Well friends, 2017 is off to a pretty strong start thus far. Bo and I enjoyed a thoroughly relaxing staycation in Brooklyn which included two seasons of House of Cards, reading, writing thank you notes, a few great workouts, lots of cooking and even more sleep. I’m starting off this short, four day work week feeling refreshed and ready to conquer both my work and personal to-do lists.
As I spent time reflecting on 2016 and looking forward to 2017, I tried to think about what I want out of this year. This year is going to be one of great change, as we plan to welcome Baby Girl Diamond into our home in mid-June. I know that the next few months will quickly become a whirlwind between work, travel, preparing our home for her arrival and finally becoming a family of three.
Keeping these things in mind, as well as everything I learned last year, my word or focus for the year is CONNECTED.
Clearly this is not everyone who I want to build a deeper connection with in 2017. In fact, I realized that I took WAY too few pictures this year and can barely find pictures of some of my dearest friends and family.
Family & Friends – I want to focus on growing closer and more connected to the people who bring me joy and letting go of others. Over the years, during multiple moves and life changes, I have worked tirelessly to keep every friendship strong when in reality, part of life is people flowing in and out of your life. Instead of forcing relationships which may naturally ebb and flow, I am focusing on staying connected and deepening my relationship with the people who made me happiest during 2016. I started doing this already this year by scheduling more intimate dates with friends versus only seeing them in larger group settings. In regards to family, these relationships can be complicated. Luckily, during 2016, I was able to build my relationship with my immediate family (mother, brother and father) last year and look forward to continuing to stay connected with them in an even more meaningful way this year. Since we live such different lives and so far apart, it was sometimes intimidating to stay connected but I’ve found – similar to some of my closest long distance friends, daily text messages and weekly phone calls go a long way.
Body – During my first trimester, I took things very easy, focusing on prenatal classes. While this was the right thing to do at that time, especially considering the fears I had during the first trimester of losing the baby, now that I am in week 16, I am trying to be better connected to my body’s needs. Over the past three days, I have felt more alive and energized than I have in weeks and I believe part of this is due to listening to what my body wants. My body has been craving sweat and cardio workouts versus the gentle workouts of the first trimester. This goal of being connected goes beyond workouts to food and rest. Some days, that may mean a homemade lasagna followed by hot chocolate and other days that may be a long walk/jog and acai bowl. Pregnancy has forced me to listen and I want to continue doing this throughout the next five months as well as post baby.
