How do you wrap up the previous year and start a new one? Are there traditions that you and your family live each new year?

One of my annual habits it to go back through all of our pictures from the previous year on New Years Day. This year I didn’t even get through all of them, there were too many! One of the side benefits of a daily blog is that I take many more pictures now. I want to have an icon pic for each one that reminds me of the post before I even start reading. With that in mind I’ve found I’m more likely to stop for a beautiful sunrise or when the boys do something crazy. This year our photos include well over 3,100 captured moments throughout the year.

We choose to live a crazy busy life and it’s wild how many times I’ll lose myself in the moment and then move onto the next moment to live in. When that happens I am making memories but they don’t always fire right up for me. For instance, if you asked me what I did in 2019 it would take me a while to list the major moments. Some are easy (Becky’s PhD), others would come along pretty quickly (Dominic helping Gavin cross into Boy Scouts), but some would most likely be forgotten until there was some type of a trigger (Dominic, Gavin and I riding our bikes in the Mississippi River when it was flooded, Becky and I going for a long bike ride in March).

As I started going through the pictures from this past year it was like opening a time capsule. Each photo brought about a new memory for me Some photos were of happy moments, some reminded me of mistakes, and others left me scratching my head for a moment before the light bulb finally flickered on. Each one brought a smile – regardless of good, bad, or ugly each of those moments made up my life in 2019 and were pebbles that paved the road that’s led me to today. Taking time to really stop and examine each of them left me with a sense of joy, motivation, inspiration, and purpose.

I am so thankful for the trail of breadcrumbs I left myself through 2019 and look forward to leaving a trail in 2020 as well.

BTW – I am beyond thankful for the all out ridiculousness that was 2019. What a year! These past 365 trips around the sun were totally lived as a rollercoaster and not a merry go round.

Thanks!!!