2023.

Hello world. It’s been approx 365+ days since we last spoke (on here).

I write and edit for a living (I’m the Managing Editor and Content Strategist for the Adobe Blog), so (clearly) creative/personal writing tends to take a backseat to work, parenting, life, and everything that lives in-between.

But in creating my 2023… things (that feels like the right word), having a creative outlet to write is important to me. So I’ll try this again.

The twins are nearly 3 (end of April). We’ve been in our new house for 6+ months. We’re settled into a routine, moved in, the kids are at school, and we’re no longer living through a snowy winter with scrappy internet/power and plowing that happened about 50% of the time. Also I can get DoorDash.

My dear friend Nicole Justice Photography did our photos and I could not recommend her more.

I always love the start of a new year. I tend to think every day is a new chance to ‘start’ but January just feels like the fresh start. And we’re all on equal footing.

I practice consistency in every aspect of my life, always, because I never want to feel like I have to ‘restart’. I’ve been up and down that road many, many times before and as someone with an addictive personality, I tend to go either 0 or 100 miles per hour. I worked quite intentionally in 2021 on learning how to cruise at about 50… and stay in that space.

I think it’s also easy to get caught up in establishing really firm and set boundaries - which don’t necessarily work for people like me. Because if we f*ck up once, it’s over, right? So the ‘only this…’ or ‘no this…’ or ‘do this…’ isn’t sustainable. For me it’s more qualitative vs quantitative.

2023 Things

• Be present with the kids before and after school and on weekends. Minimal phone time. It’s not lost on me how fast toddlerhood goes, and how much they grow up every single day.

• Read or listen to 3-4 books a month (I’ve recently fallen in love with audio books on my walks.)

• Send texts just because. I have a core set of people and though we don’t see each other as often as we’d like, I want the open communication. So connecting with them at least weekly via text, voice memo, email, coffee, etc.

• Wake up earlier. On days when I wake up at 5:30/6a to get in 20-30 minutes of movement, a shower, coffee, and kids lunch prep done I feel more ‘with it’ all day long.

• Meditate. I’m aiming for 5 minutes a day. We’ll see how and where it goes from there.

• Shut down shit talking and gossip when I hear it. I don’t have space or time for it, and it’s not serving anyone.

• Give myself grace. Often times I’m quite hard on myself for not being perfect, or compulsively organized or super Pinteresty DIY. We all have our strengths. DIY isn’t one of mine.

• Be okay with saying no. Without in-depth explanations. I’m a yes person. I want to be everything to everyone. And when I say no, I feel I have to justify it. Not anymore.

• Practice consistency. Veer away from extremes.

• Prioritize health (mental, physical, emotional) >>>>> everything. If I’m not at my best, I can’t show up at my best for the ones I love.

  So tell me… what you got for your year ahead?