37 Things

I've long admired my friend, Roseanna, for her yearly blog posts listing her age and the number of things from the past year that she's learned, discovered, rejoiced in, or lamented. The practice of it all is something I find deeply moving, and I rather enjoy reading about it...so, I figured, at least my mom will read this blog post (right, mom??? Right???)

Without further ado, my 37 things that shaped me this past year. 

1. THE PIVOT

I wasn't planning on pivoting my business this past year. It just kinda...happened. And honestly, I've never felt so creative. If you don't remember that email, here's a link.

2. Awakened by Roseanna M. White

What began as a "hey, could I try something?" turned into hero art for the aforementioned Roseanna's debut romantic fantasy (fantasy/romance) novel. I learned (and am still learning) how to paint digitally and find it immensely rewarding. Book link

3. Second Grade

My two oldest boys, Jack and Jim, started second grade this year, and I am SO, so grateful for their second-grade teacher. We decided to keep them in the same class again this year and so far…I think it's fine? We'll find out next week during parent-teacher conferences. Their teacher is the sweetest and so gentle. We are so, so happy for them.

4. A New Couch

I have been scouring Facebook Marketplace for a new couch for a while. Of course, there were a few missed opportunities along the way, and we didn't need a new couch…I just wanted more space for us to lounge, as our old couch (which now lives in our playroom) had gotten a tad snug with all five of us on there. I would take a picture, but my house is far from Pinterest-worthy at the moment. Just imagine a big sectional with me curled up in the corner.

5. Le Dentist Woes

We had a first in our family this past year: anesthesia at the dentist. My youngest unfortunately inherited my teeth and was a tad, shall we delicately say, reluctant to any type of alternative interventions to help her be more at ease at the dentist. PTL for my sweet friend who mentioned her dentist up in The Woodlands. Evie's teeth are better, and we even made it out of there without crowns. Win!

6. Bullet Journals

A writing friend back at the end of December shared her bullet journal she was prepping for the new year. In a fit of ADHD-this-next-journal-will-change-my-life inspiration, I grabbed one from my new favorite store: Little Craft Place. It's a bullet journal with a pretty leather cover and fine pages that my pen glides across like buttah. While I may have skipped most of September for charting (because that's something you do in bullet journals), it has been such a joy to use.

7. Mambo Italiano

The big Christmas gift (honestly, probably of a lifetime) last December from my husband's grandparents was a trip to Italy for our whole family. I'm humbled and so, so grateful for their generosity and joy in giving. My husband, our three kids (7, 7, and 4 at the time), and I all flew to Italy over Easter break and stayed in Europe for about two weeks. More on that….

8. The David

I recently watched a video where an artist described the impact of seeing art in real life and what it does to change you. We typically peer at art for about five seconds before moving on (in the past we were closer to a minute and a half, but that's another bag of cats to unpack). And yet, people can still recall how they felt when they first saw great works of art. Our first outing in Italy was to Florence to see The David. I cried. David was more breathtaking and magnificent than I could have ever imagined. And the "Prisoners" of Michelangelo's unfinished works that led up to the David—chilling and amazing.

9. International Cousins

One of the best parts of Italy was the big house our entire extended family stayed in. We were tucked up on the third floor (insert sweating emoji) with the other family with young kids. It was so, SO special seeing their friendship. Evie particularly loved having a girl to play with for a whole week. (Evelyn is the only girl grandchild/niece on my side of the family.) We don't get to see that side of the family often as they live in Southeast Asia and it was just so fun.

10. Poetry

My dear friend asked me to help her with the cover for her first published book of poetry. We modeled the design after something our late friend Bridget might choose for herself. It was humbling and incredibly rewarding. You can buy it here:  Poems of a Burned Out Toddler Mom

11. Restaurant Regulars

This might seem like a silly thing to enjoy, but we are now regulars at our favorite Tex-Mex place…so much so, our favorite waiter left for a few months and came back, and we were all so happy to see one another again. Lol. It's great.

12. Audiobooks

This past year was the year of audiobooks. I spend at least three hours in the car every day with carpool lines and going back and forth. I will never besmirch audiobooks ever again.

My favorite audiobook: Red Rising. (I listened to this a while ago, but it still lives on in memory.) The narrator is Irish, and it WORKS. 

13. Snickerdoodles

These are my favorite cookies. My son, Jack, loves them as well. However, I had an awful batch a few weeks ago and we all just had to laugh….word of caution: don't use margarine. Only real butter. If you have tried a true recipe you'd be inclinced to share....I am all ears. 

