Mission Accomplished

Last year I posted my 2015 resolutions, and they hadn't changed much from the previous year. I do the same thing as far as trying to grow in one aspect intellectually, physically, and spiritually; but in all honesty, as the years pass, I am completely at peace knowing that I can maintain my current goals each year, considering that as I age and my children grow, these goals continue to get more difficult to obtain. The circumstances in which I am trying to accomplish my goals become increasingly difficult, yet each year, I still aspire to reach them. That, I feel, is growth.

My intellectual goals were to read 15 books in 2015. I completed 22. My favorites being "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty and both "The Rosie Project" and "The Rosie Effect" by Graeme Simsion. I also finally started the Harry Potter series so that I could keep up with Grace. I try to pre-read what the girls are reading, but the HP series was far too many pages for me to tackle during the school year, so she far surpassed me. I'm currently in book 3, so I'm making progress.

To grow in teaching, I attended a Global Educators Conference. It was a great way to network with other teachers and to evaluate what I am currently doing in my classes. It was definitely worth my time and something I would like to pursue again. It was a goal to continue to increase my PLN as well, which has allowed a lot of fun new ideas in my classes this year. Additionally, I met with a representative from St. Louis University who offered to reimburse my tuition to get my MA in Spanish and become an adjunct for SLU. It's fun to think about some free education, but time is a heavier price tag than the money at this point. I like keeping my options open though and having plenty of opportunities to grow.

Physically, I completed another half marathon. The plan was to run the Chicago Marathon, but the selection process makes that a tricky goal since it's a lottery selection. Having a half marathon in October kept me on pace to keep up the running and I am still enjoying having a gym membership. I had a few health setbacks this year, but considering that, I was happy with the mileage I got in.

Spritually, I wanted to continue with the Bible Study at my school on Wednesday mornings. I did great the first half of the year, and then it took an unexpected twist. In August in place of Bible Study, one of the teachers started teaching us Hebrew. It has been a great class and I am learning a lot.

Additionally, I wanted to continue to make Mark more of a priority by taking some time out for date nights. The more we failed at these date nights and the months slipped by, the more I realized how frivolous of a goal this was. Date nights do not magically make Mark my priority. We have equally great conversations on the couch over a bowl of ice cream once the girls go to sleep as we do on 'date nights' over dinner with the girls left at home. I let people convince me that we needed this time 'away' from kids, but in reality, we're lucky enough to have this every night. We don't need a 'date night' to make each other a priority. We need children who understand that we owe the same time and attention to each other as we offer to them. We, instead, focused our attention toward teaching the girls that, though our love for them is unconditional, so is our love for each other. As an added bonus, the fact that we get so few nights away just the two of us, makes those nights away that much more special when we do get them.