Word for the Year: Deliberate

Happy New Year from the Moores!

I am a bit behind on my blogging – okay, a LOT behind. December was a truly insane month for me. Not including normal driving, I managed to log 3,294 miles. According to Google maps I spent 52 hours in the car. I'm sure with a toddler in tow it was much longer. I am ready for a break.

I hope to catch up on my blogging, but getting my house in order and wrapping up a freelance project are my main focus right now. Bear with me, I know many family members are anxious to see pics from all of our travels.

For the past several years, instead of writing resolutions on January 1st, I have focused on choosing a word that would represent a theme for the coming year. I like this tradition better than making resolutions that I know that I will struggle to keep.

I am a few days behind, but the word that I would like to focus on in 2013 is deliberate:

carefully weighed; studied; intentional; unhurried: to consider; to think carefully or attentively; or to reflect

I don't regret all of the things we did this past year, but I feel an intense need to slow down. To be in the present. This last year I experienced the loss of a grandfather and a grandfather figure, as well as a friend. I think loss of any kind makes you want to slow down. Likewise, the insane traveling of December is enough to make anyone {besides a travel-happy college student} want to slow down. 

I used to feel out of sorts if I didn't keep up with my emails; or my Google Reader; or if I didn't blog often; or read a book once a week... I am letting it all go. 

The past month has forced me to be more intentional and I haven't regretted slowing down. 

Jack needs my attention. He is walking now. He gives tight hugs around the neck when you ask him. He chatters away, mostly recently he loves to shout: Cee. We're pretty sure he is saying my name. I don't want to miss these sweet moments with my boy or my family because of TV or the internet or things that are unimportant. I want to be deliberate about my life. 

Words from previous years: 

Fortitude {2010}  ~ Adaptation {2011} ~ Patience {2012}

Word for the Year: Patience

For the past two years, instead of resolutions I have decided to choose a word that would represent a theme for the coming year. In 2010 the word was fortitude. In 2011, adaptation. Both themes proved to be fitting.

In an effort to continue this tradition, I have decided that the theme for 2012 should be patience: quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence. 

With a new baby we are learning to have patience with each other, especially when we are running low on sleep as well as patience with Jack during the times that he cries or pees or spits up on us for the umpteenth time. I have a feeling that patience will be a trait to carry us through much in the coming years. 

We will work to be patient with one another as we continue to grow in our marriage. We will face parenting with steady perseverance as we strive to raise Jack with even-tempered care. We will do our best to be diligent in our jobs – whether in the home or outside.

Words from previous years:
Fortitude {2010} ~ Adaptation {2011}

Word for the Year: Adaptation

On January 1 of 2010, I sat down and thought about what word would sum up the coming year. After much deliberation, I decided on fortitude {strength of mind that allows one to endure pain or adversity with courage}. I had no way of knowing how appropriate this word would be. 

2010 was a very difficult year... 

Daniel and I started the year unsure of the future. After one year of unemployment, Daniel finally started a new job. But it was in a new state. The economy was terrible and we faced selling a house in a bad housing market. Daniel packed up and moved while I stayed behind until our house sold. We endured 6 long months of living 6 hours apart. It took fortitude. 

Then there was the matter of my mom getting sick and surrounding this was some family drama. It was a rough summer. 

We finally sold the house and moved into a 170-square foot camper in Chattanooga. Three months of living in a tiny space was welcome after separation but it was also challenging. After the camper experience, we bought a house in rural Alabama and I experienced culture shock that I didn't expect to encounter in America.

In retrospect, fortitude was an apt word. It carried us through a very difficult year.

Now I look forward to 2011. We are already in a better place than we were last year. We are together. Daniel has a good job and I am freelancing from home. We have a beautiful new house and my mom is recovering. We have many things to be thankful for.

For 2011, I believe that an appropriate word for the year is adaptation {to adjust oneself to different conditions, environment, etc.}. We are continuing to adapt to living in a new environment and making new friends. We are trying our best to embrace this new lifestyle as we learn to appreciate the nuances of living in a small town. We are adapting and will continue to do so throughout the coming year.

Word from previous years: Fortitude {2010}

The Number Three and Being Local

Over the years, it seems that as I have moved and adapted to living or being in new places with new people, it has generally taken me about three years (on average) to feel like I really belong somewhere.

I was in my junior year in high school before I really felt like I was a part of things. It was my junior year of college when my friendships and experiences really began to cement themselves. We had been in Cookeville, TN for close to three years when it finally began to feel like home. And now we are coming up on three years in Charlotte, NC and everything is really beginning to feel right in the world.

In Charlotte, very few people are truly local. It is rare to meet someone who grew up here. Due to the transience of the city, if you have lived here for more than three years you are pretty much considered a local. I finally feel like a local because of our experience eating out last night.

We have now lived here long enough to have favorite restaurants that we frequent. Most of these places have staff that recognize us and talk with us. Last night, we ate at Wolfman's Pizza in Cotswald (our favorite pizza place in Charlotte). There is one guy who is ALWAYS working there. He is super friendly and he always recognizes us.

Last night when he came by our table to chat, our conversation was no longer about the weather or how good the food was. It was no longer the conversation of mere acquaintances that happen to see each other once or twice a month, but more like conversation one would have with an old friend. We felt like locals and that is a wonderful feeling.