I know I said I wasn’t going to post this week, but I thought I would share a few thoughts about our day. We spent our actual anniversary with a few of our closest friends at our annual New Year’s Eve party (which we may still be recovering from). But this weekend, we were able to actually spend some quality time together. It is very important to spend quality time together as you read in “The 5 Love Languages“.

After the wedding, we put a bottle of wine, our vows, the shower cards, and the wedding cards into a wooden box we received from my uncle. We determined we would open it on our first anniversary and drink the bottle of wine.

After our friends left, and we got the house back into some kind of order, we decided to have a nice anniversary dinner and open our box. It was a wonderful evening. We had stone crabs and a bottle of our wedding wine which was Witching Hour. We read the cards all over again, which were so pretty and sweet. In the end, we read our vows to each other again. Saying and hearing them again made us both a bit tearful.

Although it was a nice, simple evening, it was very meaningful. We took the time to just sit with each other and remember what a wonderful day our wedding was and how we are so blessed by amazing friends and family members. We can’t thank you enough for being a part of our day. Here’s to a fresh start and a brand new year. Let’s make some more memories!

Now, what to put in the box for next year?!!

Since we met in 2017, Jeff and I have had an annual New Year’s Eve Party. The first one we had, we had only been dating for a few months but it was about the time we fell in love. I didn’t know many people at the party, but I was excited to meet his friends. The second year, Gram and I had moved to Florida for the winter so I was getting to know more people. We had a few of our mutual friends then one of mine came over with one of his from Lauderdale. It ended up being a small party but still lasted into the morning hours. The next day, we took our house guests out on a boat ride. It was so much fun, and I was so happy to be living in Florida for the winter. And I loved being on the boat on New Year’s Day.

The third New Year’s Eve party (2019) ended up being our wedding. We decided to get married at 8:30 am because the sun rises behind our house, and we wanted to get married on our new dock. We were surrounded by family, friends, and the most amazing weather. I could not have asked for a more perfect day or a more perfect man for me.

After the ceremony, we had a brunch reception around our pool catered by Lena and Chris from Global Event Marketplace. By noon, most of the guests had left, but a few out-of-towners stayed and relaxed by the pool for the afternoon. That evening we had our annual New Year’s Eve party/evening reception. There was plenty of singing, dancing, and laughing.

I can’t believe it’s been almost one year. Even though 2020 has been a bit challenging, we have had a great time being married. We continue to incorporate The 5 Love Languages into our relationship, and we had an awesome time celebrating our monthaversary in a different state every month until Covid-19 hit and traveling came to a brief halt. We went skiing in Park City and Steamboat Springs in January. Then in February, we went to Las Vegas to celebrate our cousin’s 50^th birthday. In March, we were in Virginia to see the family.  In April and May, we stayed in Florida but got dive certified as you read in “Break from Gram” and experienced another world underwater.

In June, we made our annual trek from Florida through Virginia to Pennsylvania to Gram’s house, aka our summer home. We did a lot of outdoor activities such as kayaking, bonfires, and go-cart racing with our friends, and maybe a few craft beers from some of our amazing local breweries.

Over the summer, Jeff’s boys, sister, and niece came to visit us for a few days. We showed them our country lifestyle but also drove them to Cleveland to tour the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Even though a few displays were shut down because of Covid, it was still a really awesome experience.

In the fall, we traveled back down to Florida via Virginia. Florida welcomed us with open arms as we fell right back into boating and our Florida way of life. Throughout the year, we had a few scary moments with Gram, but together we pushed through.

All in all, I must say it’s been a wonderful first year of marriage. Although we haven’t gone on an official honeymoon yet, we went to several new places and went on some amazing adventures together. This man has been my rock and my support. He always knows what I need and checks on me when he knows I am getting frustrated or overwhelmed.

I know they say opposites attract and there are definitely things we disagree on, but for the most part, I think he is the male version of myself. And I couldn’t have asked for anything better. We both are willing to help each other out. We don’t keep score of who did what or who made dinner or did the dishes. We both see things that need done and do them. We also are both up for any adventure, and although it is has been slightly limited in 2020, we made the best of it. I can’t wait to celebrate with him on New Year’s Eve and to see what the future has in store for us.

So as New Year Eve approaches and our anniversary nears, I want to say thank you for your loyalty and support as my blog is four months old! Don’t forget to comment and share on social media. Also, as you reflect on the past year, try this exercise below to put things in perspective as Tim Ferris suggests in his “5 Bullet Fridays“. Cherish your family and friends and don’t wait until the time is right. Live life to the fullest always.

Well, friends, it’s time to focus on my hubby and get ready for our annual New Year Eve gathering.  Therefore, Tuesday and Friday posts may be missing in the next week or two. Weekly Wednesday Workouts will continue as scheduled. Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

Last year, around this time, many of you found the text below helpful. I am including it again, as this what I do every year. Have a wonderful NYE!

I’m often asked about how I approach New Year’s resolutions. The truth is that I no longer approach them at all, even though I did for decades. Why the change? I have found “past year reviews” (PYR) more informed, valuable, and actionable than half-blindly looking forward with broad resolutions. I did my first PYR after a mentor’s young daughter died of cancer on December 31st, roughly eight years ago, and I’ve done it every year since. It takes 30-60 minutes and looks like this:

1. Grab a notepad and create two columns: POSITIVE and NEGATIVE.
2. Go through your calendar from the last year, looking at every week.
3. For each week, jot down on the pad any people or activities or commitments that triggered peak positive or negative emotions for that month. Put them in their respective columns.
4. Once you’ve gone through the past year, look at your notepad list and ask, “What 20% of each column produced the most reliable or powerful peaks?”
5. Based on the answers, take your “positive” leaders and schedule more of them in the new year. Get them on the calendar now! Book things with friends and prepay for activities/events/commitments that you know work. It’s not real until it’s in the calendar. That’s step one. Step two is to take your “negative” leaders, put “NOT-TO-DO LIST” at the top, and put them somewhere you can see them each morning for the first few weeks of 2021. These are the people and things you *know* make you miserable, so don’t put them on your calendar out of obligation, guilt, FOMO, or other nonsense.

That’s it! If you try it, let me know how it goes.

And just remember: it’s not enough to remove the negative. That simply creates a void. Get the positive things on the calendar ASAP, lest they get crowded out by the bullshit and noise that will otherwise fill your days. Good luck and godspeed!