Thus far…

If you read here with any regularity, you’ll know that my Word for 2014 is NEW.

While there are many big changes happening personally, in my life, that will bring about newness, I really felt like NEW was very much the word my year needed. I am personally stuck, feet ground deep, in so many stubborn ways and for no good reasons other than complacency or fear. We relocated last year and that coupled with the fact that I’m really fighting against the adaptation of establishing NEW friendships, NEW routines, NEW traditions… It’s been a really hard transition for me. I finally found myself willing to admit that it was high time I embraced the new, and with that, looked for new…

So, along with the absolutely everything thats New for us- (I loved our brand of milk, and our brand of bread, and our brand of bacon, and our regular market… if you are a creature of habit like me, I’m sure you get it.) I’ve vowed to myself to make two-thousand and fourteen the year of trying new things. Seeking out the new places, even when they are inconvenient… Reading the genres of books that I likely may not have picked up before… trying New traditions, embracing new habits and trying my hand at new ideas…

With that being said, here’s a brief list of what was NEW in January…

– I read a mystery book. (the Secret Keeper by Kate Morton)

– I joined a gym.

– I am practicing yoga regularly.

– I (well, we) joined a Date My Spouse Challenge, challenging ourselves to 25 INTENTIONAL dates in 2014. {Read about it here.}

{1.) Chw and I got tickets to the Sundance Film Festival USA experience in Ann Arbor where we saw the independent film Infinitely Polar Bear and did a Q & A with the writer and an actor. This was something we’d never done before AND an intentional date for us as it gave us a lot of good discussion time both before, and after the film. We had a lot of fun!}

– I started an online Writer’s Group that I’m really excited about.

– I joined a Jane Austen book club. (I already have an IRL book club, and the idea of a Jane Austen one feels way over my head, but I did it anyway!)

– I started taking an afternoon a week, out of the house, that is devoted just to writing exercises and correspondence.

– I took my youngest to a hotel for some quality away time together. (You can read about our adventure here.)

– I’ve stopped turning the tv on, simply because it’s evening.

– I’ve begun reading classic Children’s literature.

– I’ve started baking artisan bread weekly.

– I’m devoting time every week to listen to new-to-me music. {Do you have something you’d like to suggest?}

– I started going to bed earlier (something VERY new to me, minus the one night I stayed up until 2:30 reading the Secret Keeper)

– Not deliberately, I tried a new hair care/body product line that I fell in love with. It’s quite heavenly… (though it’s Crabtree & Evelyn so my budget isn’t quite as enamored as I am.)

– I purchased a series of containers that make it easier for Genny to take hot lunches to school and never have to use the microwave.

– I’m trying not to use the microwave. (this is new for me.)

– I’m having afternoon tea and discussion/devotion time with Genny every weekday afternoon. This is new for us and so far, it’s pretty nice.