Sprint across the finish line

Ah, the end of another year. Normally I do a little reflecting on how wonderful my year has been but this year I'm going to skip that and dive right into celebrating the new year! I mean let's face it, if your year starts out with two speeding tickets and a chipped windshield on January 1st, it's a pretty good indicator that you should just chalk that year up as a loss. 

2014, I have been waiting for you for months! Now that we're days away from a magical new year that's full of mystery and promise I want to go about my usual end of year planning. 

I don't do New Years resolutions. My philosophy is this: if you have an issue, fix it now and stop being lazy. Putting it off for weeks or months with the misguided promise that the next year will be wonderful is just setting you up for a difficult year full of struggle and limited results. Every day you continue with your bad habit you're willingly making the upcoming change that much harder. 

So instead of New Years resolutions, I like to do an outline: major life events, 2014 edition.

Don't worry, I already know that I'm a nerd. I've embraced it.

Honestly though, what better way to get excited for the new year than to focus on all the great possibilities! You're also giving yourself a little New Years present; taking the time to map it out in advance will save you from so many of those surprises. You know the surprises I'm talking about. Everyone (well almost everyone) loves surprise presents and surprise parties but I don't think anyone likes surprise bills and finances. On top of giving you events to look forward to, coming up with a little timeline gives you an idea about when you'll need to save money for which events.

Oh, you're still reading? Well thank you for pushing through the life/finance lesson from a 20-something who probably has far less life experience than you ;)

Now for the good stuff!

2014

Glorious reunion- in a few short months I will be reunited with America, healthy food, clean water, beer, jimmy johns, and most importantly, my family! If this were the only bullet on my life-of-a-nerd outline it would be enough to guarantee a spectacular year. 

Beach wedding extravaganza- that's right! It's long overdue but Matt and I will finally be able to have our wedding! I am counting down the days, and checking off the planning blocks as I impatiently await a weekend full of love, family, laughter and all the seafood we can shove at you.

I cannot wait until the sand I'm surrounded by is coupled with water instead of rocket attacks! 

Family expansion- Matt and I are joyously planning on expanding our family by another rugrat in 2014. Wyatt and Alexis are also planning on family expansion. The additions they are excited about will look a little more like this:

 

We're still working out a compromise on the kitten. Despite Wyatt's protests, the kitten will be a little girl (Matt doesn't want this cat peeing on his clothes). Now we just need to pick a color; Wyatt wants a brown can and Alexis wants a purple one.. I'm hoping a nice purple collar and brown bed will suffice! 

Home improvement- structurally our house is in great shape. However with all of the military travel since we moved in we haven't had the time to completely customize it. 2014 will be a year full of interior paint, lawn and garden projects and making space in the garage for t-ball equipment and soccer nets. 

Higher education- aka even more money generously donated to a university (as if Matt and I haven't already spent enough on degrees)! I may grumble but after a few years away from a university I know that this year is the year to get my Masters Degree under way. 

I am incredibly excited about 2014. Our family will be going through a lot but unlike 2013, in 2014 we're the ones who pick the events and they're going to be great.

Life is about enjoying the ride. 2013 might have been the long, rickety, painstakingly slow climb up the roller coaster but 2014 is going to be one hell of blast because of it.