Thoughts for the New Year

To our Jewish readers and my fellow Buds, L'Shanah Tovah!

Today is the Jewish New Year, and I wanted to reflect on the past year and what my hopes for the New Year are.

Last year, Mr. Magnolia Bud and I were in a tough spot. I was working only part-time (at a firm where I was miserable), and he had just started his post-doctoral fellowship. I was also in school part-time for my master's, and had nothing but tough classes on my plate (I was studying for my LL.M. in tax. Every class was a bear!). We were renting a condo, and had just moved to North Carolina--away from many friends who had turned into family in the five years we lived near them. We decided our goal for the next year was to become stable, and work on both our marriage and ourselves so that we could have a clutter-free, chaos-free, financially- and emotionally- stable home.

Since we made that decision, we have made a lot of other smaller (but related) decisions that support our choices. We made a budget, beefed up our savings, bought a home in November, made friends in our community and our neighborhood, worked on our marriage (and our sex life), and we've individually been pursuing things that help us live a more peaceful/less chaotic life. For me, those things are finding a new job (which I did in January), finishing school, yoga, acupuncture (occasionally now that my acute issues have been fixed), running, and other hobbies.

Every day I'm thankful for the peace that I have found in my life.

This coming year, I hope that we will be able to continue working on our home, our faith/religious observance, and am looking forward starting our own family. I hope that Mr. Magnolia Bud will find a job that he loves (his fellowship is coming to a close over the next 6 months+, so he's started looking). I also hope that all of you, whether TTC or TTA, are blessed with the families you hope and pray for.

Wishing you a sweet new year,

Magnolia Bud