year in review // 2014

I have heard more than one person lament that they cannot believe it is almost 2015. They say that 2014 went by in a flash, which seems strange to me because I feel like the year passed in exactly the right amount of time. I attribute this in part to the fact that nothing really terrible happened in 2014, so my experience of time was not distorted by stress. I also think it might have something to do with my working hard this past year to incorporate more liturgical and seasonal festivals into our lives. Orienting myself to the calendar in this way also made me more attentive to what was happening in the natural world, and allowed me to follow the course of the year organically. It was not too fast or too slow; it was just right. I’m looking forward to the year ahead.

One thing I have done consistently every year on my blog is to look back at my New Year’s Resolutions from the prior year and see whether or not I accomplished what I set out to do. So, here are last year’s goals, and my success or failure in accomplishing each of them:

// Read Some Classics. (This was my list: Middlemarch, by George Eliot; Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen; Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens; Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte; Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte; Emma, by Jane Austen; Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott; Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy; Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo; Sense & Sensibility, by Jane Austen.)

Umm…I didn’t read ANY of these books! I did read some great books, though, but I can’t give myself a check mark since I didn’t really accomplish what I set out to do. Maybe another year.

// Do the 52 Week Project — “A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2014”.

✓Doing the 52 Week Portrait Project was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. My blog grew, both in size, and quality, and readership, as a result of doing this. I had really bottomed out with my photography, but the 52 project got me going again, and then some. I can see a HUGE improvement in my photography over the course of the year, and making myself take portraits every week definitely helped in that regard. There are probably some weeks I wouldn’t have taken any pictures if it weren’t for this project. I still have two more posts to finish up, but I’m going to say I completed this because I know I will finish those soon. I plan to do it again in 2015.

// Take Some Classes.

Nope. I didn’t even finish the online class I mentioned in my resolution post from last year! Oh, well.

// Leave My Savings Alone.

✓I’m going to give myself a check mark here, even though I didn’t do quite what I planned. This past summer I decided it was time to really get our finances under control. We made a plan, which included paying off our credit cards, and putting money into savings every week (including money for the kids). This Christmas we were able to put expensive gifts on the credit cards and then pay them off before the end of the month. I feel like, for the first time since we’ve been married, we are actually financially stable. It feels great! High five past Damian and Kelli for looking out for your future selves!

// Write Lots of Snail Mail.

Sadly, I didn’t write as much as I wanted to. I always put this one on my list, though, so maybe 2015 will be my snail mail year. Please feel free to write me anytime: Kelli Wilson, PO Box 313, Walpole, NH 03608. I will definitely write back!

Other notable experiences of the past year: I turned 33; Zane started preschool; I made a bunch of cute peg dolls; I started a collaborative photo project with Tarah; I started going to church for the first time in years, which rekindled my spirituality; I joined the board of The Samaritans; I solved a genealogical mystery and in the process learned that my Copeland ancestors were free people of color (so I wrote a paper about it); Damian and I had all sorts of adventures on our almost-monthly dates; and, just as the year was drawing to a close, I got sick with the flu and then recovered.

I’ll be back in a couple of days with my Resolutions for 2015!