Happy New Year! This is the first year since before having Jack that I haven't ended up violently ill at some point during the holiday season. (Ironic because the-year-of-the-covid, but also unsurprising since I genuinely love living my best quarantine life so we haven't had as much exposure to cold and flu germs). My parents drove up to visit for New Years Eve and Day like they have each year since we moved to Casper. We had lots of fun and I didn't pull my camera out hardly ever. A good sign since it means I was caught up living in the moment, but it also means this post will be sparse on pictures.
On one of my parents' days here, Jared had an extremely long hospital shift followed by a jail shift. We decided to have him meet us at a restaurant for dinner. I haven't had a proper sit-down meal at a restaurant in ages. This was a new place we'd never been that I'd been meaning to try (Ludovico's), and it exceeded allll expectations. Easily the best carbonara, wings, and pizza I've had in Casper. Jack even stayed entertained all evening without requiring any assistance from my phone. He played with a Minnie Mouse doll that my mom brought him as a present. He saw a Minnie doll at his cousin Sadie's house last month and he's been talking about it ever since. He's in heaven haha.
On New Year's Eve we broke tradition from our "international appetizers" theme and instead roasted a turkey. Jared's program gave him one for Thanksgiving, but we already had a smaller turkey, so this seemed like a good time to roast the big one. It turned out amazing. We played board games and threw boiling water into the Wyoming air to watch it instantly freeze. It wasn't even in the single digits outside this year, but it still worked. We stayed up pretty darn close to midnight. Close enough that when our neighbors behind us set off a grand display of aerial fireworks at midnight, Jared and I were still awake to watch it from our bedroom window. Jack also heard the fireworks and woke up screaming. He then proceeded to fall asleep in our bed for the first time . . . ever?! We've tried in the past, but he would never do it. It was equal parts sweet/exciting/exhausting. Homeboy slept horizontally with his feet kicking me in the face, then woke up 2 hours earlier than usual demanding to start his day. Neat start to a new year. Probably not a metaphor.
On my parents' last night here, I made a German dinner. It was a thing to behold. I wish I'd taken a picture, but it was pretty similar to the feast in my Christmas Day post last week. I made rotkohl and spaetzle again, but swapped out the sauerbratten for bratwurst. An all-around excellent choice. The bratwurst was much less work, cheaper, and honestly rounded out the meal better than the sauerbraten did on Christmas. I'm going to keep tweaking until I have the perfect German dinner menu for an annual German Holiday Feast. We loved having my Mom and Dad here, and Jack has already packed his suitcase (full of toys) to go visit them when Jared has his next Utah rotation in February. 
And now for some resolutions talk! Don't worry, nothing too motivational or lofty here. This is probably my least lofty year of resolutions yet. In 2020, I was forced to slow down. I know, everyone was, but my slowing-down hit in January and I fought it for a couple months until I realized I wasn't meant to fight it. I'll talk more about that in a future post, but basically after a series of back-to-back-to-back setbacks (so many sicknesses and lost devices), I took the hint and was like, "Wait, maybe I'm not supposed to be chasing lofty dreams right now. Maybe I'm supposed to just chill out for a minute." So I tried that for the rest of the year. Don't get me wrong, I still kept very busy, but in a less manic way than before. Sometimes I really miss the old hustle, but I know I'm where I need to be for right now (not forever) and I'm trusting in the journey. And also, I have frequent moments of feeling so happy and grateful that I was not-so-gently pushed to back off from my social media platform before the storm of 2020 drama hit. Woof. Some people are cut out for that. I am not one of those people. My mental health would have plummeted.
ANYway, it's getting late and my typing fingers are getting rambly. To summarize my resolutions, I'm keeping my year low-key on purpose this time around. I've got some big things to prepare for, like getting our house ready to sell, moving to another state, hopefully planning a really great post-residency vacation, and eventually probably signing onto 9 months on my near-death bed after we start trying for baby #2 later this year. (*shudders from the nausea ptsd*) In the past my goals and pursuits have been focused on future happiness. This year I'm focusing more on present happiness, because for the most part, I'm already living my dream life, and I just don't want to overlook that on my pursuit for "what's next."
My one big goal for the year was going to be to write a book. I've always wanted to do that, and it feels like a goal I can finish, check off my list, and be proud of without having to continue to feed for years to come. But when I went to write it on my resolutions list, I couldn't do it. There's just too much uncertainty and too many other big things to prep for this year. So instead of writing a book, I'll continue writing this blog. I'll continue to do mostly life updates and journaling, but I'll also throw in a smattering of other topics I feel inspired to write about. It's been a long time since I've written anything other than a journal entry. I'm excited to change it up occasionally this year, especially on slower weeks when I don't have much to report.
Ok, it's too late. Hopefully I'll do a year in review post next week! Just waiting on a good day for family pictures when Jared's home before dark and it's not crazy windy outside. Sooooo, probably in July! You'll get a 2020 year-in-review post from me in July :-) (kidding, probably)