out with the old and in with the two.

By two I mean twelve. Because twelve doesn’t rhyme with new.

I’m sitting on the sofa watching a movie with Tyler. We just finished eating Vegetarian Moroccan Stew and Olive is in bed. It just started snowing.

This December has been unbelievably mild here in Minnesota and we’ve only seen a bit of snow twice, excluding this evening. In fact today is was 41 degrees outside. I would gladly take a 41 degree winter. Gladly.

In a completely unprepared and somewhat distracted manner I will now share with you some of the highlights of 2011. I’m sure I will leave many things out. To save myself from trying to gauge the level of meaning or importance of each thing I’ll try for chronological order.

2011 began with my being less than two months away from having my first baby and working as a Mental Health Practitioner at Fraser Child and Family Center. We risked a drive home to Illinois in late January for my family baby shower.

One day after my dad’s birthday, five days before my estimated due date, on February 20th, our first baby, Olive Ann was born. She was born in a birthing tub at St Joseph’s hospital in St Paul after being at the hospital for only two hours. If you’re interested in the story you can read it here.

I soon grew very passionate about natural and unmediated birth as well as the use of midwives and doulas and even home and unassisted birth.

Over the next few months I learned so many things. I was relatively uneducated about most baby related things prior to having Olive. I think my parenting style can be referred to as Intuitive. We go with the flow and do what feels right and it has been so rewarding. We do things like Elimination Communication and Baby Led Weaning. I am very passionate now about so many of our choices.

When I had Olive I left my job as a Mental Health Practitioner. The time I spent at Fraser was the longest time that I had ever spent at one job.

I celebrated my first mothers day and finally got a Kitchen Aide stand mixer.

I officially became a photographer. You can see my work here. Being a WAHM allows me to stay home with Olive. I hope this continues as long as possible. We’re very interested in homeschooling in the future.

We bought a new (used) car. This was somewhat significant to me as my two previous cars were both white Ford Tarsus’ and the choosing and buying process was mostly done by my dad. So our 02 VW Golf is pretty exciting.

Olive and I packed shares together at an urban CSA in north Minneapolis. We ate so much very fresh and very local produce over the summer.

After years and years of wanting them we finally have iPhones.

Over the year we have begun buying an increasing amount of organic, local, and fresh food. Food is a other thing that I have become passionate about.

I have met many new friends online. That may sound silly but it’s a wonderful source of support and companionship for a SAHM. I hope someday that I can meet them all in person.

So why are my resolutions for 2012?

I don’t usually do the resolution thing. I never follow through. But I have noticed hat today seems to feel different that most New Years Eves have in the past. I think having a child makes the passing of time pretty different. So I brainstormed some goals and ideas. I hope they all happen but I won’t be crushed if they don’t. I wouldn’t mind some accountability though. :)

We want to move. Far from Minnesota. The current short list is Chicago or the Pacific Northwest. Due to scenery, winter, and food I’m currently leaning PNW.

I would love for Tyler to find work that is more fulfilling and to have more time and motivation to work on music. A music related career would be ideal. I think we should check out some online universities offering music related degrees.

I hope that my photography endeavors continue to be fruitful. It would be wonderful if I could schedule at least one wedding per month. Maybe that would allow Tyler more flexibility in his work.

I would like to continue to utilize Motivated Moms.

I would like to read the Bible daily and finish it in a year. I’ve tried this before and I always fail.

I want to continue helping Olive grow and explore the world.

I want to get back to the creative Emma that got buried inside of me. I want to make more food and material things (like butter and sour cream and scarves and clothes).

I want to continue to make healthy choices for our family and to learn more about additional things we could be doing.

I want to read more books and watch less television.

I want to go on adventures.

I want to take at least one photo with my DSLR each day.

That sounds like a good start.

What are your plans for 2012?

(I wrote this on my iPhone.. Please excuse any autocorrect issues)