2017 Challenged me in many ways both personally and professionally. While I didn’t mention many of my personal challenges on here last year – I was in the thick of it.
Winter & Spring 2017
January started off well as we hosted an art party in our small house for Emma’s 9th birthday. 20+ kids all learned how to paint their own beautiful horse and got to take it home with them.
We also had lots of snow in January, which made for a few fun snow days at home with the kids.
In February we all snuck off for a long weekend to at the coast, where we had some much-needed down time with each other.
Then, in February our world’s all changed as my dear friend’s brother who was also my Sister’s significant other, passed away very unexpectedly. In a whirlwind series of events my sister ended up moving in with me for 6 months so she could get back on her feet. My father also came and stayed with us for a month to help my Sister cope. There was a lot of other things that happened in those 6 months as well – including surgery and other health related issues for my Sister. While I remained physically healthy, I know last year did take a toll on me.
In April I celebrated a big milestone – 5 years of blogging. It doesn’t really seem possible that I’ve been at this for over 5 years now, and yet I also can’t imagine a time where I didn’t do this.
We also took a quick weekend camping trip around that time with the kids and my Sister – as I attempted to bring some normalcy and peace into our lives. I also had the opportunity to take a little break from the real world as I attended the Travel and Words Conference which was held in Salem, Oregon, and attended a 2 night trip traveling around Salem – learning about different wineries, activities, and more.
Summer & Fall 2017
Summer soon came and we stayed busy with soccer, softball, baseball, and the Yamhill County Fair. Another very exciting thing happened as well: I had the opportunity to create a recipe for Reser’s Fine Foods and compete against two other bloggers for a chance to win $1,000 to donate to the Oregon Food Bank. What made it even more fun was that our competition was filmed and aired on Fox 12’s More Good Day Oregon.
August marked a once in a lifetime opportunity. The ability to see a total eclipse. We drove up to the vineyard where my Husband worked. I packed a brunch picnic along with shortbread, scones, and mimosas. We set up our seats and watched this amazing phenomenon together.
In September I went on a few fun excursions – a quick weekend trip to Las Vegas with friends where I got to see George Strait perform, then I literally turned around and went to San Fransisco with my Husband for our 10th wedding anniversary. I also was invited by Travel Oregon to attend a pre-Feast Southern Oregon tour. I spent the night in Jacksonville, then Ashland. We visited local wineries, shops, Britt Fest, and The Shakespeare Festival. It was a great month.
Then, more difficult news hit our household. My Husband’s employer found himself in some legal trouble (unrelated to the vineyard) and had to put the vineyard up for sale. My husband stayed through the end of harvest and then found himself without a job at the worst time of the year.
I picked up additional shifts at my ‘other’ job to insure we would have a good holiday season, and I could tell that once again I wasn’t handling the stress well. My creativity was at an all time low and every little bump that would happen throughout the week became almost overwhelming for me. We did manage to have a fun low-key Halloween, and I also did something that I hadn’t done in a long time – hosted a dinner party.
Holidays 2017
Family and friends gathered around as we celebrated a pre-Thanksgiving holiday meal together.
I was also lucky enough to have Christmas off so we were able to all spend it together.
Then, our second car died.
Literally on like December 30th.
It wasn’t anything fancy, it was an older commuter car that my Husband drove. It needs a new engine and It’s honestly not worth putting that kind of money into it. I told my Husband that I was glad it died in 2017 and not 2018. The New Year had better not start off like that!
Anyways, that’s the good, bad, and ugly of 2017. Looks like I’ll be financing another car soon, and my Husband is still on the job hunt. I’m happy to see 2018. Happy to share on here more. I’ve got a list of goals to accomplish this year, one of them being more present on this website.
My word of the year is Focus.
Happy New Year my Friends!
~Melissa
