2018 Thoughts- 2019 Plans

Several days into 2019 and I am still over here in Christmas jammies. I cannot snap out of holiday mode but I am trying to get my butt in gear. I want to share my 2018 thoughts and 2019 plans with you guys for a few reasons. First- sharing my goals will help hold me accountable to keeping them. Second- I want to bring you all more personal/raw posts this year so I thought this was a good place to start.

2018 Thoughts

2018 was overall a great year. I started the year out very pregnant and ended the year with 2 little precious boys. I made the pivotal decision not to return to my job and become a SAHM ultimately starting my momprenuer journey. I stepped out of my comfort zone in so many ways ya’ll.

Deciding to stay home with my boys was not an easy decision. Putting myself out there and really giving the blogging a full go is still a challenge but I am so glad I did it. Many of you know this is not my first rodeo with blogging. I had a newlywed blog for a few years when I first got married but I put like ZERO time into it and had no clue what I was doing. I have learned and grown so much as a blogger in 2018 from working with brands to finally settling into a comfortable niche. I found an amazing outlet in this Mom blogger community, something I truly needed as I navigated the waters of being home full-time.

I started a small shop named after my boys Ash and Dec Homegoods to exercise my passion for creating home decor. While it is certainly not where I want it to be right now (mainly because I haven’t given it the time it needs), I am learning so much as a small business owner and creator. Decorating our home and helping others add beauty to their spaces with my little projects is another creative outlet for me, like blogging. It is important for us mamas to still have things that we are passionate about.

I got my real estate license in 2018 and started working as an relocation specialist “extremely” part-time. This served as a great learning ground for me as I figured out what direction I wanted to go with real estate. It was also another avenue for me to contribute a little financially.

2018 brought our family a lot of changes and I have to say, we are blessed. At the same time, I struggled a lot with all the adjustments. Going from corporate America to SAHM was tough. I often felt isolated and overwhelmed. Finding a balance and living off of just one income was also difficult because I had to make a lot of cutbacks. My husband had to work longer hours in order to support us and I missed him terribly. Many days I felt like a single mom because of his schedule. I questioned myself so many times but I know this is where God has called me to be in this season.

Also, self-care was almost nonexistent. I did not focus on myself because I was honestly in survival mode most of the time. Two little guys under two all day, every day took it out of me! Nursing around the clock and sleep deprivation, I survived the year solely off coffee and Jesus. Between the boys and attempting to run a blog/small shop/real estate, there was not much time left for me. And add trying to be a decent wife in there….. I have a migraine just thinking about how overwhelmed I was during certain parts of the year.

All in all though, God worked through me in many ways. I learned a lot about myself and how to be truly selfless. I learned how difficult it is to be a SAHM. This is by far the most difficult job I’ve ever had. I’m on call 24/7 without any breaks or vacation time. I can’t even get a 5 minute bathroom break!!! A thankless job with no pay as they say haha. At the same time, this is my dream job and exactly what I prayed for.

2019 Plans

If you survived my recap of 2018, thanks for sticking around lol. So let’s dive into what I have in store for 2019 in terms of plans and goals.

Motherhood

I want to be present and in the moment more with my boys. With being a blogger, I am on my phone a lot more than I want to be in order to keep up with everything. This takes little moments away from my kiddos so I want to have a better balance of this somehow this year. As a SAHM without any help, this is going to be tough to do while still trying to grow my blog presence so I have to get creative with my time. I try completely unplugging from the blogging gig on the weekends so I think that is something I will take into 2019 and stick to in order to get that balance.

Wife

Find a regular babysitter so we can get a ‘consistent’ date night on the calendar haha. It is extremely important to me to still date my spouse and with him working so much, I am going to have to kick start executing this. We are partners so I don’t mind 🙂

Blog

I asked on my Instagram recently what kind of content you all wanted to see from me this year and it was unanimous for mamahood and more of my everyday life so I want to bring more of that this year. I also have a goal to bring more personal/raw posts to the blog and post here more consistently. These blogging goals will take me out of my comfort zone for sure because I HATE being in front of the camera. I also have always been shy when it comes to talking about myself haha. BUT look out ’cause here I come. And I’m marching on to the beat I drum. I’m not scared to be seen. I make no apologies, THIS IS ME 🙂 – Keala Settle This is me lyrics from The Greatest Showman).

Personal

I want to make sure I am giving some of my time everyday to God. Devotionals, the Bible, reference books, worship…. however I get it in as long as time goes back to Him everyday.

Also, it has always been important to me to be a giving person and I want to make sure that continues to be a priority in 2019. Whether it be giving my time, talent, or treasure (money) I want this to always be a focus for my family.

Self- care has to be a priority for me this year. I wear so many hats that I am always last in the list. I want to do something for myself every month of 2019. Something that involves just me- no hubby, no babies for 2-3 hours a month. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, right?! I have learned that I cannot be the best wife and mom if I don’t take care of me too.

Professional

So I have this real estate license I worked really hard to get that I am barely utilizing. Why you ask? Well I’ll tell you. I’ve been a little scared. The market is saturated and very competitive here. The real estate business is expensive so you have to spend a lot of money before you ever make any so I feel guilty putting more financial responsibility on our one income if I fail. Lastly, I stay home with our boys full-time without any extra help so it gets tough to balance all these responsibilities.

BUT this year- my goal is to actually join a firm and give this realtor thing a real shot. Still trying to figure out a childcare situation for a couple of hours 2-3 days a week so I can actually market, network, and show properties but I’m going to try and figure it all out. Hopefully I can balance everything!

The main reason I got my real estate license in the first place is because I love real estate but also because of the flexibility. It is a career/business that runs on my time so I can still focus on my kids full-time. They are my main priority. Once they are both in school full time, it is my hope I actually have a decent thing going with real estate and I will have more time while they are in school to put more into it. Got to start somewhere though!

To wrap up this very long winded post, IF I had to give my 2019 goals two words, those words would be presence and grace. In everything I do for this upcoming year, I want to be truly present. Present over perfect. If you haven’t read that book by the way, I highly recommend it! Anyway, I digress:) Back to what I was saying. Above everything, I want to give myself grace. Grace in knowing I will not be the perfect wife. Or the perfect mom. Or the perfect blogger. Or the perfect business owner. Or the perfect real estate agent. And that as long as I’m giving it all I have, that it is enough.

Thanks for following along in my journey. Whether it is here on the blog or through the tiny squares of Instagram, I’m so glad you are here. I wish you nothing but good vibes in 2019! I would love to hear one of your goals for the new year- share in the comments if you will 🙂

Cheers!