2012...Thank You

Not every year is a banner one.

They can't all be, right? 

But this year was for me.

If I could place myself in a movie, I would be that girl who came out of her shell....who morphed from the caterpillar into the butterfly...and soared to find her true self...you know, the one that had been hidden for sometime.

After deciding by sheer will that 2012 would be the "Year of Kelly," I found running or, it found me.  Either way, the love and discipline of putting one foot in front of the other saw me through three half marathons, one Hellacious trail run, a 5K mini race, countless early morning short runs, and many, many long Saturday morning training jaunts.

Running helped me to regain my self confidence, to garner time dedicated to breathing in and out and taught me to let go of my past transgressions and simply to trust.

Undoubtedly, I was transformed.

And so, I sit staring down a new year...2013....and it feels a bit ostentatious and entitlement-driven to dub this next year, my year again...but why not?  Shouldn't every day of our lives be for the living?  Shouldn't we yearn to soak it all in and to not be afraid of what lies waiting around the corner?

So, here's my proposed 2013 bucket list.

•  5 Half Marathons
• Cheering the hell out of my good friend while she kills it in her first FULL Iron Man race
• Yoga and lots of it
• Writing....more of it and more unabashed accounts of what lies inside of me
• Swimming, Dancing, Singing, and in general Enjoying the hell out of my Family
• Dreaming...clinging to the hope that one day I will find myself in Tuscany
• Thanking God daily for my blessings

And so, here we go.  Here's to you and me doing this New Year together.  Let's make it our year to soar ferociously and fearlessly...I can already feel it...it's going to be good.

In a Perfect World

Once in a blue moon, I get sick.  It's not a good thing for the main caretaker in the house to be ill, so it's a huge blessing that when it coincides with a weekend, my better half can take care of the littles.

Not sure if it should be chalked up to food poisoning, stomach flu, the Husker game or a subconscious desire to be under the covers for the better part of the day...I found myself spending a beautiful Sunday in bed feeling sorry for myself and day dreaming.

I told a friend recently that I needed to have a "Bucket List."  In only the way that JM can say it, she expounded with, "Good God, Kelly, you have way too much guilt over all of the commitments that you currently have, I would say that you more aptly need a Fuck it list."  And maybe she's right.  But for now, here are a few things that I would love to do before I keel over.

• Run a marathon...preferably in Hawaii
• Surf...preferably near an island
• Sing on a stage...Broadway would be very cool
• Dance topless (again) in Greece
• Skydive (I'm deathly afraid of heights, so I can't imagine this one happening...but what the hell)
• Publicly address a really large crowd of folks on a significant social issue
• Spend a summer at a beach house in New England
• Quilt a keepsake to give to my children
• Roam the streets of Tuscany with my husband
• Explore vinyards in Europe with my children
• Write a book

That's all I've got for now.  Funny how it's hard to dream big when you're focused on dishes, laundry, progress reports and baby food.  The beauty is the list will change again and again.  I suppose it's just liberating to put it on paper and out into the world.