A Fresh Start

I've never been so excited for New Year's Eve.  And it has nothing to do with our plans to celebrate at midnight. 2012 has been full of challenges, heart break and hard times.  As hard as it has been for me, I can't even describe what a painful year it's been for Mark.  I think I will always refer to 2012 as Hell Year.  Several people have said to us that you get a year like the one we've had every 10 years or so.  I'm hoping we don't see another year this difficult for a very long time.  

It's not been all doom and gloom.  I love to travel and have been fortunate enough go to some fun places with our family and great friends.  I was able to set a new half marathon and marathon pr (hopefully, I'll be saying this again next year).  I love my job, and I've been blessed with an amazing year professionally.  Aside from Mark's hip, we are all healthy and I couldn't be more thankful for that.  And finally, our family also grew this year when my sister married the perfect man for her in April. 
 
My very wise and wonderful friend Daeon said to me earlier this year that if my family had a theme it would be "overcome."  I can't list the number of times I've reflected on this statement.  It's something Mark and I have held onto this year like it was some kind of armor.  I'm sure she had no idea how impactful her words were when she said them.  More than anything else, I'm thankful for all the amazing people we have in our life.  As hard as this year has been, there hasn't been one moment where we haven't felt well loved by so many people in our lives.

I'm so grateful for the symbolic fresh start that the New Year brings. The theme for 2013 is going to be a year of healing and strengthening for us.  Last week I spent almost a whole day writing out all of my goals - professional, personal and family.  I have some really big and exciting goals.  And I'm ready to get started on them tomorrow.  Happy New Year everyone!