My 2019 Grateful List

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I purchased PowerSheets several years ago and then I guess life and busyness got the best of me and I wasn’t as intentional as I could have been or purposeful in my planning. This month, I decided to go back to reminding myself what matters and have been working through the PowerSheets through Cultivate What Matters blog and podcast. The method Laura Casey and PowerSheets uses is what I like to call backwards planning. I remember one of my mentor teachers telling me that you always want to backwards plan when you think about what you want for your students and the school year, whether socially, academically, or emotionally.

You have to know where you are going, what the end vision is, before you begin pursuing the steps that will take you there.

This is exactly how I am planning for the year– first figuring out the big picture and later honing in on what matters most. Ahhh! It makes so much sense.

Some of the first questions Casey has you think through are:

“what good things happened in 2019?
What grew well?
What are you grateful for from the last twelve months?”

So I thought I would share our 2019 Blessings with you as I reflect on this past year.

2019 Blessings

1. BEING CONSISTENT with Btribalfit / exercise the whole year

2. PRIORITIZING outdoor adventures (because my husband and I get life from being in creation)

January. couldn’t pass up photos with a white yak while on a skiing trip/ marriage retreat.

3. GROWING in my cooking, baking, meal planning abilities

4. BECOMING confident driving the scootie

May. It’s no longer scary–praises! I can go places by myself.

5. TRAVELING to three countries

March. Vacation in Thailand at a quiet + beautiful little resort.

6. REPAINTING 11 pieces of furniture for a fresh look as I read The Cozy Minimalist.

May. Now we have a grey chalk-painted desk and coffee table, white end-tables and bench. And yes–I even painted the plastic stools and trash cans (wasn’t a fan of the neon).

7. MOVING to a new house without a professional moving company (just some amazing friends and a random truck with some strangers off the street)

June 1st. Truly an amazing experience of feeling the effects of a selfless community.

8. BUILDING relationships with nationals

October. Wedding of a friend I met during “community language time.”

9. INCREASING my creativity. striving to Create more than Consume (mini moleskin travel journals, cross stitch, photography, continue blogging)

10. SEEKING to thrive as we do life overseas (finished our 1 year as a married couple in South Asia). MAKING progress in learning the language.

11. SPENDING a few weeks with my parents who flew across the world to visit us (heart= happy)

12. DEEPENING + ENRICHING our marriage –through intentionality, ups and downs, seeking advice, and community

June. anniversary. We ended up going to a terrible restaurant (we didn’t know it was bad) and the dessert place was closed. But still great memories and the guests we were hosting greeted us back home with a chocolate cake.

13. INITIATING a Girls Dinner Club to foster unity + community. (And enjoy a spread of amazing cooked-from-scratch American food once a month)

November. wonderful evening. delicious food. and even better company and conversations.

14. ASKING a wiser, cooler, and more experienced woman to be my mentor.

We usually talk on the phone once a week about life, joys, struggles, and one chapter of the book we are reading together–currently The Fruitful Life.

15. PRIORTIZING sabbath rest

What are some of the things you are grateful for this year? Best memories? Good things that happened? Blessings?