Happy New Year. Welcome 2013.

I began 2012 awaiting the birth of my niece and all of the accompanying excitement relating to waiting for babies (with slightly less enthusiasm for the oh-so-many baby showers that came along with the whole ‘waiting for babies’ thing).

And the birth of my niece was one of the most amazing things about 2012.

Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of things about the year that were amazing and special and great and awesome. But.

It was a tough year.

I was among the many who couldn’t wait for the year to end, couldn’t wait to see what promise a new year would hold, and so here we are.

It’s 2013.

You know how when you wait for your birthday and you think you’ll wake up and look older? Like magically overnight you go to bed looking 15 and wake up looking 16 and whoa, amazing right? (I’m not talking about now that we’re older. I wake up looking older EVERY. DAMN. DAY). And the thing is you would wake up in the morning and you’d look in the mirror and you’d think to yourself, “Nope… still look 15.”

I am kind of feeling that way this morning.

I still hold a lot of optimism for 2013 – because 2012 was so difficult and I have a lot of hope that the new year will be better. I believe in new chapters and fresh starts and the whole symbolism thing about New Years Eve, which is why I’ve always loved it so much.

You know, maybe it would be better if the new calendar started in May – so instead of waking up to bleak cold, you could start fresh and it’d be green outside and spring and warm and you could start your year in sunshine. {Seasonal Affective WHUT?}

I didn’t mean to start the new year as a grump.

(The winter made me do it.)

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The reality is… I’m very excited about the new year and its potential and I have hope for good things for me and the people I care about. I have hope that it will keep getting better. I believe it with almost every fiber of my being (except the fibers that are currently moody).

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I am open to seeing what this year has to offer. Last year was full of so much change, there’s a part of me that strongly hopes that this year is boring. Boring, healthy, happy, content.