2021 FOR AWER KREW ;)

My head is still wrapping itself around the fact that 2021 is gone, and then when I look at the calendar and see that today is January 13, 2022, my head wants to spin outta control. The thirteenth may as well be the fifteenth, which means that the month is half-way over, and so long January, it’s on to February (at this point my mind is blown). Ever since the last week of December after Christmas and before New Year’s — that milky-way week of unknown dates and times and non-existent schedules — I’ve wanted to sit down and review our family’s time with 2021. But alas, I got lost in the time-warp of relaxation and well, it’s taken me a couple weeks to come back to earth. 🙂 I really want to document something of our last year, though, since it was a year of very few blog posts from me. So here we go. Here’s Awer Krew in 2021!

All the photos here were snapped by my dear friend, Cachet!We really had one of our best years yet. It was still a ride, still hard sometimes, still unpleasant some days (EX, we’re still designing our house). But I don’t know, you guys…there is something to perspective/lenses/choosing what to see and focus on, and I know that really, intentionally putting that into practice that this year made it an amazing year for us. Think As A Man Thinketh — have you heard of that book, or better yet, have you read it? Ryan and I read it at the beginning of 2021 and we let its premise dictate our perspectives on life, and man it worked. How grateful we are for the power of our minds, and for the power of choosing our perspectives!

I’ll break us all down one by one with an overview, what we accomplished, what we’re working on, and our favorite 2021 tunes…

 

Chloe Rae

Sister learned how to talk! She can jab with the best of them and it’s the best. Chloe started Tot School and she is thrilled that she gets a chance to fly the nest for a bit every week, just like her sisters. She spent tons of time with her best girl cousins her same age, and in true girl fashion, they cat-fought as much as they gushed to each other how they’re “best fwends.” Chloe’s “Mom Radar” was and is so strong. I can’t wake up without her trailing about 10 minutes behind me. I have time to pray, is all, before she’s left her the bedroom and found me. Chloe grew so much and only got better and funnier every day. I adore her!

Accomplished: she sent her binkies to heaven (we send binkies off and away via balloons)! She still asks for them every once in a while, but then tells us that Jesus is taking care of them for her, so they’re okay.

Still working on: not screaming so dang loud when she is mad. Her scream is shrill and painful. I have some hearing loss thanks to that doll (not kidding).

Fave 2021 tunes: “My House” by Flo Rida, “Marry Me” by Bruno Mars, and all of “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.” The whole album.

 

Emmy Eve

Emmy emotionally matured this year. She ended the year a different little girl from when the year began. Age 5, which Emmy is coming up on, really is a game-changer for behavior, from what I’ve seen with my girls. There’s a big switch that flips and after a few years of some tougher ages (2, 3, and 4), it’s a relief to see. Emmy is our giant ball of happiness. Like the best girl on the block, she just wants to have fun. She gets her biggest thrills out of physical play with her dad and sisters, and every night when I snuggle her to sleep she tells me, “You’re the best mom I ever had. I love you, mama.” I love my Emmy!

Accomplished: a killer first soccer season. She learned how to be a team player and to work the field. Sis loved winning and cheering people on.

Still working on: learning to read! She’s killing it, though. She’s my fastest learner yet. We’ll be done with our reading lesson book in about 2 months, making her reading-lesson journey 7-months long. Her quick ability to learn to read has amazed me.

Fave 2021 tunes: “Back in Black” by ACDC. And, of course, the entire “Encanto” soundtrack.

 

Claire Noelle

Claire stepped into her own shoes this year. She started school full-time, which she needed so badly, and she chose to branch out from dancing like her sisters do, and she instead chose to flip into tumbling. Claire emotionally matured, too. She learned the powerful life lesson – and she learned it well! –  of choosing your attitude in any situation, and that choosing a constructive attitude can turn even “the dumbest thing” into “the best thing” (her words)! I am so proud of her for learning to choose for herself to either hold onto the dumb things about a situation, or to acknowledge the dumb, let the dumb go, and then focus on the good. Sis kicked it on the soccer field, too, this year. I can’t wait to see her sprint that field again this Spring and compete and win!

Accomplished: she started at ground zero in tumbling this fall and she’s currently working on her arial. She’s competitive, that one. Give her a challenge and she’ll crush it.

