New Year, New Me rambles

Is it too late to have a New Year reflections post? Maybe I should have saved this for Chinese New Year instead. :)

I worked with a manager at my first full-time job that gave me some advice about approaching the new year. He told me to set goals for myself every year and he gave me examples of some of the annual goals he had set for himself in the past: get married, buy a house, etc. At the time, I remember thinking "whoa those goals are totally not in line with my life stage! His advice doesn't apply to someone like me." But every now and then, his advice would come to mind and I'd think...hey it doesn't seem so crazy. He didn't tell me to buy a house or get married every year - he was just telling me what his own accomplishments had been. I can set whatever goals make sense for my life. Big duh to 22 year old Emily.

In addition to looking forward, I also think it's important to look back and see where we've been. The idea is not to limit ourselves ("but we've never done that before!") but rather have that act as a guide for where we may want to go next.

2014 Highlights

• We found out that Jeff does not have SCA3. A huge relief and an even bigger blessing.
• We had some amazing travels to Italy, Taiwan, Japan, and New York.  
• After a few setbacks, I was offered a new job on a different team working on some cool things that I'm really excited about.
• Jeff also transitioned to a new role as part of a re-org that more closely aligns with his career goals and interests.

2015 Goals

• Try not to go crazy with TTC. We will do what we can to facilitate the process naturally but everything beyond that is out of our hands. I don't want to feel like a total failure if this year does not end with a pregnancy or a baby. After all the research I did around IVF, I don't think that's the route I want to go but who knows...we'll see if/when we get to that point.
• Potentially explore new housing, depending on outcome of goal #1. Obviously, if there is no baby, our current setup suffices just fine. But otherwise, we'll have to figure out if we can repurpose our current place or move to a new house.
• Learn and grow in my new job. Pretty self-explanatory.
• Live with gratitude. God has given us so many good and wonderful things in this life - let's live in such a way that is worthy of those blessings.

Taipei, Taiwan, January 1, 2010