Hello and happy first blog post of the new year. I’m just now getting around to noodling over 2025 goals/intentions because I feel like we’ve been so busy since Christmas.

We celebrated New Years with our friends. They arrived on the 30th and we tried Farmhouse Tacos for dinner that night. The service was friendly and the food was really good!

While David had to work the 31st, Danielle and I treated the girls to a girls day out! First we hiked with Finley and worked out, then we all went to get our nails done and got Starbucks from a gift card I had won in our Christmas Saran wrap ball game. We were determined to make it to midnight and I needed afternoon caffeine to aid in that goal.

Happy New Year- 2025!

As the day turned to evening we put out snacks (avocado salsa is so good) and I heated up chili I had made the day before. The girls cut magazines and made vision boards for the things that hope to strive for in the new year.

We watched all the college football, played games (Danielle and I beat the guys in Samba- twice), and had a wonderful, low key time. We did end up making it to midnight and watching the ball drop! Kaitlyn was half asleep and asking to go to bed, but I forced her over the finish line so she wouldn’t feel left out the next day. We toasted with a sip of champagne and sparkling grape juice for the kids and headed to bed soon there afterwards.

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Our friends took off after breakfast on the first and David and I went rucking. Are you familiar with the term that Outlive made so mainstream and popular? The idea is that you walk/hike with a weighted vest and it helps elevate your heartrate without the high impact of running and also is good for increased strength. It’s recommended that you ruck with roughly 10% of your body weight and my 12 lb weighted vest is quite comfortable, though I do end up feeling it by the end of 3 miles.

That afternoon we watched more football while I marinated pork tenderloin and made black eyed peas and collard greens. David roasted the tenderloin in our new oven with the probe feature (pork is so easy to overcook) and he nailed it. It turned out juicy and delicious and had Kaitlyn exclaiming- BEST CHICKEN EVER no matter how many times we told her it was pork.

We enjoyed our traditional foods of pork (prosperity), black eyed peas (luck), collard green (wealth), and tomatoes (for love) and started the year feeling good, being together, and deeply grateful for all our blessings.

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And now somehow it’s January 3rd and life started back to full swing next week. We’ll be back to homeschool routines, co-op, theater auditions, and basketball games. I’m ready to step into 2025 after such a chaotic year of selling, uprooting, and moving in 2024. I’m going to spend the next day or so reflecting, dreaming, and planning. David and I’ll be doing our State of the Family presentation, too! So with that, I’ll be back soon with thoughts on 2025, goals, and intentions. I hope you’re new year is off to a wonderful start!