2015 Year in Review

The year 2015 was a year full of changes, especially with our jobs.  Chris stopped working at his new job in September began interviewing for a new job.  We had planned to do many things, but the year changed course for all of us.

My goals were to:

Be present and enjoy the quiet.  This will require me getting back to riding the train more often than I drive.  Quieting my critical mind in ballet class.  Saying yes to plans with friends more often.  Playing with my children.  Watching movies with my husband.

I started meditating daily in September after a busy summer.  I found some guided mediations by Andrew Johnson that worked great for me.  Because of my job change, I was not longer traveling downtown for work.  My commute time is about 25 min each way, so half or a third of my old commute.  It is so nice!  I didn’t see friends as often as I would have liked, but we did make several new friends this year.  I did lots of fun things with my kiddos this year, including roller skating, concerts, swimming, parks, and we watched a lot more movies as a family, as well as a couple.  I still felt way too busy all year.

Start pointe work in the fall for ballet.  This will require me to strengthen my ankles, feet, and core.  I will only take my pre-pointe class with pointe shoes and not actually dance on pointe until the following spring (if I’m ready).

Complete a 2 week ballet intensive (dancing 2-3 hours every day for two weeks) in the summer and take at least 1 class with a different teacher.

I started pointe in July during the 2 week instensive.  It is hard and scary, but nearly as painful as I originally though it would be.  It hurts my arches over the top of my foot more than the tips of my toes.  Sadly, I ended up with shin splints by November and to pull off pointe.  I would love to dance en pointe some day, but being en pointe takes a lot of dedication and time that I’m not sure I want to commit to.  I had classes with other teachers this year just because my teacher was deployed.  I enjoyed learning from new people.

Read a book on music theory and pull out some of my music and the keyboard as a way to start self teaching for piano.  I mostly want to do this so I can hear and enjoy the music in ballet, which will help with finding the quiet.

I did not read a book on music theory or pull out music for the keyboard.  I did start listening to classical music during my commute and loved the calming feeling.  I could allow my brain to day dream about without any anxiety of what I need to get done.

Start writing in my 642 Things to Write About book.

I wrote two entries in that book.  I missed writing this year.  I had technical issues with the blog and really didn’t have time for much of anything beyond ballet and work.

Other things I learned/accomplished, but didn’t set out to:

• I learned to sew!  I made costumes for ballet performances and I’ve begun tailoring some of my clothes and Chris’ clothes.  I do not recommend starting with corsets for a first project!

• I read over 30 books, which isn’t a lot for me.  My favorite books were all of Bill Bryson’s books.  I particularly enjoyed A Short History of Nearly Everything.  I also loved the Martian.
• Travel – We had an amazing CO vacation that we did zero planning for.  The best kind of vacation.

As for the other family members:

Chris wants to get his blue belt by December 2015, complete the Rugged Maniac, and learn more about music theory.  He hasn’t yet decided if that means piano lessons, a music theory class, or self teaching.  Chris also wants to choose an organization that speaks to him and begin volunteering his time.

Chris got his orange belt and began working on his purple belt.  He made the choice to take April-September off from karate while he was working.  He did not complete any obstacle runs for the same reason – his focus was on work.  He did not make music theory a priority at all and because of the job, did not volunteer.

Charlotte wants to try baseball and Cooper wants to try basketball.

We did not make an effort to find Charlotte a baseball option because of the number of changes.  We also offered for her to do basketball and she happily agreed.  Both kids did 2 seasons of basketball.

Overall I would say that we had a number of changes in our life in 2015 and when we weren’t using mental space to deal with the changes, we were prioritized down time over any activities.  Although we didn’t accomplish all the things we set out to do, I am proud of the year we had in 2015.