Toodles 2014!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's already NEW YEAR'S EVE!!  I had to triple check the calendar today to make sure I wasn't imagining this.  This year it's just the kiddies and I celebrating because the Mr had to work.  I'm sure they'll fall asleep before the ball drops as we've all been under the weather since two days after Christmas.  It started with Moo and JJ both wheezing and then I caught the flu.

Nevertheless, we're literally just a couple of hours from ringing in 2015 and I'm super excited.  I truly believe that with the start of every year, we are given a chance to start anew.  Another 365 in which we can challenge ourselves and set measurable goals aka resolutions. I'll save my New Year's Resolution post for tomorrow.  Right now, I want to reflect on 2014.

Hands down my favorite memories from this year are Moo's first day of school (before we picked her up in tears) and chaperoning her first field trip.  It felt like I had to wait forever for those moments to get here.  Watching her grow and find her independence even more has certainly been bittersweet for me, but rewarding at the same time.  I'm grateful that to have been had the chance to share in those moments with her and look forward to what other firsts the school year has in store for us.

2014 has absolutely been a year of tremendous growth and improvement for JJ.  My little guy seems to have morphed from a baby to a toddler and now a little man so quickly.  His speech and temperament are levels ahead of where they were this time last year.  Our communication is better than ever because I can understand him clearer and he is better able to tell me what he wants and needs.  I can't say enough how proud I am of him.

This year I got had the opportunity to attend some awesome blog related events.  At these events, I was able to meet and connect with a few other bloggers and social media influencers from my area.  It's always nice to have people who can not only relate to you as a blogger, but who can connect with in real life.

I still can't believe that I added vlogger to the list of hats that I wear.  I honestly didn't think I would ever have the courage to start vlogging.  I'm very much the introvert and private person.  So, it's crazy to think that I've been vlogging almost a full year now.  Be sure to check out my YUMMommy Channel!  My inner fan girl totally bugged out when I got tweeted and replied back to by three of my favorite YouTubers- Gabe & Babe TV,  April Justin TV and Shaylee Daily.

My family and I moved to a bigger apartment in a better neighborhood.  Speaking of our new neighborhood, it's relatively close to all of the malls here!  I love that because I had cut down on going to the mall because we lived so far out and with traffic going and coming it just wasn't worth making frequent trips.  I'm also back closer to Target, my thrift stores and favorite restaurants.

This year marked nine years that Mr and I have been a couple and four years that we have been a married couple.  I can't believe our tenth couple anniversary is just around the corner!  It's such a huge milestone when so many couples don't even make it three years together now days including the dating period.

The greatest lesson I've lessons I've learned this year are:

• Respect the process of your journey.  What may come fast for others may take some time for you to achieve or accomplish.  I could so frustrated so many times this year working on my novels and my blog.  I felt like everyone else around me was finding their success faster than I was and when I tried to force myself to take shortcuts or speed up, it often ended in disaster and further irritation.
• No matter how much you support some people they won't ever ride for you as hard as you do for them.  There's always going to be a few people who will take more than they give.  They'll ask you to support them, claim to be a friend and then go missing.  Don't sweat it.  Karma will repay you ten fold in  positive ways.
• It's okay to not associate with certain people regardless of if they're family, a former classmate, etc.  I've spent too much of life taking crap from folks because we were related or used to kick it.  I finally said enough is enough and dropped that baggage.  Life is too short to be surrounded by folks who keep stuff stirred up and who don't show you proper respect.  Yeah, I'll say hi if I see them in street, but I keep it moving.
• I am a PHENOMENAL mom.  I've struggled so hard with considering myself a good mom because I felt like somehow I was solely responsible for whatever was wrong with my kids.  Their severe allergies, JJ's ASD, etc were all things I blamed on myself.  It seems crazy because these are things I have ZERO control over, but that was my thought process for so long.  I'd cry day and night over it.

If I had to choose one thing that I got better at this year, it would be my patience.  I'm more at peace and when you're calmer and more at ease, you're able to be more patient with people.  This has really helped me in dealing with my husband.  He used to get the brunt of my impatience a lot and I've dailed it back a lot.  I could still do better and that's something I'll have to continue to work on in the New Year.

Overall, I'm most grateful for just having more opportunities to spend time with my family.  The kids have loved seeing my mom, baby sister and niece more this year.  They actually just went home after spending fours staying with us.  I got photograph and video record everyone opening their Christmas presents.  We had some good laughs and they helped with the kids once the sickies descended upon us.

That's it for my recap of 2014.  I hope that you all have had a great 2014 and that you have a wonderful start to 2015!  Thank you for your continued support.  It is very much appreciated.  See you in the New Year!