The van Putten Diaries

Before writing this, I read through my end of year post from 2022 and now I'm sitting here in a bit of a state of anxious shock.  I've changed quite a bit without realizing, and forgotten a lot as well... perhaps buried in an attempt at self-preservation.   In that post, I mentioned the overwhelming anxiety I felt when I thought about 2022 and how I was not in a good mental state to reflect much on it.  But now, I think about 2022 quite a lot.  When I can anticipate a huge life change, such as graduating or moving, I try to intentionally hold onto some distinct memories of that time and that place in which I'll never live again.  I have a lot of those from 2022 and they pop into my head at completely random moments every single day.  I had spent so much energy looking around me and sitting with the details of what I was seeing, of what my life was in Tacoma, while burning myself up in preparing to move.   I spontaneously think about...  ...

I started this blog post in October then never bothered to sit down and finish it.  I think it's an excellent place to lead into an end of year review, though, so I'm just going to add on.  The below text in italics was written almost 3 months ago, the rest was written today.   We've reached the point where our life here is very comfortable.  The honeymoon period is still there, but it's waning and I can feel that I've started thinking about things without the lens of bliss.  At least once every other day, Nic and I will look at each other and say something like "Yep, our life is great.  No complaints."  Even when it's a frustrating day or something happens that requires an urgent care visit, we are completely happy. This contentedness, this fullness, has become our new normal.  We are active, we have routine, our house has what we need in it, we know where we're going and how things work, the kids have friends and activities that they parti...