My Journey through 2013: Introduction

{Note: This post was originally written back in September....I wanted to wait until I was done with every chapter before I started posting...}

{I'll be posting a new chapter each day for the next 4 days}

I feel as if I'm having an inward harvest right now.  It's time for me to look back over my year and somehow compile all that I've learned and felt.

It's definitely not going to be an easy project, but I have scribbles of notes and highlighted passages from books read this year to guide me along.

But beginning is always the hardest.  I guess I can start by saying this year has made me into a completely new person.

Last year {2012} laid the groundwork for our family, upon which we could construct the rest of our lives--as we finished school, secured Patrick's profession, built a house, and moved into a brand-new community.  It was a whirlwind and stressful and oh so rewarding to have our family all together in our new life on the eve of December 1, 2012.

For months I left the walls bare and relished the emptiness of my very own space--something I'd never had before.  During the winter months of 2013 I focused on complete connection with my family, myself, and my Father in Heaven.  It was a sweet and precious time.

Then along came Springtime and I felt an itching to decorate my newly claimed space and organize and make sense of the world around me and inside of me.

Summer brought with it a wonderful bucket list and we checked nearly every single thing off. The boys and Maylie and I played outside for endless hours.  They rode their bikes, explored the fields around us, and I watched them and read.  We had picnics and walks and stayed in our very own yard.  With the great outdoors calling us to its wonders, we "left" the house alone for a season and I determined that Fall would be my time to organize and decorate and get everything looking perfect for the holidays.  This was also a time of learning to let go, be present, and live with broad margins.

As Fall and school time came, we were swarmed with busyness and I just kept waiting for the calm to come.  It seemed the busy weeks of family activities, fall holidays, photoshoots, and back-to-school tasks would never end.  But they finally did and I dove headlong into decorating this beautiful house I call mine.  At the same time, I dove headlong inside to construct a unique family culture for our family.  I've scoured books and websites and magazines for ideas of celebrations, traditions, and a general way of life and have finally hashed out the scaffolding that we can begin to implement to bond our family more tightly together.

And so for the next several posts, I want to elaborate on each of the seasons I experienced this year.  This yearlong study of home and family culture and mothering has been the best thing that could ever have happened to me and I'm excited to reflect on this journey I have recently walked through and
truly bring in the harvest.