end of a decade

it wasn’t until new year’s eve that i realized that we’ll be starting not only a new year, but a new decade as well. this hit me hard and ever since i was struck by this thought, i’ve been pondering it. i’ve spent hours thinking about this decade that has just ended and what i’d like to accomplish in this new decade.

the odd thing is that waking up on new year’s day, the first day of this new, shiny decade (new car smell anyone?), it felt like any old day. i woke up grumpy, i stumbled to the kitchen to begin the morning routine of coffee for mama, breakfast for the kidlets. doesn’t really seem like the appropriate way to start a brand new decade does it?

looking back at the last decade, i realize how much my life has changed, how very different it is from the life i had envisioned for myself and had planned for. in the last ten years i have:

married a man who became my best friend
quit my job
quit grad school
put my dissertation in a box in the back of a closet under lots and lots of stuff
moved from a historic home in the process of being renovated in new orleans to baton rouge
bought and later sold a cute little cottage
learned to live without having any true blue girlfriends in the same city
gave birth to four amazingly beautiful children
started homeschooling
started a business

it doesn’t seem so monumental when i write it out like that but if you know me, you know i am an inveterate list maker and compared to the über-detailed mental list i keep, this is small. and yet, each one of these things has helped to shape me and make me who i am today as i embark on this new decade. i’m excited about the prospects of a new year and i’ve thought a lot about 2010 and carefully chosen my one little word for 2010. so you know what i’m going to do to get ready for this new decade? i’m going to make a list of goals (i know, i know, i’m predictable) for my body, my spirit, my family, my business, my house, and for this decade (to include: getting back to paris, exploring venice with my husband, opening a studio, to name a few).

so just a few things i’d like to do this year:
photograph a birth (home or hospital)
get a photo session done of my little family
start using my polaroid camera
update my website
keep my inbox at zero five of seven days/week
have a date night with my hubby at least once a month
take a vacation with my five favorite people (that would be husband and four children for those trying to figure it out)
let my kids spend as much time with my grandparents as i possibly can
find a family truly in need and bless them with a session and prints

and since no post is complete without pictures, i’ve posted a couple of pictures from christmas at my aunt’s house. she decorates her house beautifully from top to bottom (even our room had a wee christmas tree in it!) and even patiently tolerated my little nacho’s constant re-decorating of the lower third of the tree. about two minutes after we got home, unloaded the car and started unpacking the poulette said, “that was the best christmas ever! can we go back next year?” i’d say that christmas was definitely a success!

i hope you all have a very happy, very blessed new year and new decade!