2023 Review

Happy New Year!

I was thinking of doing a quick facebook post but I’d like to have easier access to it and go a little more depth.

My main intention for this year was to love on the little loves that joined our family this year and those other mini besties already with us. I feel like I definitely get a gold star for this one! I can’t wait to celebrate our three one year olds in 2024! (Also our 14 year old and our three year old!)

I took a Tate trip to Miami and to San Francisco to love on my sweet nieces while mommy worked. We managed to squeeze in some fun family time too.

We had a lovely trip to California with B and Em. A rocky start with our car in Muir Woods but ultimately a delightful time. These girls kept us laughing, we got to take a whale-fie, drive some of PCH, and had the best soup dumplings.

I read 54 books, which was under my goal of sixty. I noticed I read less when I was holding my babies with I’m totally ok with. Reading will always be one of my intentions, even though I am great at it. It is an escape, it expands my mind and world, and it also grounds me all at the same time.

• Books 2023
• January:
• 1- A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting- Sophie Irwin*
• 2- The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie- Rachel Linden*⭐️
• 3- Kiss Her Once for Me- Alison Cochran*a
• 4- You Just Need to Lose Weight- Aubrey Gordon*
• 5- The Light We Carry- Michelle Obama:a
• 6- Welcome to the School by the Sea- Jenny Colgan*
• February:
• 7- The Starless Sea- Erin Morgenstern:*a⭐️
• 8- The Art of Racing in the Rain- Garth Stein*a⭐️
• 9- Rules at the School by the Sea- Jenny Colgan*
• 10- Chatter- Ethan Kraus*a
• 11- Claire of the Sea Light- Edwidge Danticat*
• 12- Verity- Colleen Hoover*
• 13- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow- Gabrielle Zevin*
• March:
• 14- Meet Me Under the Mistletoe-Jenny Bayliss*
• 15- When Women were Dragons- Kelly Barnhill:a*
• 16- Lessons at the School by the Sea- Jenny Colgan.*
• 17- Yesterday’s Tides- Roseanna M White*⭐️
• April:
• 18- The Number of Love- Roseanna M White*
• 19- The Lost Heiress- Roseanna M White*a
• 20- The Recluctanrt Duchess- Roseanna M White*a
• 21- Lessons in Chemistry- Bonnie Garmus*⭐️
• 22- The Diamond Eye- Kate Quinn* ⭐️
• 23- Braiding Sweetgrass- Robin Wall Kimmerer*a⭐️
• May:
• 24- Hello Beautiful- Ann Napolitano*a
• 25- The Great Alone- Kristin Hannah*a
• 26- Famous for a Living- Melissa Ferguson*a
• June:
• 27- Tiny Beautiful Things-Cheryl Strayed*
• 28- The Last Mrs Parish- Liv Constantine*
• 29- Under the Southern Sky- Kristy Woodson Harvey*a⭐️
• July:
• 30- Spare- Prince Harry*a
• 31- Love and Other Words- Christina Lauren*
• 32- The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot- Marianne Cronin* a ⭐️
• August:
• 33- The Clanlands Almanac- Sam Heughan & Graham McTavish* a
• 34- The Summer of Songbirds- Kristy Woodson Harvey* ⭐️
• 35- Waypoints- Sam Heughan*a
• 36- The Winter Sea- Susanna Kearsley*⭐️
• 37- Soundtracks- Jon Acuff*a
• September:
• 38- Firebird-Susanna Kearsley*
• 39- Reign- Katharine McGee*a
• October:
• 40- All It Takes is a Goal- Jon Acuff a
• 41- The Roaring Days of Zora Lily- Noelle Salazar*a⭐️
• 42- Forth Wing- Rebecca Yarros*a (&physical book) ⭐️
• November:
• 43- Atlas of the Heart- Brene Brown*a
• 44- Iron Flame- Rebecca Yarros:a
• 45- Tom Lake- Ann Patchet*a
• 46- The Night Circus- Erin Morgenstern*a
• 47- The True Love Experiment- Christina Lauren*a⭐️
• December:
• 48- Same Time Next Summer- Annabel Monaghan*a
• 49- Three Holidays and a Wedding- Marissa Stapley and Uzma Jalaluddin-a
• 50- How Not to Die- Michael Greger, MD*
• 51- A Nantucket Christmas- Nancy Thayer
• 52- The Christmas Orphans Club- Becca Freeman*a
• 53- An Island Christmas- Nancy Thayer
• 54- The Book Club Hotel- Sarah Morgan*a
• *free
• a- audio book
• ⭐️- a favorite

I tracked our finances. There was a large time in the middle that I fell off but I got back to it and that’s what counts!

I checked off a long over due dental appointment, got new walking shoes, got a mammogram, and purchased a good workout top.

I made progress on organizing our photos from 2020 forwards. I still need to get to making the yearly albums and get them printed.

I have some online classes I’ve purchased and really want to complete (Debt Free Mom, Ms Freddy’s photos). I made progress but did not get them completed.

We celebrated our tenth anniversary with a trip to Scotland. We particularly loved the prehistoric aspects of Orkney.

We spent a good amount of time before and around the holidays visiting family and friends that are family.

I moved intentionally 157 days. I don’t workout on work days, a 12+ hour shift in an intensive care unit is enough of a workout, plus the two hour commute. My goal was 3-4 times a week. I often felt like I “failed” because I did not meet that goal on a weekly basis but turns out that, 157 divided by 52 IS an average of 3. I mostly lifted weights which I have been doing since June 2022 with my brother. Must remember consistency is not perfection. ⬇️

2023 was a year full of love and new life. It also was a year of heartbreak for so many people I know. Don’t forget when seeing everyone’s recap pictures that it’s a highlight reel. Our year was filled with beautiful lovely things but also financial stresses, worries for people we love, and general lows of life.

My tops joyful magics this year…watching my Reesey Kate take her first breath, having my brother live with us (don’t get my wrong having a family member live with you IS stressful but having him around brought joy too), a picnic and wading into the Cahaba to see the lilies with some of my favorite humans, Bama vs LSU game, many SF soup dumplings, double the babies/double the snuggles, watching Ms vocabulary explode and her little personality grow, making Ems 13th birthday cake and shopping for makeup with her, a picnic in northern Scotland with Ryan, and hosting my own little Christmas cookie party.

Here is to a 2024 filled with love, big magic and everyday magic, laughter, joy, more picnics, some salt air, Northern Lights, and community.