The thing is.

This year I became one of those people, you know the ones that don't update their blog constantly or don't have pretty pictures of things on Instagram, and the ones that definitely don't update Facebook on even a weekly basis (Pinterest on the other hand....). And you know what? I'm ok it. I used to be so consumed with this idea of things that I needed to do to show that I was living the married dream. Post pictures on Instagram of all my fabulous recipes and have the wittiest Facebook statuses, but not anymore. I would rather send a photo to my mom or my sister-in-laws and have real genuine interaction rather than hoping for a few likes on social media. I do, however, feel the need to reflect on the wonderful year 2013 was. I loved being twenty-two and all the fabulous things that came with that. I student taught and discovered that teaching was really what I wanted to do. Despite choosing a career path with certainty right out of high school teaching made me really nervous, but I loved it and I'm still loving it. I graduated and had a job right out of college.  Not many people can say that, and I feel extremely blessed. Being a first year teacher is like building an airplane while trying to fly it. It's not easy and it's busy, but it is so gratifyingly perfect. I come home exhausted, but it is the best kind of exhausted. There were losses this year too, both in death and diseases stripping away what our loved ones used to be. I don't know how I can ever get over the mystery of our bodies, their ability to heal or to not heal. It truly astounds me. With everything that this year was and wasn't I'm grateful. As we get older we begin to understand more about why people make decisions they do and I hope in many ways that helps us to better understand and love them. We understand our parents did their best and our conversations turn from "I'm never going to be like them" to "I hope I can do half as well as them". We are all navigating this life as best we can, we make mistakes, but mistakes are all about the learning. With each passing year I hope to become better, to understand more, and to judge less. Here's to twenty three. Let's make it a good one.