Reflection

Welcome to my obligatory New Year's Reflections post!

2013 was pretty quiet in terms of our infertility journey. After our IVF failures in 2011, I thought we were in for a grueling wait as we paid off both our IVF loan and our car, but here we are with just a few months left and it's gone by quite smoothly and happily, I dare say. 

Health!

I stopped running early in 2013 because it wasn't making me happy and I wasn't able to see any changes in my body because of it. Around the same time, I was reintroduced to yoga, which I obsessed about for a few months before I actually joined a yoga center. My primary doctor retired, which was the push I needed to easily move to a naturopath, and I had my first visit with her in May or so, about the same time that I started taking yoga classes. She gave me some healthy earring guidelines, which were things that I already knew, but that was totally Ok because at that point I feel like I was primed; and what I really needed was a catalyst to get me on my way. I have no idea what changed for me, but my mind was in the right place to stop making excuses and start making changes. So I changed my diet, I started yoga, and have lost about 35 pounds! I don't feel like I'm finished yet, but I also try to remember that this is a lifestyle change and not a race to lose weight, so I try to focus on doing what's healthy instead of what will get me results.

Travel!

We did a ton of travel this year too, more than usual. We spent a rather tense weekend up in the San Juan islands trying to relax, but some pretty crazy issues were happening at work so the relaxing thing was kind of a laugh as the work issues overshadowed the entire trip. Later In the spring, C and I went to Las Vegas to work our company's annual conference. It was a tough week too, ending with C having some kind of stomach flu and being in bed all day in our hotel room when I couldn't check on him. But we survived. :) Soon after that, my coworker and I attended a conference in Austin, Texas, where we visited UT and ate some really yummy food. And also learned lots of stuff. In July, with the work issues behind us (thank goodness) we celebrated our 10th anniversary with an extended road trip, visiting The black hills of South Dakota, Yellowstone, and places between. It was a fantastic trip, and it felt so good to reconnect with C. 

The fall and winter were busy too - in September we booked a last-minute trip to San Diego to see C's dad get married. The festivities were held at the Hotel Del on Coronado island, which was so lovely. The weather was fantastic too. And then our last hurrah for the year just ended a few days  ago: we spent Christmas at Disneyland! This was something we had wanted to do for years, but had never had the money or other things got in the way. The closest we got was about four years ago, when we purchased tickets to the park and then a few weeks before Christmas we hit a deer and had to spend our travel money on fixing the car (which was then totaled not six months after when I got rear-ended). We had three-day park hopper tickets, which resulted in us being completely Disneyed out, which was exactly what we wanted. Even the crowds seemed to be engineered for us: almost nobody there on our first morning in the park, and by the last day (Boxing Day) I got run over by strollers and the wait for the Dole Whip was 30 minutes long. We were happy to get out of there by then.

Other Fun Stuff, in No Particular Order

We did a lot of beer-related revelry this year. We are lucky enough to live in the northwest, where microbrews and local pubs are as plentiful as Starbucks. We went to a local craft beer picnic with friends and our visit was highlighted in the newspaper. We also powered through the Bend Ale Trail, where in order to win a prize we had to visit 12 breweries in central Oregon. Through some "creative" visits (i.e. Checking in without actually having any beer, shh) we made it through all 12 in one weekend. 

The annual Ladies Camp was a success, as usual. We went up to a lake with great intentions to swim and frolic in the water the whole time but it was too cold. We did a lot of hiking and cooking and eating and bonding, so the cooler weather was not a big deal at all. The best part of the weekend was a fantastic hike which ended just before a thunderstorm hit. Walking in the green light and wind and thunder was so cool.

My birthday coincided with conference this year. Coworkers surprised me with cake and champagne, and a bunch of us saw Love, the Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas, from the front row. Pretty awesome.

I spent a good amount of time on the coast, thanks to a fav coworker with a dog who likes it there too. I also spent tons of time geocaching, mostly in the wildlife preserve a mile away from my house. It's one of my favorite places and I love that it's so close. 

My best friend moved to Massachusetts. :( This does not really fall under Fun Stuff. I miss her.

Another not-fun item: my laptop has effectively died. I know what the problem is, and unfortunately it's beyond its warranty so it really needs to be replaced. As it was not expected, it means I'm stuck with my iPad as my primary piece of hardware, so I cannot edit vlogs. I'd recorded one several weeks ago but it more than likely will never make it to YouTube. Oh well, I guess this is the best time for me to take a vlogging break, as nothing is actually happening.

Once More Into the Breach

I make it a point not to make New Year's Resolutions. I like that other people do, but I know that the new year may not always be the time I'm most ready to make changes. (See the health section above, which technically started in April, and which I had no idea would happen at the beginning of the year.) I do like to think about what I think might happen, and what I hope will happen, though. More intention than resolve.

Of course, the most obvious: I hope that 2014 is the year that our infertility journey effectively ends. I'm sadder but wiser, and I think my choices in a clinic and my requests of a new RE will reflect that, hopefully with better results. 

I also intend to continue and strengthen my yoga practice and my more mindful eating. In fact, I want to be more mindful in general, and to step back from life often to make sure what I'm doing is worthwhile and making me happy.

Travel won't be as plentiful this year, though we are going to Nashville this spring for conference and I will likely attend a conference in Chicago as well. But I want to spend more time outdoors, even if it means sitting in the back yard.

Ok, that's enough blathering for one day. I hope your 2014 is everything you want it to be. <3