mentally has really helped me combat my fears that God never intended for me to have in the first place. So who’s with me for more a little more simplicity, mindfulness, and community in 2019?
Send Your Year in Review
Though one way to send a year in review is through a letter or lengthy email, another way is to simply send your friends and family a beautiful card that highlights your family’s biggest or best moments of 2018.
A lot can be said with a picture, so when I created our Christmas card with Artifact Uprising, I chose an action shot of my daughter doing what she loves best (playing outside) at one of our family’s favorite places. It captures the essence of our daughter and gives our friends and family a snapshot of our lives.
I love keeping the front of the card simple but having an opportunity to share more photos and words on the back. Artifact Uprising allows you to send out your family’s year in review with several different options that you can check out here. I simply went with a photo reel of our family with a short message, but I love the idea of adding a paragraph that highlights 2018.
Check out all of Artifact Uprising’s beautiful hand-lettered and foil designs HERE if you haven’t ordered your cards already.
Also, you can use code – DIANA20 – for 20% off your order of cards or gifts.
P.S. Remember the stunning baby book I posted about last spring? It would make an awesome gift if you know any new mommas or moms-to-be!
How you do you reflect on the year? Do you send a year in review to your closest friends and family? I’d love to know how you do that below!
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