14. The Flu

My family finally succumbed to the flu this past spring. My poor Jack was out quite a bit and we were rather….worried because we were already going to miss a few days of school with our upcoming trip to Europe. I think we sneaked by with enough cumulative days at the end of the year, but we were definitely telling our kids to let the nurse send them home if they were actually sick by the end of it….parenting win.

15. Hogwarts Legacy

My brother-in-law graciously lent us his PS5 that he only uses when he's in Houston (he lives in CA…and he's single….I'm taking applications for sisters-in-law). I began playing this silly video game, and it became something our entire family enjoyed doing together. We all had a good laugh when I handed the controller to Jack one day, and he was like a fish in water. Me however….I was that person jumping in a corner for a very long time with no idea how to turn around. I am still not a gamer, le sigh.

16. Book Collecting

I subscribed to a book box two years ago and they just kinda accumulate….next thing I knew, I had a bookshelf full of very pretty books. It's a hobby I've come to rather enjoy and probably a big reason for my business pivot: collect and do what brings you joy. Pretty books absolutely bring me joy.

17. Seasonal Cat

Josh and I got our cat a few months into our marriage. We joke that we're surprised she's lasted this long, but Gertrude runs on fear of loud noises and spite. Every fall, she transforms into this bold outdoor cat that insists on the back door being open at all times. Then in the winter, she is suddenly a cuddly cat who tolerates me and adores my husband. But when late spring comes and summer arrives, she hibernates (like most Houstonians.) We're currently experiencing our Autumnal Gertrude.

18. Paint Colors

Anyone else live with paint samples perpetually on their walls? I do. Perhaps it's my ADHD and decision paralysis, but we currently have paint samples all in our utility room and dining nook. This week's winner: Farrow and Ball Vert De Terre. I'm glad our collective design style is moving away from stark white, black, and grey. Give me that granny-millennial transitional style! I feel like Norah Ephron is breathing a sigh of relief somewhere.

19. Bible Study Fellowship

For the last eight years, I've been a part of Bible Study Fellowship. It's an ecumenical Bible study that meets all over the world. The last three years (give or take) I've been a leader. This year, I decided to take a step back but I feel like I need to highlight my co-leader from last year. She made teaching our squirrely six through eight-year-olds the book of Revelation a delight. I am so grateful we had a chance to lead together.

20. Shoe Shelf in the Laundry Room

Why on earth is Caroline pivoting to this? Well, it's a simple upgrade, but it has made such a difference in our home. We went from three shelves to five for all the many shoes that come with kids and life. I'm kicking myself I waited this long.

21. My Favorite Candle Returned to Bath and Body Works!

There is one and only one scent from there that I like, and for the last two years…it's been absent. But it returned this year! It smells like fall to me. It seems to have sold out, but a Reddit rumor says Goosecreek's Cook Harvest Morning is an exact dupe. 

22. More Candles

I could write an ode to my two favorite candles: Slytherin from Homesick and Mahomes for the Holidays by Pickwick & Co. They are perfection in a glass jar with wax.

Pickwick & Co. is a Kansas City-based candlemaker. I was first introduced to them by my mom, who adores a KC store called Nelle Hills. If you're ever up there, you should visit. I got the chance a few years ago, and it was lovely. I purchase Mahomes for the Holidays every year. I also really like their other candles. (My mom's favorite is Screened Porch.) 

23. Writing Community

I dabble in writing and have joined a few writing groups over the years. They have been delightfully rewarding in unexpected ways. One such reward has been my dear internet bestie, Sara. She's from Denmark, but has lived in the States for over twenty years with her kids. It's one of the times the internet was a force of good instead of harm. Grateful for those groups. (And no, you will never see or read my writing. This is just for me.)

24. Writing Contest

Actually, that last line isn't 100% true. I entered my first writing contest this last year. I did not win, but the exercise was amazing.

25. Bike Riding

Jim and Jack learned how to ride a bike. We now take walks with bike riders and it's wonderful. I'm hoping for Christmas this year, I can get Josh and I some bikes so we can join them.

26. Heimdallr Dice

My husband owns his own polyhedral dice company (aka: DnD dice). If you didn't see my Instagram story the other day, he had sixty-four boxes (roughly 4,500 sets of dice) delivered to our home. He just launched the new dice yesterday! They are very pretty.

27. New Website (and the Woes)

I switched website hosts/providers this year, and it's been…a lesson in patience. It's still not there, but we're going to have to deal with this for this year until I have more time to really work on it. It's hard because I feel woefully out of my depth, and at the same time, I know I can do it. Do you ever feel that way? The chasm of your skills is just shy enough that you cannot make the leap.

