A New Year!

2019 has started and it's already February.

The end of 2018 was spent with friends and lots of fun. I had my annual Kohaku viewing party on New Year's Eve, and this was the first year in 5 years I didn't have to worry about going to work at 4am the next day, so I ended up staying up way past midnight, and the kids tried their best but fell asleep before the big moment. New Year's day the kids, our dear roommate from Japan, and I went to mochitsuki, Gagaku performances, ate osechi for lunch, and visited the shrine. It was a great local style and Japanese style start to the new year. 

This year, for some reason I feel like I got a head start going in. The first month of 2019 my work schedule stabilized and I started earning almost 3x as much as I was earning back in the beginning of 2018 when I still did airport runs, plus for my commute I get to ride my bicycle 4 miles one way, 6 times a week which is amazing exercise. Now that it's February, I have a pretty good handle on my routine and am somehow able to do 3 overnight shifts per week while still taking care of my kids during the day, and keeping Kairu in preschool for just 2 days per week. 

I've also been itching to really tidy up our home, and the #konmari wave of January really gave me the extra push. I've decluttered a good amount and still have a ways to go, but I'm happy with the progress I've made. 

2019 is really the first year in a while that I haven't really made a clear resolution. We have some goals as a family, mostly financial that we would like to achieve in the next few years such as going to Japan as a family and maybe a new car in the next couple years. 

But personally, while there are some big things I would like to start doing, I'm feeling really secure with myself and satisfied to keep taking it one day, one small thing at a time. Physically, I'm in excellent health and my lifestyle is keeping me on track to many more decades of the same. Mentally, I've done a lot of healing personally. Life's definitely too short to worry about people who would willingly harm you and your family repeatedly.  With Kairu turning 3 next month, I've also gotten to a point where I don't feel overwhelmed by everything, I can take time for myself and feel okay about it. 

All in all, life is definitely a lot more fun when you have less to worry about! #blessed

#sparkjoy