Happy New Year!
We’ve been having a quiet, cozy weekend around here, ringing in the New Year with just our little family of four. Today was a very ordinary day. The kids played with magnet tiles and cars with a break only for going sledding in the afternoon before diving right back in. I went grocery shopping, cooked meals, scrolled social media, thought about reading a book, and worked with my husband to finally hang the frames for the gallery wall in my office I’ve been dreaming about the last two years.
I’m not much of a New Year’s Resolution person, but I do like to reflect on the year behind me and think about the year ahead. We fit in a lot of ordinary living in the last twelve months. One day stacked upon another, many moving by without anything remarkable to note. So, rather than sharing a highlight reel of the best, most interesting moments of 2022, I thought I’d share a list of ordinary (mostly boring) happenings from my year.
Planted a hydrangea bush in our front garden and the deer ate every bud before it could blossom. I’m really hoping for flowers in 2023.
Managed to evade Covid for two years, but it finally caught me (and the rest of the fam) this spring. In the fall, our household was hit with RSV and Influenza. We’re fine now, but tired of getting sick!
Finally bought a new-to-us clock for our living room—the last one stopped working in March 2020. (How’s that for a good metaphor for life the last two years!)
Went to my cousin’s wedding at a farm in eastern Wisconsin. It was the longest road trip we’ve ever done with the kids (over 5 hours plus stops).
Rewatched the entire series of Gilmore Girls (not my first rewatch!)
Read eight books. Yup. Pretty sure it was just eight. (Not counting children’s books!)
My oldest child started kindergarten and we began navigating a new routine, educational community, and all the ups and downs of that transition.
Took a watercolor painting class and learned the basics of creating foggy backgrounds.
Started a book club that hasn’t manage to meet yet. (We’re finally meeting on Monday, fingers crossed!)
Celebrated 10 years at my company. Yes, this is a significant milestone. But work is a very ordinary part of my daily life. I’d be remiss not to include it!
Hosted a few backyard bonfires with neighbors and friends and finally made a significant dent in our huge brush pile.
Grew a lot of tomatoes and made several jars of spaghetti sauce to enjoy all winter.
Every night before bed, I started the dishwasher. And every morning while I made breakfast, I emptied it. Every day.
I’m really thankful for this fairly slow, uninteresting year. I tend to set goals and intentions more around my birthday, which is in the summer. But as I look forward to 2023, I want to pay attention to more beauty, to slow down and savor ordinary life, and to be more fully myself in the life I’m living right now. I’m looking forward to sharing bits and pieces of that here with you. I’m so thankful you’ve chosen to join me here!
Speaking of finding beauty in the ordinary, please go read this stunning poem by Maggie Smith, published at Blue Flower Arts, 2019. Also published in Maggie Smith’s book Goldenrod, 2021: Poem Beginning with a Retweet. This is how I want to encounter the world—earnest, full of wonder, and fully present to beauty all around.
Happy New Year! Cheers to ordinary moments—the good, the hard, and the boring.
—NK
An Ordinary Year
Wonderful. I especially love this quote and the idea that I will apply in my life:
This is how I want to encounter the world—earnest, full of wonder, and fully present to beauty all around.