I have no idea where the time has gone. It is as though I blinked my eyes and 2013 is coming to an end. Here is a brief recap of 2013. My baby Coconut is now five years old; I’m about to turn 34….the last year in my current demographic category on surveys (I’ll move to 35 and up in 2015); my hubby has been in his exciting new job for eight months; my baby sister got accepted into a fabulous college and will be a collegiate athlete; my Momee (grandmother) passed away; I served as a National Spokeswoman for the American Heart Association Go Red for Women movement; I gained weight; I’m pretty close to getting my dental accessories OFF; it has been almost three years since I got my Ph.D.; I went to Branson, MO for the first time and brought the average age down to 81.75 years; we celebrated Mardi Gras at Disney World with some of our best friends; our dogs peed on our living room rug one too many times; I’ve hugged too many friends who have lost their parents this year; I visited Boston for the first time and I loved it (Kat…I bet it’s cold tonight); my cousin Keri welcomed her fourth baby into the world, baby Grayson; my cousin Angi became a fabulous school librarian; my cousin Michele built the house of her dreams; my cousin Tara got a fabulous new haircut; my cousin Carly started selling non-toxic home products which is one of her passions; my cousin John Walker married a lovely girl named Sam; my cousin Virginia hid a few more rescue dogs in her closet from her sweet husband Philip; and my baby cousins Glynn and Grant keep growing taller further solidifying I am vertically challenged. Whew…..it’s crazy to think about what has happened in one year. I can hardly believe my godchild is going to be 7 and that my niece dances better than I do.
There is so much more to the year 2013 (I will do a year-end wrap up…hopefully before the end of 2014), but one of the things that sticks out to me the most is that I have survived three years since being diagnosed with end-stage heart failure. I am so thankful that I got to watch baby Coconut’s first Christmas program last night. Trust me, listening to a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds singing a Christmas carol is priceless. It took me until the last bar of their song to figure out what they were singing, and I’m still not 100% certain….but I do know it was NOT Jingle Bells or Baby It’s Cold Outside. There are definitely times where I get wrapped up in life and have to check my attitude of thankfulness. Without fail, the moment I need to be reminded of my amazing blessings always comes just when I need it. When in doubt, remember this quote by a pretty brilliant man:
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein
Geaux Red 