Sesame Street Live Giveaway Announcement

Where has the time gone? It feels as though this year passed in a single breath. And yet, when I slow down and focus on the minutes and the hours and the adventures, I remember many breaths. Some were spent anticipating. Living. Others, worrying, and waiting. Getting through. Some of my breaths were held and some were taken away.

In marveling at how quickly the year seemed to pass, I think about individual days. Our celebrations. The breathing and the breakthroughs. The things that I want to hang onto for the rest of time.

Tucker, transitioning from Preschool Autism Class (PAC) to the non-categorical special needs preschool. Breathing tears of joy at preschool graduation and my not-so-little little boy turning five and thanking the fireworks. Somehow, we found grace in kindergarten, and managed to remember to not grieve the magical even as it happened.

Like Tucker “getting” Christmas. Singing:

I’m thankful for all of the moments. For all of the breaths. For the hard ones that made us stronger and for the beautiful ones that made us better. As I reflect on the last year and look forward to the next, I know that it, too, will pass quickly even though some days and hours will feel as if they last an eternity.

Here are a few things I’d like to hold myself accountable for in 2015. I’m not going to call them resolutions because they’re really more of a reminder on how I try to live and how I’d like to live. I don’t always succeed, and that’s okay. One of the things that I want to remember is that it’s okay to not win on all of the days. That resolutions like losing weight and being more healthy are good and important but also not what I’m going to be lying on my death bed thinking about. Hopefully, anyway.

I hope to remember that everything ends. That the hard and messy days will pass. That the beautiful ones will too. I will breathe through them.  I hope to remember that missing who my family has been does not take away from the people we are and those that we will become. I resolve to try and know with all of me that at the end of each day, I was enough. Some days will end with feelings of inadequacy and others will end with triumphant mental high-fives. They’re both okay.

That’s it. That’s what I want from 2015. Sure, I could name the milestones that I hope my son achieves. But really, they’re within the everyday and knowing that the everyday is enough is harder, so that’s what I choose. That’s my hope for this year.

Happy 2015, friends. Whether you celebrated your religion, life, or the everyday moments and meals this holiday season, I hope that it’s brought you unexpected joy, contentedness, and laughter that’s left your bellies aching. I hope that this season has brought you peace and excitement for the next unknowns. And most of all, I hope that the coming year brings you joy within the minutes without grieving for them while they happen.

XO – Kristi

Aaaaand!!  Did you enter to win the Sesame Street Live tickets? I am giving away four of them to an upcoming show – valid for either Let’s Make a Friend or Let’s Dance.

Here’s Tucker choosing the winner:

(congratulations, winner!!!  Email me and I’ll send you the ticket vouchers!)

This has been a Thankful post. And yes, there were totally 10 things. I started counting, and think it’s really more like 1,001 of thankfuls.

Your hosts: A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Amycake and the Dude, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, I Want Backsies, The Meaning of Me, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine

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