2017 Word Of The Year: Soak It In
I’m just going to throw it out there, resolutions suck. We stick with them for what, two weeks if we’re lucky?! But I’ve always been drawn to resolutions/goals/lengthy to-do lists/things that keep me on track, even though they never really kept me on track for the full year. So way back in the day circa 2014, instead of making resolutions for the year, I decided to pick a word of the year.
Last year my word of the year was “patience”. Looking back, it was a glorious choice for a word of the year and one I truly tried to live by. 2016 was definitely a challenging year for Colby and I: losing our beloved dog Goose to cancer, having multiple pregnancy complications/scares, family members having major surgeries, and Colby losing his job (company acquisitions also suck!). But we took it all in stride, practiced serious patience, and in return 2016 also turned out to be a pretty great year. We adopted another pointer, Merle, we get to meet baby girl Campbell this week due to a scheduled c-section, and Colby found an even better job that he loves with a really remarkable company.
So this year when I sat down to think about a word of the year that I wanted to embrace, something to guide this season of our lives, I easily came up with the phrase “soak it in”.
If 2016 taught us anything it’s that you never know what tomorrow brings. One day we’re playing in the backyard with Goose and the next we’re at the emergency vet at 3:00 a.m. learning our dog has terminal cancer. That said, we vowed to live the slow life; to enjoy and soak in every single moment. Hence our word of the year of “soak it in”.
This year is also a huge year for us as we’re just days away from expecting our first child. We know it’s going to be a game changer and from all we’ve heard, babies grow up way too fast. We want to savor and soak in every single moment of what remains of my pregnancy (although I hit that super, really uncomfortable stage so we’ll see how that actually goes), the birth of our baby girl, and the months ahead with her (the good times and the trying times).
Our “soak it in” word of the year goes beyond expecting a baby as we have some pretty fabulous experiences happening this year like weddings, vacations, and even local events that we’ve always wanted to experience but just never made the time to go. I have grand intentions of diving into these moments and really soaking them all in.
As part of my “soak it in” word of the year, I also want to be better at documenting life. I’ve never been terribly good at taking pictures of the every day (almost every photo on my computer is of a house project). Or even consciously making an effort to take pictures of Colby and I. We’ve been together for 8 years now and we probably have about 12 pictures of the two of us together. Only three of those 12 pictures are respectable. The other nine photos have one of us smiling awkwardly or doing something weird. I’ve already been making a photo-taking effort in that I’ve been documenting my ever-growing belly with bi-weekly belly photos in the nursery (below is the photo from 34 weeks). I even made Colby take a few maternity photos with me today.
So who knows what 2017 will throw our way, but I’m armed with my DSLR camera to capture the every day and we’re ready with our word of the year to soak it all in.
Beautiful pictures!! MIss having you in my life regularly! Good luck this week – I’ll be praying for you. Can’t wait to hear the news and see pics of her!
Hi five, all the best. Great intentions- both the soaking and the “photographing the whole family”
Wishing you a smooth delivery and a year full of “soaking it in” with your new little one!