What do I say about 2019? Honestly, it was the best year; a year full of growth and self-reflection. Although, I didn’t choose a word for 2019, I was more intentional about everyday living. I dug in on only doing the things that brought me joy. I said no when something didn’t serve me or didn’t bring me happiness when I thought of it.
I took more joy in the simple things; be it pizza Fridays, lighting a new candle, strolling the farmers market, dancing in the living room or creating a bouquet of my favorite flowers. As I get older I realize how insignificant material things really are because the joy that those things bring are always fleeting and soon you are craving the next best thing. The thing is that for me, pizza Fridays or lighting a candle will always be joy to me.
Spending time with Sean, our furbabies, our family and friends. They are my joys and 2019 really brought that full circle. I made sure to curate my life to only be about the things that I truly care about. And by doing so, I was less stressed, less anxious and less disappointed.
I started this thing called ‘happiness is’ for myself. Just began to jot down things that bring me happiness. And I found that happiness for me is a 73 degree day, happiness is grilling burgers for dinner, happiness is seeing my sister(s) laugh uncontrollably, happiness is seeing Sean lick his plate clean, happiness is my dog’s tail wagging uncontrollably when he/she sees me, happiness is the sunlight streaming in through the window, happiness is the weight of my camera as I attempt to get the perfect shot. Happiness is (as bad as it may sound) seeing my nephew cry hysterically when he realizes that it's time for Auntie Faith to go back home.
Happiness is knowing that God has me in the palm of his hands and that no matter what happens I’ll be OK.
For 2020, I intend to live this same way. I intend to surround myself with only the things that bring me joy. I intend to have boundaries that way I can continue in this way. Life is short so I will be intentional on how I live it. I don’t have enough time on earth for unhappiness so I choose to be happy and choose to do what it is that makes me happy. The simpler, the better.
As is tradition for this blog, here’s my review of 2019.
JANUARY
Between the holiday work season and traveling to see friends and family in December, January is one of my slowest months and I love it. I love the opportunity to welcome the hermit in me. I tend to cut back on dinners out with friends, opting to cook at home and I spend more weekends cleaning and de-cluttering our house. Due to this, my January recap is usually pretty uneventful but for this reason alone, January tends to be the month I feel the most energized AND rested.
Celebrated my lovely niece's 6th birthday.
Went to Vegas and finally visited the Seven Magic Mountains.
FEBRUARY
Celebrated Sean's 40th birthday!
Enjoyed a date night with Sean on a milder winter evening.
Went to Miami to celebrate Sean and Eric (Colleen's husband) turning 40 years old.
MARCH
Enjoyed a nice day with Cinthia where we welcomed a tease of the warmer days soon to come.
Sean's sister (Veronica) visited and we celebrated St. Patrick's Day.
My sister (Priscilla) and her family visited us and we had a lovely weekend together.
Celebrated Cate (Colleen's daughter) turning one year old and went to her baptism ♥
Sean is a very proud godfather :)
APRIL
Enjoyed a family trip to Orlando FL with Sean's family
My girlfriend (Nawal) visited from DC for the weekend and came bearing gifts from Georgetown Cupcake.
Went to a local baseball game with Sean, Cinthia and her brother. So much fun and something I hope we do again this year!
Enjoyed an early Spring day walk with Sean and our fur-babies.
MAY
Date nights with Sean continue to be my favorite.
Enjoyed watching our niece at her softball practice :)
The following weekend enjoyed watching our other niece at her softball game.
Paid for our first rental property in cash!
Took a road trip to Coney Island and Brooklyn for the day.
WENT TO GHANA WITH SEAN! This was definitely a highlight in 2019 for the both of us.
JUNE
Had a fun family day! ♥
Sean's parents and Nadiyah visited us and we enjoyed Rita's and fireworks.
JULY
Visited my girlfriend, Nawal, in DC for the weekend and loved her apartment.
Also enjoyed Korean BBQ which reminds me that I need to do it again this year!
Had dinner at Urbano Mexican Kitchen & Bar with Sean and Cinthia.
This restaurant became a favorite in 2019.
Went to Amazon's family day with Sean which was a ton of fun.
AUGUST
Enjoyed beautiful summer days.
Held our annual summer BBQ for our friends and family.
We threw our sister and BIL a baby shower
MUSIKFEST!
Watched our nephew win their version of the "Superbowl"
SEPTEMBER
Celebrated Sean's promotion with dinner at Zest.
Enjoyed Labor Day weekend with our niece Nadiyah. We took her on a college tour, the fair, Philadelphia and the beach. Safe to say she had an incredible time and she wants to visit us again this Labor Day weekend :)
Visited a sunflower field with Cinthia and then went to the winery.
Welcomed fall with open arms.
Celebrated my nephew's third birthday.
OCTOBER
Decorated for fall
Enjoyed a nice, fall day with our nephew
Celebrated my 38th birthday in the city
Visited our new niece (hopefully this year my sister will allow us to share pictures of her!)
Enjoyed a me day which I'm determined to do more of this year.
NOVEMBER
Traveled to Upstate NY to babysit for Colleen and Eric while they attended a wedding. It went great!
Celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Puerto Rico!
Celebrated my sister's 40th birthday
Took Nadiayh to the city to see the Rockettes
Celebrated Thanksgiving in our house this year
DECEMBER
Visited our friend's cabin in Upstate NY
Went to an ugly Christmas sweater party
Decorated our house for Christmas
Went to the Christmas market in our town
Watched my niece perform in The Nutcracker
Celebrated Christmas (of course!)
