450 Hours Sweating, 100 Kid’s Performances, 80 Doctor Visits, 40 College Hours, 25 Paged Play in Production,  20 Boarding Passes, 10 Radiology Reports, 4 State Parks Hiked,
3 Medical Walking Boots, 2 Surgeries and 1 Very Active and Tired Family.

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2017 was a busy year.

As I sit on my couch almost dizzy from the congestion in my head, I’m going to use this “down time” to wrap up the year! I so wanted to send out cards and a letter. I love getting cards in the mail. But I gave up. I can’t do it all… as much as I like to and think I can most days!

Anyway..

Wrapping up the year mentally has been fun. Doug and I talked through the highlights and the struggles. We know we are busy, but when you put the numbers to the activities that we do on a regular basis, it is mind boggling! No wonder my house is always messy and that there are 3 baskets of clean clothes in my living room on any given day!

So let’s start at the top of the recap:

• 450 Hours Sweating: Doug and I make working out a priority. Most days it’s an early 4:30am start, but it is worth it for our sanity!
• 100 Kid’s Performances: This is literally the tip of the iceberg as for every performance or contest there are double or triple the number of rehearsals and practices that we have attended.
• 80 Doctor Visits: I’d like to say that this year was an exception and that we don’t usually see the doctor this often. I wish. Some years we have more than 100 visits. Granted, Lexi has seen the doctor way more this fall than ever and Maddie was healthier, but the sum total is in our “normal” range.
• 40 College Hours: I completed my Superintendent’s Certification in 2017 (18 graduate hours) and Maddie completed 22 hours of college credit spending the summer before her senior year of high school as a full time college student!
• 25 Paged Play in Production: I wrote a play this year. It’s called Unexpected Hope and it is in production! I can’t wait to see Stephenville High School perform it for their UIL competition this spring.
• 20 Boarding Passes: Traveling is something that Doug and I love to do and we are teaching our children to enjoy. In 2017 as a family we went to Disney World and Doug and I went to Mexico and San Fransisco. Doug also travel on his own for work to St. Louis.
• 10 Radiology Reports: Dang. Four MRI’s (two each for Maddie and Lexi), a CAT Scan for Doug, plus numerous x-rays as Lexi broke three bones this year, Doug broke one and Maddie, well, she’s Maddie.
• 4 State Parks Hiked: In the midst of chaos, we love to get outside. We are firm believers in forced family fun in all it’s glory in the middle of nowhere and no technology!
• 3 Medical Walking Boots: yeah. Doug, Maddie and Lexi.
• 2 Surgeries: Doug and Maddie.
• 1 Very Active and Tired Family

And there you have it. I’m looking forward to 2018. We have lots of plans and major life events coming up. Maybe we will get through 2018 with fewer doctor visits and bills! Wouldn’t that be a dream come true. Nevertheless, we know that no matter how few or how many medical related issues, our priority remains to…

Live BIG, Dream BIG and Love BIG.