At the turn of the year, a lot of the focus is about shedding the pain of the previous year or looking to lose something in the year to come.

While I would love to lose some of my squish or get rid of some of the clutter that plagues my house, I want to look at all that I have gained in this last year.

The gains came in many different forms over the past year.

I gained a new role at work. I never thought when I started working at CC four years ago, that my path would have led me to being the Director of my office. I work with some amazing people, and I am in a position to do some great things for our students. While this new position has brought challenges, it has helped me grow in so many ways. I am grateful for the opportunity to do what I do. (Also being interim director was the pits, so when that became official last January, I gained some of my sanity back!)

I gained the experience of doing a flash mob with other directors, and I have to say it has been one of my highlights of my CC experience. Bucket list item done!

I gained a little boy who knows how to spell and write his name, all his letters, and can count to 20. George soaks up things like a sponge, and every moment listening to him gives me so much perspective. He gives me joy and keeps me humble all at the same time.

I gained new friends this year. As an adult and as a parent, finding time to invest in friendships can be difficult. I feel blessed with every moment that I had to create new relationships.

I also gained new memories with old friends. My best friend got married this year, and I was so honored to be standing beside her as she started a new chapter of her life.

We gained a new tradition of hosting 4th of July at our house. This is something that Tom has wanted since he was a kid, so to see this come to fruition this year was pretty spectacular. And so were the fireworks he put together!

I gained my husband back. 2017 brought us one of the biggest challenges, and we continued to see fallout into 2018. He was putting everything into his career, and he was just spinning in a toxic department that provided him no support. This year, he made the big move to a new department that allowed us more freedom as a family. We gained weekly lunch dates because of it, and we also did two kid-free weekends out of town. Not only that, but he is home every night, weekends and holidays. These are all moments we gained back this year to invest in our marriage and our family.

We gained a new Serta posturepedic mattress for $50. Tom happened to be in the right conversation at the right time, and a brand new mattress came to our house a few days later. We desperately needed this, and a 2018 miracle.

We gained another walker as Daphne took her first steps around her first birthday. Watching this calm little spirit become her own person who moves and grooves on her own has been such a joy. It’s a bittersweet gain for sure.

We gained a brood of hens. This is a fun new adventure that has changed up our routines, and the chickens brought a sense of wonder to our kids. We love knowing what is going into our eggs. It will be fun to see what happens as the kids get older with their responsibilities of helping with the coup.

I gained ownership of my body again. After being pregnant and breastfeeding for the better part of 2 years, it was nice to just sustain myself with my body. But with this, I gained a new appreciation for what my body and my mind are capable of since breastfeeding with my job was no easy feat.

I have gained more memories with my family. We have had so many laughs and good moments this year that are worth celebrating even if they are very mundane. From watching my kids play on our new playground to making forts in our living room to parades downtown to Royals games to family vacation to Branson, these moments are what made the year.

I gain so much every day with these two.

All in all, I have gained a lot this year. These gains are helping me walk into 2019 stronger, with more confidence, and more motivated. I can’t wait to see what gains I take on these next year.