A Year of Reflection

“Time spent in self-reflection is never wasted – it is an intimate date with yourself.” -Paul Wong

I wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect on this past year. It’s not often I sit down and not only dwell on all of God’s blessings, but really soak them all in. The other night at about 1am, because evidently that’s when I think the most clearly, I decided to write a list of every wonderful thing that our family did together in 2018. The list quickly grew as I recalled our busy, but joyful year.

This year was the first time since having kids that I had allowed myself to dream OUT LOUD and told my husband about some of my long term goals. Well, long term turned into not so long term. In fact, one of my biggest dreams came true in February when we attended the Disney Social Media Mom Conference at Walt Disney World and the Disney Cruise. All of the hard work, extremely long hours and countless crazy ideas all paid off when we stepped foot in front of the Magic Kingdom and then sailed the seas for 3 nights to Castaway Cay for the first time. You can see how we revealed the trip to the kids here and all about the trip here.

Just a short month later we were humbled and elated when we were invited back to the Disney Cruise line again, this time for a 7-night cruise to the Caribbean and back to Castaway Cay. You can read all about our experiences here in my 3 part series; part one, part two, part three. You can also see how we surprised the kids in a sweet video here.

After two back to back amazing trips life seemed to keep pretty busy for us in the following months. We had a stay at the Legoland Castle hotel as well as rode the newest ride at Legoland. My daughter and I attended a special tea party for Fancy Nancy at the Disney studios in Burbank. As a family we saw lots of new movies before they were released to the public; Peter Rabbit, A Wrinkle in Time, Solo; A Star Wars Story, Christopher Robin, Incredibles 2 and The Nutcracker.

We had a staycation at The Courtyard Marriot in Anaheim right after my husband had been deployed on a wildland fire for eight days. We also had a fun day trip to the Great Wolf Lodge as well as a family trip to San Francisco.

Then out of the blue, one of my other dreams that I had only told to my husband appeared in my email like magic. An invitation to travel to Disney’s Aulani resort in Hawaii. This time we decided to keep the trip a complete secret to the kids until the day we left. We didn’t tell them where they were going until we were at the airport, it was so fun! The trip was a dream come true, literally, and I often have to look back at pictures to make sure it was all real. You can read all about that trip here.

Somewhere in between all of those experiences I was able to continue my writing, attend my second blogging conference and planned TWO social media mom events (read all about those here and here). I was also super excited that I was invited to my very first event here at Disneyland for the re-opening of the World of Disney store at Downtown Disney.

Personally, the hubby and I also made it a point to date more this year and we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary by renewing our vows. It was the first time since having kids that we made a conscious effort to go out on dates even if we had to pay for babysitters, which can be very expensive. We even spent 2 nights away for our anniversary, which was the first time in 6 years.

The year kept going with a few more amazing experiences. I had the privilege to attend my first press junket with the stars of Ralph Breaks the Internet and my husband and I walked the red carpet for the world premiere of Mary Poppins Returns. Two super memorable moments for me in my blogging career.

As the Christmas season began we had the chance to attend Santa’s Village in SkyPark, had a blast exploring Grinchmas at Universal Studios and attend Disney on Ice.

And I couldn’t help but share the most popular post from the year; Following in Royal Footsteps. A special photo shoot where my hubby and I got to dress up with the kids for a little family fun.

As the year comes to a close and I write this all down it’s almost hard to believe. God has been so good to us, therefore I always believe much will be expected. I first and foremost always give him the credit for what HE has done for me and my family. The long hours would mean nothing if this wasn’t something He has planned for my life.

So where do we go from here? For the first time ever I actually put pen to paper and wrote out some new goals and dreams that I have for the next year (and possibly for a few years to come). Some are small, like a personal goal I have is to take a dance class again. For those of you who may not know I used to be a dancer/performer until we had kids and I put that dream aside. You can read all about dreaming new dreams here and how I transitioned from dreaming of Broadway to dreaming of having a family and then raising that family.

Another goal I have is to be a better boss to myself. I often stress myself out over deadlines and accept “jobs” for well under what I am worth. I have learned that my time is so valuable and precious, so if a company does not appreciate that then I am not willing to settle for less.

I asked some of my Instagram followers to share some of their dreams for the new year and I absolutely LOVED reading all of them! They ranged from a weekly family bike ride, to finishing college, to traveling more. It’s amazing that even at age 35 I’m learning it’s never too late to dream again.

What was the highlight of your year? Have you taken a moment to reflect? Maybe it wasn’t the best year, maybe it was the most difficult. We have had those years too; the loss of a pregnancy, difficult babies/postpartum, other heartaches. We have been there too, which is why I can say that it won’t last forever. You will find joy again and maybe you might just find something worth dreaming about.