Hello all! It’s been a while. I don’t think I posted at all this year, even with the disappearing months snafu. 2019 was... rough. I have been working on reflecting this week since I have the week and a half off due to the holidays. I really don’t have a whole lot of nice things to say about the year other than we survived.

The one awesome thing is that my kid had another major surgery and came out of it really well. I am so thankful that is over and it should be the last one he has!

The rest of the year was not so stellar. We ended up leaving the apartment early and moving back in with my parents who are a godsend. I ended up pulling my oldest out of kindergarten due to anxiety and lack of supports (despite it being one of the best schools for special education around) and am homeschooling which has its awesome days and not so awesome days. I was sick three out of the last four months with various colds and pneumonia with my kids joining in with their own colds in between. I am struggling to finish my masters (one more semester!). My office had a high turnover in a 9-month period. I am wearing multiple hats, am a veteran after 2 years, and it sucks. I don’t see the turnover stopping yet though either. Oh, and let’s top it off with our yearly winter ER visit #1 with my kid spiking a scary 105 fever (gone by the time we got checked in, of course). And my dog tore her canine ACL and she had surgery on it this past week, so I am dealing with that recovery process.

So, yeah. Rough year. We survived!

Financially, I am ending in an ok place. I have some savings, but not where I want to be. I have about 3 months' salary saved in the emergency fund. I will likely have to raid some of it to pay off the vet on my credit card. My goal is to get 6 months to a year in my EF. I have a rainy-day fund for car issues but once again, I am leasing a new car when I needed to have just chosen and bought one. I just didn’t have the energy at that time. HSA is fully funded and barely touched thanks to supplemental insurance this year. I paid off my student loans, then took $5k out for this past semester due to cash flow issues. I am planning to pay it off by the time I graduate in May.

So not too shabby financially, still an ugh of a year. I am mentally, emotionally, and physically drained. I am ready for 2019 to be DONE.

2020 goals are being hard to set. I saw a joke recently of “I don’t know what I am doing in a week... I don’t have 2020 vision!” and thought it was rather fitting. My word of the year is going to be "Vision". I hope to get my “vision” back so I can be in the moment, not exhausted, and be forward-looking with plans.

Some vague goal thoughts include me getting healthy, rocking homeschooling, fixing my work somehow, getting back to seriously saving, graduating, and enjoying life. Any one of those is a tall order, so I will have to narrow it down somehow, but first is recovery and this week off is helping.

I do read everyone's posts almost daily and am so glad you are all posting frequently. It is a joy to read your stories and see how everyone grows over time. Thank you all for taking the time to do so!