Goodbye 2013!

As the evening has progressed, I've been seeing a lot of posts on Facebook about how 2013 was a great year or was the best one yet.  I can't say that I share those same feelings for 2013.  Over the past few weeks all I've been thinking is that I can't wait for 2013 to be over.  The year was ok, not stellar, but ok and I think the end of September was really the turning point that sent the rest of the year spiraling downward.  I wasn't even in the mood to put up any of my holiday decorations for 3 of my favorite holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!  Without going into too much detail, there have been some struggles both at work and at home.  Just about every day that I tried to take off during the last 3 months, I ended up working part or all of the day due to issues that dragged me in.  There have been a lot of changes at my job that have been putting a lot of strain on my department.  I was never really able to get into the mindset to get my eating and fitness in order.  I've been putting off researching and starting the preparations for our upcoming deployment.  My Aunt and Grandmother passed away in September and October.  Freddy had 2 cousins pass away in August and November.  Freddy had to miss Marshall's birthday for the 2nd year in a row and missed his first Halloween trick or treating due to a 3 week training for his deployment.  The week before Christmas we had to say goodbye to our Hadley way too early and Marshall's fish died while we were away for the holidays.

Needless to say I'm pretty happy to close the door on 2013.

I will be spending a lot of tomorrow just trying to come up with a game plan for 2014.  I have some ideas and I am eager to make 2014 about me.  I have never really focused on me on a large scale before but that's what I'm going to do.  My motto for 2014 is going to be "About Me in 2014" and I can't wait.

But, until then I hope you enjoy the last 20 minutes of 2013… at least on the East Coast :)  Whether you had a great 2013 or can't wait for it to end, I hope you have a happy and healthy 2014!

~AKO