Still working on: finding full value in going to school, haha. Sis has been ahead of her class in both Kindergarten and first grade, and sometimes it’s all just really slow for her. I love her so much for showing up there when she hasn’t wanted to. I cherish Claire! What an example she is to me!

Fave 2021 tunes: “Better Place” by Rachel Platten and “Waving Through A Window” from Dear Evan Hansen

 

Olivia Joy

Olivia flourished this year! She bravely switched to our zoned-for elementary school this fall, and she has just soared. I switched Claire over to the elementary school last winter but Olivia wanted to finish out her year at the school we started at after moving to St. George, so she was technically a new girl again by finally switching over this August, and while she didn’t want the change, she took it in stride and soared. She has been blessed with good friends, partly because Olivia is a good friend. Olivia decided that dance is her thing, she often led out in teaching our FHE lessons on Mondays, and she got in the habit of praying and studying her scriptures daily. Oh, and she makes her bed every day, too. She started to plan her every day on loose-leaf papers, so she got a planner for Christmas and scheduling out her day and checking off her boxes in her very own planner makes her giddy (she is my child).

Accomplished: she landed a spot in her dance studio’s production of “The Nutcracker” after auditioning with full confidence in herself, albeit knowing that she had only been taking ballet for a few weeks. She didn’t let her fear of not having as much experience as the next girl stop her — she went for it with a huge smile on her face and she made it. Olivia is brave and I love her!

Still working on: being patient with others when she’s got an agenda. Sis is pretty Type A (the apple doesn’t fall far) but she’s already learning to temper that side of our personality — the side that needs to chill out and go with the flow. I’m proud of her for that.

Fave 2021 tunes: Tchaikovsky’s, “The Nutcracker,” by far and away.

 

My Ryan

Honestly 2021 was a stretching year for my guy. His plate constantly overflowed with weighty responsibilities, from designing our house plans, to working his extremely busy job, to taking care of his girls (including me) — Ryan was okay to kiss 2021 goodbye. I can’t write it out well enough how Ryan handles stress, though, and that despite his demands, somehow he remains the eye of our storm. I love him deeply for putting God first, and for letting everything else shake out how it needs to after doing so. Ryan amazes me!

Accomplished: he had some awesome professional opportunities come his way this year, for which we are so grateful.

Still working on: flipping his internal clock around. He’s slowly turning into a morning lark versus a night owl. Hal-le-lu-jah (seriously I could cry over it. If you know me, you know how much going to bed early and waking up early is me)!

Fave 2021 tunes: everything we listened to, ha! Ryan works from home. He cannot escape his girls absolutely working over Alexa + Apple Music.

 

Moi

I loved 2021. I had my biggest, hardest-working year yet as a small business owner. Early last Spring, I started a small apparel company, She Wears___, with my sister-in-law (it began as a fundraiser for her IVF, and then we decided to run with it for a second as a venture! While I love the concept so much, I didn’t want to keep up with managing the supply chain issues in the apparel industry, so that little venture is sitting). Even more than that, I burnt the midnight oil designing + consulting for my branding clients, and I still gave my girls 100% every day. That said midnight oil fried to a crisp by mid-Novebmer — so much so, I’m planning on taking just a few clients in 2022 (if any??) — but man it felt good to prove myself to myself. If I really wanted to run a full-fledged design and consulting business, I could.

Accomplished: letting go of fear and not knowing what’s ahead in the future, both for myself and for those I love. I practiced and got much better at literally trust-falling into God’s arms and letting Him carry me where He knows I will experience the truest joy. I wholeheartedly believe that Heavenly Father has my best interest in all that He does, and that when I am following His counsel, He plays my life out just perfectly. I love Him so much for that (and I know that if He loves me like that, He loves you like that)!

Still working on: maintaining old and creating new friendships. I hope that not working in 2022 will afford me more time to make progress here — I know it will. Also, still working on reading more books. I devoured books growing up. I want to get back to being that cuddled-up-with-a-book girl!

Fave 2021 tunes: “Fool” by Fitz and the Tantrums (best toe-tapper of the year for me; loved blasting it and dancing in the car) and “Dear Theodosia” from Hamilton (I am Hamilton and Burr; the girls are Philip and Theodosia and without fail, the song just makes me cry).

 

Here are a few more pics from our session with Cachet to round out this post. I adore these girls and everything that they are, individually and collectively. And man does their daddy still have my entire heart beating for him!! We eternally have each other, so come what may 2022, we’re stoked. It is going to be a great year!