A Reflection: My 2016 Intentions

Setting my intentions at the turn of the year has been a little tradition of mine as far back as I can remember. 2015 was the first year that I did not set any - a little oh dear moment for me – but I quickly realized that being new to motherhood is overwhelming, all-encompassing, beautiful, and scary, amongst many other things and therefor it deserves the right amount of attention. 

I was very excited about the intentions I had set for 2016, as it was going to be an exciting year for us in terms of travel, family and personal development. Since I didn’t have Stellarize Your Life up and running at the turn of the year, I decided that I am going to share these intentions with you as a form of reflection. As always, with any of my posts, my intent is to share and hopefully inspire here and there. I always want to stay thoughtful in the little and big things that fill my every day. It is how I Stellarize my life and through this blog I hope to share inspiration as to how you can Stellarize yours.

My 2016 Intentions:

Personal Development

Me time

I’ve always put a lot of importance on me time. As much as I love being surrounded by family and friends, I gain energy from spending time on my own as well. It allows me to reenergize and reconnect. Now that Noah is one, it’s important for me to take time for myself. I want him to see me taking care of myself as well, and not only taking care of others. One of my main intentions this year is to make more time for myself and reconnect with my personal dreams, ambitions and passions.

Family & Relationships

Be a present mama

As a mom, we have so much on our plates and we sometimes forget to just let loose and really be present with our kids. Sometimes I wish I could assume the role of the fun aunt instead of the mother, forget about all the tasks that surround me on a daily basis and just be present, be silly and play. So here’s to trying that a little bit more frequently, laughing a little bit more and realizing that everything else can wait a little bit longer.  

Love

Marriage  

“To be a good wife when you’re really focused on being a good mother, that’s the hardest thing of all, especially in the beginning.” I came across this and oh how much truth it rings. Motherhood and marriage, they both take so much work! I guess its normal that when I try so hard to give so much to my child, that I forget that building my relationship with his father is just as essential and important for us all. It is something I want to do better in and try harder. Robin and I have been together for eight and a half years, married for two of those years, and while my husband is my best friend and love of my life, it takes work every day. What I have learned in the past two years of marriage is that the definition of the word is constantly evolving, but always involves patience, understanding, empathy and unconditional love.

Making time for one another without our babe is something we’ve started recently and it has been huge for us. I want to schedule little date nights a few times a month, hold hands more, show gratitude and understanding, be patient and empathetic and above all - LOVE. And maybe, just maybe, we can even get away for a night or two. It is so important to reset every once in a while.

Health & Fitness

Run

When I fell pregnant with Noah, I made the conscious decision to stop running and start with more gentle ways – walking and practicing yoga. I listened to my body wholeheartedly and it felt right that way. I don’t regret this approach one bit but I must admit, that it took me a lot longer to get back into exercise than I was hoping. I love to run, I always have. It allows me to clear my mind and I miss it. So here is to running a little bit more whenever I can. 

Dare to Dream

Number Two

Its taken me much longer that expected to come around to the idea of trying for baby number two. I’m slowly getting excited about the thought of adding another little bundle to our family but it also breaks my heart to think I wont be able to give Noah my full attention. The bond you share with your first little one is something so special and although I know your heart and love just widens even more (how is that possible!?), it is hard to picture and imagine when you are so focused on the one you have. But this year is definitely year for dreaming, hoping and trying for number two.

Finance & Career

Learn

I’ve always had a love for graphic design and although I’ve never taken proper courses in the field, it hasn’t stopped me from teaching myself and creating along the way. Now that I am able to take some time for myself again though, I will prioritize taking a course and I can’t wait!

Launch

There is one product I’m working on, which brings me so much joy and excitement. It is the Stellarize Baby Album. I really want to take that step further where I am able to produce and offer it to customers that will appreciate, use and love it as much as I do. Although I am writing it within my intentions for the year, if I’m honest with myself, I am not sure I will manage to launch it this year. I can only try though and at least by setting myself the intention, my chances are slightly higher than by not setting the intention at all.

This image and the three above were taken by my beautiful friend and photographer from www.betterwithyouphotography.com

My 2016 Reflections:

I completed a graphic design course and absolutely loved it. It gave me a taste for professional graphic design and although I am not making the space for pursuing this at this point in time, I know it would bode so well with my interests and passions.

We fell pregnant (hurray!) and apart for a couple months in there, it’s been a flawless pregnancy once again. I decided to follow my intent and stayed more active this time around. I fell in love with spinning all over again and although I didn’t get back into my running, I spent most of the second half of the year cycling outdoors, which felt so good. There is a lot to be said for movement during pregnancy.

I certainly found a lot more balance and time for myself this year. Unfortunately, not because Rob was able to be home more (he travels more than anyone I know!), but because I was honest with myself, I acknowledges my needs and therefore made the conscious effort to find myself help when need be. I went on my first proper girls trip (3 nights away from Noah!) whilst living in San Diego and I found a fantastic little Kindergarden for Noah to attend a couple days a week whilst living in Berlin. These little pockets of ‘Stella-time’ allow me to re-centre, re-focus, re-energize and be a better mama as a result.

I didn’t launch my Stellarize Baby Album but I started this Blog, which I’m super happy about. I had a few periods during the year where I wasn’t as active with it as I wanted to be but I’m constantly on the lookout for inspiration and although I know that my blog would be more successful if I consistently posted every week, I also don’t want to force creativity. I want my posts to continue to come from the heart, as my whole intent for all of this, is centred around exactly that.

I think out of the entire year, I am mostly proud of my role as a mama. It was one of my intentions to be ‘more present’ whenever I could and it has been a year jam packed with exactly that. I will remember both San Diego and Berlin fondly and mostly for the quality one-on-one time I got to spend with Noah. With a traveling husband and constantly living far away from family, the whole solo parenting gig can be hard and tiring at times but at any point that I felt it was hard, it was truthfully a blessing in disguise. The time I have been able to spend with Noah has been so special and I have cherished all our silly and beautiful little moments. Exploring new parts of the cities we’ve been able to live in, checking out classes together, making friends as a mama/son unit, exploring new playgrounds, petting zoo’s and cafes. And treating ourselves wherever we could. Over the year, Noah has become such a communicative little fella. He understands so much, listens intently to what you have to say and tries to make sense of everything. It has been an absolute joy to witness and I made the conscious effort to soak it all up while I still had the dedicated time and undivided attention to do so. Thanks little man. I love you so much.

All in all, I think this year turned out pretty amazing. We’ve had the chance to live in two beautiful places in this world, both of which were new to us – San Diego and Berlin. This year gave us the opportunity to explore, become better acquainted with certain cultures, step out of our comfort zones (although I am not sure that we are ever ‘in a comfort zone’ these days), and do this as a little family of three, with a fourth one on the way. We traveled, we connected with family and friends around the world, and we continued to raise the sweetest little boy and we welcomed a perfect and healthy baby girl into this world. I am beyond grateful.

And although this year would have certainly turned out amazing regardless of writing my intentions at the start of the year, I believe that being conscious about my wishes, hopes, and dreams, have pushed me in the direction that I wanted to go in and allowed me to get more out of this year than I otherwise would have. 

The following pictures are some of my favourite from our year. Just because.