Year Four

Another year has passed here at Life As Always.

 

Things have definitely changed drastically in the past 12 months. I only blogged 82 times, compared to the previous year's 184 posts. That's a pretty steep decline, and I've definitely felt the effects as my stats have decreased and my comments and followers have dwindled. It makes me sad. But there's also no way in hell I could have found the time or energy for additional posts. At the end of the day, I just don't have anything left to give.

 

As I said a few months back, my blog is both a reflection and an extension of my life, and I've worked incredibly hard for almost ten years now to create what it is today. I treasure this space, and value it as a detailed record of the person who I was, am, and will become.

 

Life As Always will continue to be a lifestyle blog. But now that I'm a mom, the majority of my life is centered on raising my son, and that will be reflected in my writing (as well as the time and energy I have available to actually sit down and write).

 

Even though I only blog about five times a month now (instead of five times a week), I still work very hard on each and every post, and I hope that I've managed to keep some of you entertained.

 

So without further ado, here are some of this year's highlights...

 

• I continued to write monthly update letters to Ryder for his first year.
• We celebrated all of Ryder's first major holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. I made sure to keep track of our holiday traditions so we can continue them in the future.
• We celebrated Stewart's 34th birthday, and threw a huge Cinco de Mayo fiesta for Ryder's first birthday.
• We watched tons of our good friends get married: Jillian and Robert, Brett and Haley, Amanda and Kevin, and Carolina and Eren.
• We took Ryder on his first airplane ride: A family vacation to Hawaii with my parents and little brother.
• Ryder went on his first camping trip at Mayfield Lake with a large group of family and friends.
• We closed out the summer with an Alway trip to Priest Lake.
• I went back to work following my four-month maternity leave, which was a bit of an adjustment, and I shared my secrets to pumping and working.
• We started the Seahawks football season with a bang, this time with our own little mascot in tow.
• A good friend took some amazing family photos for us when Ryder was four months old.
• I took a trip down memory lane and remembered how much fun dating in Seattle can be.
• We said goodbye to Liesbeth and Doug.
• I hosted a Bunco party with some friends.
• Ryder got to spend quality time bonding with his cousins.
• The Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl again! Sadly the outcome was not the same.
• We took Ryder on his first ski trip to White Pass, where he went snowshoeing and snowboarding.
• I invited other parents to guest post for Life As Always, and published some super insightful, heartfelt posts about fertility problems and imperfect parenting.
• I shared how to make a month's worth of freezer meals in a single day.
• Stew's English cousins came to stay for a few days, and we saw the sights in Seattle like proper tourists.
• We took Ryder to his first Sounders game and his first Mariners game. We've been grooming our little sports fan from birth...
• I wrote a letter to my future self, outlining all my hopes and dreams for life five years from now.
• I did some thinking about this blog, my writing process, and becoming a "mommy blogger".
• I also did a lot of personal reflecting on topics like the emotional rollercoaster of being a mother, hardships parents face, mommy guilt, what I really do while the baby is napping, and the reality of just how much I talk about poop.
• And I shared the secrets to our marriage.

 

This first year of being parents has been a wild ride, and it certainly hasn't been without challenges. To those of you who've continued to follow along on our journey, thank you — we're so glad you're here, and hope that you'll continue to follow along.

 

Here's to luck and love. We continue to look forward to what the future has in store.