2019: My Year in Review.

The new year (and decade) has arrived and I've been neglecting my annual reflection on the year that was and my intentions for the year ahead. Time to play a little catch up. Happy 2020. I'm tempted to skip my recap of 2019 and dive right into 2020. However, I haven't invested enough time into knowing what I want 2020 to be about - my goals, resolutions, intentions, etc. And I refuse to write something down just for the sake of writing something down. I'm headed to Iowa for a LeaderShape session one week from today and am hopeful the time away will provide some clarity on where I want and hope 2020 will take me.

So for now, it's a reflection on the past, on what was. Though I don't update the blog as frequently as I did many moons ago, one of the things I appreciate most about the blog is my annual look back at the past year (2018, 2017, 2016, to name a few). I kicked off 2019 with a sober start to the year (sober January) and an intention to let COURAGE be my guide throughout the year. Here's a recap on my 2019 intentions.

So which of those goals did I actually achieve?

• I read 12 books. My favorites being Little Fires Everywhere, Where the Crawdads Sing, and The Great Believers.
• I successfully went the entire month of January without alcohol. It was challenging, sure, but it wasn't insurmountable. I've heard people say you feel so much better when you don't drink. To be honest, I didn't notice much difference, but I'm not a heavy drinker to begin with.
• I bought a new dining room set and L-O-V-E it. Thanks Pier One for the table and West Elm for the chairs.
• I completed six transactions in real estate with 5 leases and 1 sale. Though I didn't hit my target financial goal for the year, I did surpass my 2018 earnings with more clients in 2019 so that feels like a win. 
• I left a career in higher education and charted a new course in Org Development/Talent Management with a local healthcare system. I think that covers "advance professionally".

And the ones I didn't?

• HCM Certification through UNO - I did register for the program and planned to start it but then the new job came and the program no longer seemed relevant (for the moment). 
• Stop biting my nails and invest in manicures. Old habits die hard.
• A true vacation. I dreamed of one! Does that count? Travel in 2019 did take me to the beautiful and FREEZING COLD Ohio for a LeaderShape session with Bowling Green, a weekend in Pittsburgh and Memphis, a scheduled extended weekend to Seattle that I had to cancel, and a weekend in San Antonio. The new job threw a wrench in planning a long vacation but the good news is I'm carrying over about two weeks of vacation into 2020, and we've already got a family trip planned to Jackson Hole in June. Hello, vacation!

There were several memorable moments in 2019. Serving as Captain for our kickball team in the spring and taking home several prizes, accepting and starting my new job, celebrating my Dad's 70th birthday, certification in Total SDI, and Mardi Gras, PRIDE, and the annual HRC dinner top the list. 

2019 will always be memorable, though not in a positive way, as the year I broke my ankle. The year I stupidly decided to slide into 3rd base during a kickball scrimmage learning (a) I'm not invincible (b) I never learned how to slide properly and not sure why I thought in the moment it would be a good look for me (c) injuries are SCARY and life changing (sometimes just temporarily) and you can't go through it alone and (d) navigating medical expenses and insurance claims are a BEAST. I had hoped to start 2020 leaving all of this in 2019 but continued physical therapy for the next few months means the #gritandgrace road to recovery continues. 

Courage showed up in many ways throughout 2019. Definitely professionally as I left the comfort of a career and job that I knew would always be safe. Personally as I navigated a broken ankle, recovery, an inability to drive for 10 weeks, and the courage to ask (and keep asking) for help. And through dating. I started 2019 with a first date that led to a relationship with a wonderful man. We weren't ultimately right for each other but I'm grateful he's now part of my story. I swung for the fences admitting to a friend I had fallen for him and navigated that rejection. I drove to Memphis to meet a man I met online wondering if our connection in person would match our connection online. Another terrific human I'm grateful 2019 brought my way and feel blessed by his friendship. And just when I had told myself that (thanks to my ankle injury) I'd be ending 2019 single and needing to make a plan for getting back out there in 2020, I met T just after Halloween and it's becoming something special. Thump Thump. 

I ended 2019 with gratitude. The wins and the losses taught me that life will never be perfect, always be messy, and that life can and will surprise you. Here's to 2020!