A new year.

I've never been big on New Year's resolutions - I don't like to put all that pressure on myself. And let's be honest, I won't be joining a gym any time soon (I have a deep hatred for working out...) or vowing to never eat ice cream again (I need ice cream and I need it now in a bad way...). But, I've been reading a lot of blog posts lately and almost all of them have to do with making the most of 2014 and I plan to do the same.

{Patience is a virtue...}

We had a tough December as a family. My husband's father suffers from dementia and we moved him up to the Kansas City area a couple of years ago so we could help manage his affairs. We had to move him to assisted living (a change that we knew was coming but happened a lot sooner than we had anticipated) and we spent the majority of our time making sure he's settled into his new home.

Kudos to anyone who is a caregiver on a full-time basis because it. is. tough. We are fortunate to have found a facility for my father-in-law and he seems to be doing well there. He is only 58 and to see his disease progress so rapidly is terrifying. I don't always handle the situation with the most grace so one of my goals for the new year is to take a step back and be patient. Patient with my hubby (no one should have to watch their parent go through this) and especially patient with my father-in-law. Instead of stressing over his finances or fretting about another doctor appointment, I need to just relax and enjoy the time we have with him.

 

{Live in the now...}

Do you know how many times I've wished away the sleepless nights, rushed through the house trying to get everything done or threw f-bombs at the person who just cut me off on the highway? Far too many times. That's not cool. 

What's cool is that even after a sleepless night, my sweet little girl wakes up to greet us with a smile and gives us hugs and kisses all day log. Even though I've gotten what feels like 37 minutes of sleep, it all melts away as soon as I see her.

She won't be teething forever and we will sleep again - some day - but until then I'll try to remember to love the time spent rocking her in the middle of the night. I'll be begging for that time back sooner rather than later, I'm afraid. She's almost ONE for cryin' out loud...

It's cool that even if I don't get the bottles washed or the laundry done, life goes on. I would much rather spend my time at home cuddling, playing, dancing and singing with my little family. The sweeping and dusting and dishes can wait. Fair warning - if you come to my house in 2014 it may be a total pigsty but at least we're livin' it up, one precious moment at a time!

And every once in a while I need to take a chill-pill behind the wheel (see my rant above on being patient...), drop back 100 feet and let the crazies fly down the road. Life is too short and ain't nobody got time for accidents and speeding tickets. 

{Unplug...}

I cannot live without social media, my phone or the Internet. OK, that may be dramatic but I feel like I'm constantly checking email, Facebook, Instagram and playing Candy Crush like it's my j-o-b. I could use a little tech timeout, especially between the hours of when I'm at home after work and before Gracyn goes to bed. I really don't need to see the latest status update the second it's posted and I will be OK if I put off wasting hours of my life trying to beat the current CC level that has me stumped - seriously - level 275 is impossible. If we unplug from the virtual world and plug into real life a little more, everybody wins.

Don't worry though, I'll still continue to make a frugal attempt at blogging every now and then. I wouldn't want all of my loyal followers family members to go through Gracyn withdrawals or deprive them of Rufus stories and the details of our mundane everyday life...wink wink.

Linking up with Little Baby Garvin and some other lovely hostesses - check out their blogs!

#making2014count