My first blog anniversary came quietly and left and I, in my recent writing fervor, forgot all about it. November 23rd 2014 was when I wrote my First Post. I am proud of having come this far. Honestly, I didn’t think this blog would hold out for so long. If you happen to like my blog, you have my sister to thank. She’s the one who goaded me to start writing. My amazing sister is a successful entrepreneur and an accomplished blogger herself (check out her blog Here). I have copied her since childhood (still do!) and so I started blogging too 🙂 And as usual, she was right when she said I would love writing. So one of my highs this year was getting my blog into motion and seeing it come as far as it has. You can congratulate me now.
My toddler falling sick earlier this year has to be one of my lowest lows. She had a febrile seizure and was then diagnosed with pneumonia. Hands down, the worst feeling in the world. She recovered slowly to her bubbly little self and started play-school this year! After an expected rough start and a somewhat long tryst with separation anxiety (Read my post about separation anxiety in toddlers Here), she now loves school and she’s made her first friend.
Also, after hemming and hawing over it forever, I finally said goodbye to Facebook. I don’t know if the parting is going to be permanent or not, but right now, I feel liberated. I don’t miss it at all. Why did I do it? Well, Facebook was starting to bore me. My news feed was mostly filled with pictures and posts of people I didn’t know – friends of friends and I was wasting an enormous amount of time just scrolling past those posts. Now that the deed is done, I find I have lots more time to spend with M or just reading and blogging. I can now focus on things that matter to me.
So here’s a recap of the year that was –
1. I learned (and I’m still learning) to be a mom.
2. I feel like my feet were on wheels this year. My travels took me to India, to Hawaii and Disneyland. Being a tourist in your own city is so much fun. It takes you Off the beaten path and you discover things some incredible gems like The World’s Smelliest Festival and The San Jose Flea Market.
3. Summer of 2015 – one of the best summers ever! My parents were here, we celebrated M’s second birthday and I got some wonderful quality time with them! Like Bryan Adams would say, those were the best days of my life!
4. I read some fantastic books this year. I stepped out of my comfort zone and delved into genres which I wouldn’t even have considered before. So glad I did that. Among my favorites this year were Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult, The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple, which I’m currently reading. History and historical fiction still remain my favorite genres.
5. And finally, food! The recipe which got the most hits is my No Bake Mango Cheesecake, followed by Sprouted Moong Curry.
And now on to the new year. There are a few questions on my mind which I’m hoping I’ll get the answers to in 2016. One of them is where do I take my blog next? And another is the eternal question playing on every stay-at-home mom’s mind – Should I start looking for jobs? This is a perennial dilemma and I hope I get some direction in 2016.
But before all that intensity, it’s time to celebrate the year that was. I’ll be in Alberta, Canada spending New Year’s eve with family. I’m hoping to get some decent photos in all that snow, It’ll make for a great first post in 2016!
Wish you all a great 2016! Happy New Year!