I love waking up first, pouring the first cup of coffee, and feeling the quiet, especially after many loud and busy days. Soon, I’ll be playing with trains, packing for a work trip, and finishing my script for a presentation that I will deliver on Saturday morning in New York.  For now, though, it is so quiet.

This past week didn’t just deliver Christmas joy.  It brought us back to Dartmouth Hitchcock hospital, starting with the stomach-dropping moment where I watched my mother get wheeled away into the OR and then wandering the hospital with my father for 8 hours or so, trying to keep sane, just waiting to see her face and know she’d be OK.  Don’t you worry.  She is OK.  Of course she is OK.  She may be in pain right now, but she is the toughest human being I know.  If only she didn’t have to walk through a painful recovery to get to the other side of healing, but that is something she’ll have to go through.

Our annual Newbury Street shopping trip, less than two weeks ago

2014 brought another year of watching my baby grow and he is just so amazing.  I’ll share with you a rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in a moment.  It introduced me to a new job.  It gave me a chance to be on the board of my town farmer’s market and as a result, this brought about a pure obsession with canning and preserving.  2015 helped me train for my very first 10K, where I clocked under a 12 minute mile.  It also introduced me to a running partner, which is also something I never thought I’d like.  2014 gave me the confidence to photograph my very first wedding and my very first family. This is something I never thought I’d do.  It beautifully gave us our first Christmas where Anderson actually understood the concept of Santa (and he met him!), gift giving, and the wonders of waking up on Christmas morning. It also gifted to me 5 pounds because of all of the ridiculously good food this past holiday season!

Check out the strong ending. Oh this kid…

2015 has already delivered my mom a new, strong back and it will give her the time to heal. I will see my baby turn 3!  3!  How is that possible? It will be the year of school in this house as well.  Chris was accepted to the masters program at Boston University (and starts class in just a few weeks) and I begin my Certificate in Sustainable Food and Farming this fall. Anderson even starts preschool this year!  On an extravagant note, October will bring Chris and I to Sicily, Italy for the marriage of one of my very best, and oldest friends.

Here we are over 10 years ago!

2015 will also bring some changes to our home, a whole new garden season, a bunch of things I can’t foresee, and hopefully a little more time for me to be here–on this blog–which is one of my happy places.  It will also take back the extra pounds from the 2014 holiday chocolate, cheese, and Bourbon!

I could go down the path of crazy resolutions, as we all do with the gift of a new year and a new beginning. Organize my house! Run everyday! Eat more kale! Paint again! Be completely eco-friendly! Resolutions, in my opinion, stick when they are smaller and attainable and there aren’t so many to keep track of.  Last year, I resolved to be a more hands-free mom and to help myself see that the most beautiful moments in life are even more treasured when they aren’t shared on Facebook.  That resolution stuck and that habit was broken.

This year, I really would just like to focus more on the present and worry less about the future.  I tend to be a worry wart and that leads to all-consuming stress.  Things really do find a way of working out somehow.  I have to remember that.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me.  Happy New Year! I’m off to play a little Thomas.