Another year has come and gone but not without leaving a great impact to end 35. This past year the continued theme for me was to lead a healthier life, which mostly involved me spending more time outside running, biking with the kids, and ultimately trying to stay more active on a week-to-week basis.

This past year my wife and I also made a big decision that she was going to take a year off from Teaching in a way to slow down our crazy hustle and bustle life. With three kids there is never really a slow moment but we thought this would help us not rush the kids out the door by 7 am with us yelling at them because they were moving slowly and tired. I will say it has been a great change for the family she has been home to get our oldest on and off the bus each day, taking our middle child to Pre-School and the being able to spend time with the youngest while the older ones are off to school. I am sure some of it depends on the day but overall she has been enjoying this change and it has allowed our family to not feel so rushed.

For me specifically in trying to slow down or reprioritize my efforts I have started to really evaluate where I spend my time outside of work and realized I need to start saying “NO” to certain projects/volunteering activities. While I can’t say I have really severed ties with anything yet it has been on my mind as 2017 started and I have put a plan in place to evaluate those various activities as I want to make sure I am getting the most out of my days and making sure I am spending it where I want to spend it (more on this in a future post). Also, I realized it is very important for me to reevaluate things like that as work has become more time-consuming and I still want to put my best effort forward and still find time for the other things but knowing it can’t be everything.

Finally, this past year was a great milestone as my wife and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary. However, on a sad note last year we had to say goodbye to our 13-year-old Yorkshire Terrier Tucker and our youngest child says she misses him each day.

Finally, as I look forward to what 36 will bring for me I am not entirely sure. One thing is for sure, though, I will continue to make tweaks to my routines, projects, and continue to work on cultivating/making time for the true friendships I have. One big thing that will happen in the upcoming year is that we are going to take a road trip from Minnesota to Maine in the late summer. It will be a two-week trip one on the road and one on the ocean. That trip could mark the beginning of yearly family road trips or the final one… time will tell :).

I have learned so much in the last year and I hope to continue that going forward.

Previously: 35