In all that spare time I’ve had lately (cough) I’ve been trying to think about the new year, the future, my identity aside from motherhood, and although I am not planning on making resolutions this year, there are some less concrete things that I have been wanting to jot down as my intentions for the year. And, there has been some thought in all of this, jokes aside, I have been taking lots of walks with Brooke which are the perfect gateway into some deep thought.
My intentions for 2022:
- Be positive! There is so much negativity out there right now and so many negative things that I could complain about, and I do, and sometimes I need to vent. But I really want to try to be a positive influence for myself and others as often as I can. Positive thoughts and positive people are so much better to be around.
- Keep reading! I’ve really been enjoying getting back into reading regularly over the past year and a half. Bryan got me a super thoughtful Christmas gift, a Kindle, so that I can easily read while nursing Brooke or in bed and have finished one book and started another so far on it. I have so many more books that I want to read and although I don’t read for long periods throughout the day, I thoroughly enjoy the minutes here and there I do get to pick it up and read.
- Adventures! A few of the books I have read recently have been on people’s tales of their grand adventures. Being a mom of two and working full time doesn’t leave much time or energy for adventures of this scale, but I want to continue to have fun adventures with our family. This summer I am really hoping to continue biking when possible but to also explore more with the girls through hikes, camping trips, local excursions out of the city, and hopefully Italy (fingers crossed!). We are also taking Reese skiing for the first time in a couple of weeks.
- Cooking! I do really love being in the kitchen and exploring the realm of cooking. Even when I am strapped for time (I’m looking at you Brooke) it is something that I really love doing. I want to continue to explore and have fun in the kitchen and have even thought about exploring more on the baking side. Something I’ve wanted to do for the last several years is actually cook out of my physical cookbooks and hope to start breaking them out from time to time to try out their recipes. I want to cook more in my paella pan and I also want to explore a bit more of the possibilities with the sous vide machine.
- Friends. I want to continue to cultivate friendships, both old and new. Even during these times of continued social isolation I want to keep reaching out to friends to get together as much as possible. We’ve also made a lot of friendships in the past year thanks to Reese’s friends connections, many who we have really enjoyed being around, and I want to continue to foster those relationships.
There are more thoughts I have had that I am sure I am forgetting of right now but this is a good start and makes me happy just reading them through as I write them. I’m still hoping for a wonderful 2022!
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 