A New Year

I'll start by saying

I have absolutely no idea how it's suddenly 2014.

< mind blown >

2013 was a good year. We had a lot of fun and accomplished a lot of good things; I'll look back on it and smile. (It also FLEW by.)

That being said, ringing in a new year has never been a very big deal to me.

I think it's mostly because from the dawn of time, my life has revolved around the academic year. My "new year" begins at the end of each August. Things change dramatically, I "mark off" another year, and I set new goals for the coming year.

January 1st is another reason to have a party, a reminder that I need to reprogram my fingers when typing dates, an excuse for me to monologue about how quickly time flies by, and a time to make resolutions which are mostly pointless (since the ones that matter were made in the Fall).

My resolutions this year are simply things I'm already working on, like finishing this master's I'm working on and graduating again.

BUT, this year seems a little bit different because after that, what do I do?

I'm SO used to my life being rigidly structured by school.

I'm used to everything I do being purposeful, if only because I have to do it for a class or something.

I'm used to my program or professors giving me structured opportunities to do something meaningful in my field.

I'm used to my chores and responsibilities at home being a nice break from that which consumes my life (school).

So, when school ends, now what?

Last time I had to deal with this I decided not to deal with it for a while; I started working on my masters.

But this time I can't just jump right into a PhD. That's not how it works in my field, and that's not how it'll work since Bryan will be starting his PhD so soon.

So, I suppose that for me, not only will 2014 be a big year of accomplishment(s), but it will be the year when I have to take over the structure in my life.

I'll need to make sure I'm accomplishing things that are meaningful to me, my family, and the field of mathematics education.

I'll need to make sure that I am choosing to do things that are purposeful, not letting every day just slip by.

I'll need to figure out what my life is going to look like...

...and that's a lot of pressure...

...but a whole new adventure.

For that, I'm pretty excited. :)

Welcome, 2014! Nice to see you.