2023 Word of the Year

It's time for my big word of the year reveal!  It's my 11th year to continue this tradition.  I started doing this the year I became a mom.  I knew big changes were in store for our family in 2013 - new baby, moving from Utah to Arkansas, new city and leaving my teaching career to be a stay at home mom.  The past 10 years have played out very differently than I imagined, but despite the twists and turns and surprises, they have been pretty wonderful. 

Here are my previous words of the year.

2022: Home

2021: Focus

2020: Family

2019: Listen

2018: Grow

2017: Care    

2016: Invite

2015: Enjoy

2014: Thrive

2013: Change

 

2023: Shine

Art by Olive.

You may not know this, but every year Kevin gifts me a new planner for Christmas.  He writes me a note in the front of it to recap the previous year and talks about hopes and dreams for the new year.  It's my very favorite gift every year.  My 2023 message ended with lots of ideas and hopes for the new year and then he said, "Whatever it is, I know you'll shine!"  That's an exciting way to kick off a new year!

I hope to SHINE in our new city.  If you've ever relocated then you know, you spend your first year in survival mode.  Everything is new.  Everything feels a little hard and everything takes so much work.  It's exhausting to be new everywhere you go and to figure out your new favorite things.  I'm thrilled to feel a little less new and lot more settled.  I hope our family can relax and shine in the things we love this year.

I want to SHINE in my hobbies and interests.  I want to read good books, do exciting things, have adventures, write for my blog, cook good food, volunteer and encourage my kids to do the same.  They're each finding things they love doing as they get older and that has been so fun.  We're all feeling at home at church with teachers we love, Bible studies that we enjoy and routines that we needed.  It's been a blessing for sure!

I want to SHINE in my bakery business.  I love baking for people.  Things are picking up for Jordan Bakery Box after relocating.  I'm focusing on cookies and treats and I have big ideas for 2023.  I finished the year with some really neat cookie opportunities and hope that continues!

I want to SHINE at home in my job as a mom and wife.  I really do enjoy almost every aspect of being a stay at home mom.  I love taking care of my family.  I love planning meals.  I love organizing our house.  I love planning out our days.  I just want to make sure that I'm joyful about my job so that my family knows how much I love them.  Kevin's got some big work goals on the horizon this year so I'm here to cheer for him and support him.  I don't know what the future holds for me and my job prospects so I'm going to work hard to shine in my role as a SAHM mom as long as that is my title.

I want to SHINE in my self care routine.  I've gotten into a good exercising routine walking almost every day so I hope to keep that up in 2023.  I also want to eat better and be more mindful about the food I'm buying and preparing for my family.  It would also be great to find all new doctors here and establish care.  That's my least favorite part of relocating.

I want to SHINE in the friend department. We are working hard to make new friends at elementary school to church to work to neighbors.  We are hosting and saying yes to opportunities to grow our circle of friends.  I think we'd all say that we are making progress, but I'm guessing that many of you can relate to me - it's hard to make new friends as an adult.  Or hard to find family friends that your whole family enjoys.  Or even finding family friends with compatible kids and schedules.  It's tricky!  So we regularly pray for help in the friend department and it's something we are all working on.  I'm going to keep trying and putting myself out there so that at the end of the year I can say that I finished the year with more friends than I started the year with.

I hope to make our home SHINE this year.  We have started and finished projects and have plans for new projects to help our house feel like home.  The kids have big ideas for their spaces.  We've got ideas for inside and outside.  I'm hoping that they'll all come together to make us love our house even more this year.  My hope is that with all of the projects and personalizing we do to our home, we make people feel welcome, loved and excited to be here with us.  I keep snacks stocked to share with neighborhood kids, s'mores ingredients ready to host in a split second and we host dinners and parties often.  I want it to be obvious that home is our happy place.

 

Have you picked a word of the year for 2023?  I'd encourage you to join me.  I love that it gives me a focus and a place to start with my goals for the new year.