Seasons of Love

It feels as though the last few weeks have flown by in a blur of wrapping paper, visits with family, and trips back and forth to Kalamazoo and Detroit. We've celebrated Christmas (several times over), my grandmother's 90th birthday, my mother-in-law's retirement, and Anna's 2nd birthday. I have lots of pictures and videos to share, but right now I'm too exhausted to try to go through them all so it will have to wait until another day.

Although I had to include this one, since it pretty much sums up how partied-out we're all feeling.

I had the thought this morning that I had probably reached my one-year "blogiversary" - and I was right. I wrote my very first post on December 29th of last year. And then I got to thinking about this past year, because isn't that kind of what you do when it's time to pull out a new calendar? One of my favorite songs (really - you should hear me bust it out when it pops up on one of my Pandora stations) is from the musical "Rent".

But maybe instead of 525,600 minutes, I could measure my year in the 65 or so blog posts I've written.
Since I have such a nice way to look back over the last twelve months, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite memories.

Mike and I were talking about how this, the second year of our daughter's life, has gone much faster than the first. And it's probably because we have been sleeping a lot more.

I faced the harsh, cold reality that I no longer look like a college student, even if I can kick really high. I also learned that I'm falling behind on the times.

I struggled with my new identity as a mother, but I also ran my first half marathon and finished my Master's degree. Woot woot!

I discovered some delicious new recipes: fronanas, zucchini chicken salad, and the life-changing cake balls.

My sister came to stay for awhile, and she convinced me to get organized.

My brother-in-law came to stay for awhile, and he reminded me to be grateful for what I have.

And I learned some important lessons about motherhood, like how you should remove dead birds from a toddler's view, how nursing Anna has been awesome, and how time moves way too fast.

I am so thankful to all of you for reading my words and for your encouragement and thoughtful comments - on here and on my Facebook page.

I wish all of you a happy 2012 and hope that the last year has been as good to you as it has been to me and my little family.

How do you measure a year? Any resolutions?