28. Paris

On the last leg of our Italy trip, we flew into Paris to meet up with my brothers-in-law. The twins got to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame…but the big highlight they would say was Disneyland Paris. (Note: Disneyland CA is better, in my opinion). My favorite part was visiting a patisserie and then going to a local park while the kids ate their chocolates and we sipped our coffee.

29. International Living Dreams

After our trip, we had serious talks about what it would look like to live internationally for a year. My writing bestie Sara was very pro these musings, wishing they'd been able to do the same for their kids. It also led to some very interesting conversations about the loneliness you feel living in another country that is not your own. Josh had similar sentiments as he grew up in SE Asia from the age of eight till he graduated high school and went to Baylor. We're not ready to pack things up just yet (re: the twins' amazing second-grade teacher and Evie's amazing pre-K four teacher), but the dream still lingers. Where would you want to live for a year if you could?

30. Destin, FL

Since the twins were born, we've traveled to Destin each year to vacation with my husband's California side of the family. We joke that it's the exact same trip each year: same place, restaurants, beach, schedule…but this year, it was a new kind of special: the kids are older. We let them go downstairs to the hotel's arcade by themselves. Evie enjoyed the water. We tried new restaurants! I don't know how many more years we'll get to do this trip with his grandparents, but they are a treasure that will stay with us forever.

31. Reading

Last year was the first year in a long time I didn't do my end of the year summary. I forget why, but it was nice when I had someone ask about it. It seems people like traditions! It will be back again this year, but to appease my audience of uno, some books that will make the list this year are:  

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center (clean, contemporary romance. Honestly, this was the year of Katherine Center for me. I read/listened to almost all her available books lol.)

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater  I somehow missed out on this series during high school and am catching up. Maggie has such a melodic, captivating way of writing. I was blown away. 

32. 100 Down to 75

Last year I read over one hundred books. It was…too much for this season. I lowered my number to 75 for this year's goal and included audiobooks in that number, which has lessened the load. Why that many? Because I adore reading. People spend all of Saturday golfing… why can't I find a cozy spot to read?

33. They Are Like Me!

Speaking of reading, this last month (coming in under the wire here to make the list) one of my twins fell in love with reading. I did the inward happy dance while trying to appear chill on the outside. My kids, if you didn't know, look like my husband…blond hair, blue/green eyes, fair complexion…like. Did they even come from me??? Kidding. They did, but the sentiment remains.

34. Neurodivergency

This is still a tender subject for me, so I'll only alight on it for a bit, but this year was a year of diagnosis and discovery. And with that "label" comes a bit of grief for the things that could have been easier had this been acknowledged earlier, but also the joy of…wow, God made me…me: for His goodness and glory. And there are so many graces I can give myself now that I thought were flaws or shames…they're simply little shifts cloaked in grace.

35. Patrons and Peers

I'm a part of a book club that's hosted by an author. It's part a means to support her ministry of writing, but also for community.  I've been part of this group, Patrons and Peers, for three years now. It has been an indelible mark of goodness in my life. These ladies of all ages and places have become dear friends. I'm getting to meet many of them for the second time, or for the first time, this November in Colorado Springs. One of my favorite members (you're all my favorites) has a daughter who owns a dance company. She adapted one of Roseanna's books for a Christmas ballet. Many of us are flying out to attend and fellowship. I'm so excited.

36. Book Exchanges

I'm still dabbling on how to do this again, but last year was my first time trying my hand at hosting a book exchange party. Each person brought a wrapped book, and we selected them white-elephant style. It was so fun, and I hope to do it again.

37. Watching My Family Grow

A few things over this last year that I've noticed that are worth highlighting:

• Evelyn's singing. She loves to sing. We often hear her narrate whatever she's doing in song and just stand outside her door to listen. I love little girls.
• Jim's coloring. He is devoted to this notebook of his and the coloring of every single page. It's quirky, and some of the pictures are out there, but it's so him. He is also our musically inclined son. He hears a song and has the words memorized. Honestly…I don't know who he got this from, but it's really neat. Next on the list is piano lessons because I think he'd really enjoy them.
• Jack's goals. We laugh that our boys are each of us in different ways. Jack is very much like my husband in his goal-setting. This year, he wants to save $100 and has been faithfully forgoing the dollar section at Target and other things to reach this goal. Jack is our reader, and my favorite time with him is sitting on the couch, side by side, reading.

Thank you for reading, and here's to another year of goodness, challenges, and all the wonderful in between. 

-Caroline