Happy New Year 2014

The new year has arrived. Thankfully, we are all healthy to welcome her :)

Levi stayed the night with his grandparents which allowed J and I to celebrate with friends. Our friends host a Hogmanay themed party watch year and while we didn't don any tartan (next year we'll do better) we did enjoy the festivities; haggis, cock-a-leekie soup and shortbread to name a few of the traditional delights. It was so nice just to be out with my husband having conversations together without one of us having to jump up every 12 seconds to prevent Levi getting into something he shouldn't! Even though we had nothing to get home for, life with a toddler meant that we celebrated east coast new year at the party. There was a bagpipe player and we sang "Auld lang syne" by the fire as a Chinese lantern flew up into the air taking the bad of 2013 with it, and allowing space for the good that 2014 will hold. Happy New Year to us - and all of you.

The past couple of years, I have chosen a word that I have tried to focus on through the new year. This year, with so many changes on the horizon for our family, choosing one word has been hard but I have finally decided to keep it simple - literally, the word for this year is Simplify.

As we journey through the year this word will look very different. In the first couple of days of the new year it has taken on a very practical look. We are making room for our baby girl and that means I have been going through and organising Levi's clothes into bins so I can know where it is to lend out as well as making space in his closet. We have also been clearing out the spare bedroom and it's closet because it had become the dumping ground for everything that didn't have a home of it's own, as well as being my craft/wrapping room and Jeremy's office and where we hang the laundry. It's chaos in there. And somehow, since we started cleaning it out - despite the multiple bags that have already been set out for recycle or trash - it seems to be eve more chaotic at the moment. I guess it was one of those, has to get worse before it gets better scenarios. Hoping to find motivation to finish up that project in the coming week.

Wishing you all health, happiness, learning and adventure in the coming year.