Welcomed the new year with my favorite person in Philadelphia.
Happy New Year!
I truly hope this is your best year yet! ♥
JANUARY
Between the holiday work season and traveling to see friends and family in December, January is one of my slowest months and I love it. I love the opportunity to welcome the hermit in me. I tend to cut back on dinners out with friends, opting to cook at home and I spend more weekends cleaning and de-cluttering our house. Due to this, my January recap is usually pretty uneventful but for this reason alone, January tends to be the month I feel the most energized AND rested.
Celebrated my lovely niece's 6th birthday.
Went to Vegas and finally visited the Seven Magic Mountains.
FEBRUARY
Celebrated Sean's 40th birthday!
Enjoyed a date night with Sean on a milder winter evening.
Went to Miami to celebrate Sean and Eric (Colleen's husband) turning 40 years old.
MARCH
Enjoyed a nice day with Cinthia where we welcomed a tease of the warmer days soon to come.
Sean's sister (Veronica) visited and we celebrated St. Patrick's Day.
My sister (Priscilla) and her family visited us and we had a lovely weekend together.
Celebrated Cate (Colleen's daughter) turning one year old and went to her baptism ♥
Sean is a very proud godfather :)
APRIL
Enjoyed a family trip to Orlando FL with Sean's family
My girlfriend (Nawal) visited from DC for the weekend and came bearing gifts from Georgetown Cupcake.
Went to a local baseball game with Sean, Cinthia and her brother. So much fun and something I hope we do again this year!
Enjoyed an early Spring day walk with Sean and our fur-babies.
MAY
Date nights with Sean continue to be my favorite.
Enjoyed watching our niece at her softball practice :)
The following weekend enjoyed watching our other niece at her softball game.
Paid for our first rental property in cash!
Took a road trip to Coney Island and Brooklyn for the day.
WENT TO GHANA WITH SEAN! This was definitely a highlight in 2019 for the both of us.
JUNE
Had a fun family day! ♥
Sean's parents and Nadiyah visited us and we enjoyed Rita's and fireworks.
JULY
Visited my girlfriend, Nawal, in DC for the weekend and loved her apartment.
Also enjoyed Korean BBQ which reminds me that I need to do it again this year!
Had dinner at Urbano Mexican Kitchen & Bar with Sean and Cinthia.
This restaurant became a favorite in 2019.
Went to Amazon's family day with Sean which was a ton of fun.
AUGUST
Enjoyed beautiful summer days.
Held our annual summer BBQ for our friends and family.
We threw our sister and BIL a baby shower
MUSIKFEST!
Watched our nephew win their version of the "Superbowl"
SEPTEMBER
Celebrated Sean's promotion with dinner at Zest.
Enjoyed Labor Day weekend with our niece Nadiyah. We took her on a college tour, the fair, Philadelphia and the beach. Safe to say she had an incredible time and she wants to visit us again this Labor Day weekend :)
Visited a sunflower field with Cinthia and then went to the winery.
Welcomed fall with open arms.
Celebrated my nephew's third birthday.
OCTOBER
Decorated for fall
Enjoyed a nice, fall day with our nephew
Celebrated my 38th birthday in the city
Visited our new niece (hopefully this year my sister will allow us to share pictures of her!)
Enjoyed a me day which I'm determined to do more of this year.
NOVEMBER
Traveled to Upstate NY to babysit for Colleen and Eric while they attended a wedding. It went great!
Celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Puerto Rico!
Celebrated my sister's 40th birthday
Took Nadiayh to the city to see the Rockettes
Celebrated Thanksgiving in our house this year
DECEMBER
Visited our friend's cabin in Upstate NY
Went to an ugly Christmas sweater party
Decorated our house for Christmas
Went to the Christmas market in our town
Watched my niece perform in The Nutcracker
Celebrated Christmas (of course!)
Welcomed the new year with my favorite person in Philadelphia.
Happy New Year!
I truly hope this is your best year yet! ♥
What a great year for you filled with so much happiness and wonderful memories! I love feeling confident in saying no to the things that don't bring you joy. We've been wanting to check out Coney Island with the boys and hopefully can make that happen this summer. Here's to 2020 being filled with even more great moments!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny when you're growing up no is your favorite word ... and then you get older and it's a word you try not to use much. It feels good to say no to things that you don't want to do! Your boys will love it. It's such a fun place! I hope to go again this year too :) Cheers to 2020!
DeleteDid I get myself completely caught up ?!
ReplyDeleteI love looking at your year in review. Some of it feels like it was just yesterday!
"I dug in on only doing the things that brought me joy. I said no when something didn’t serve me or didn’t bring me happiness when I thought of it." <-- good for you! I need to do more of that, especially when it comes to Dominic. I try to be that suck it up parent and let my kid go to every dang birthday party/activity, but than I'm miserable, so unless I can drop him off at bounce, I'm not interested. Yes, I know CERTAIN things I need to be there for when he's involved, and I do have sacrifice my want- to for him, but for my own sanity I need my own things, even if it's just getting coffee with Sam while he runs around with his friends.
We do pizza Fridays at my house too!I need to make a 'Happiness is' list!
Haha, I think you did! Haha, it probably feels like yesterday because I'm so late with updating my blog. Hope to do better this year, haha!
DeleteYes, you def. need your own things! This is also your life and you have to do things that you enjoy and love as well! If coffee at a cute coffee shop brings you joy you gotta do more of it!
And yes, pizza Fridays are the best :) Maybe you'll share you 'Happiness is' list on your blog. I'd love to read it!