My 2020 Bucket List

Does anyone else get super excited for a new planner? I have been using The Happy Planner for 3 years now and I love it.

Like my new planner says- New Year, New Feels, New Chances, Same Dreams, Fresh Starts!

2020 will be full new things. We moved to North Carolina in December and it's like starting fresh. I am first to admit that I am horrible at new year resolutions so instead I am listing off things I want to do this year instead of declaring them new year resolutions. My 2020 bucket list!

1) Explore NC - Now that we live in North Carolina, I'd love to do some major exploring. We have the beach and the mountains and everything in between. If you live in or around Charlotte, I'd love some recommendations on family-friendly places to check out.

2) Prioritize Self-Care - Being a mom of four comes with so many sacrifices, one being self-care. I need to starting taking better care of myself. One of the ways I have started doing this is working out. I haven't worked out since having Lily 8 years ago. I can't even believe I am admitting that. It's easy to find an excuse. I've been getting up before the kids wake to get some me-time in and work up a sweat. I hope to keep the momentum going. Some other ways I plan to prioritize myself is to: plan a girls trip, drink more water and focus on my blog.

3) Make New Friends - I left my friends in Georgia so I need to make some new friends here. Having a support system and some company other than my kids and husband is so critical. I am hoping it won't be too hard, but I know it will be more challenging since I work from home now.

4) Tackle Finances - This item stays on my list year after year. This has been a struggle for us to keep our debt under control. Life happens though and there's always something that comes up when you get any bit of extra income. A big move does not help. Also, with 4 kids there is always something to pay for. This year I am going to come up with a plan and track our spending so we can dig our way out of this hole. Wish us luck! Let me know if you have any tips!

What is something you hope to accomplish this year?

Best of 2019

2019 has been quite a year for our family! We have experienced some lows and highs and everything in between. 

Our babies got a year older and we loved celebrating with each of them. 

Ava turned 9 in March. Her and I share March birthdays so we spent it at Universal Studios The Magical World of Harry Potter! 

Mia turned 2 in May and we had a mermaid themed party because she is water baby!

 Levi turned 4 in November and he had a blast at his party at the bouncy house- Monkey Joe's. 

Lily turned 8 in December and we celebrated with friends at the trampoline park! 

This year we experienced the scariest parenting moment to date. In May, Lily was diagnosed with an intercranial tumor. Thankfully, it was benign and the surgery to remove the tumor was a success. Lily amazed us all with her resilience and she continues to thrive. We are so grateful that through this scary ordeal our girl was all the strength we needed! 

Throughout the year we have had some amazing time with family. They all rallied around us and was the support we needed! Even when we could not travel, they came to us! 

In January, took our first and last trip to Ikea together lol, we traveled to visit Noah's brother (also known as Uncle Bubba), Jeremy and Monet and Ava and I had the best time on our mother-daughter trip to Orlando. I still owe a trip to Lily soon! 

The girls and Noah had fun at the first father-daughter dance at school and I had a fun time at my first instructor led DIY wood painting class. 

Noah and I both turned 35 this year and celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. 

The kids had fun with their cousins Easter egg hunting. 

Levi had a big hair cut. He went from a little boy to a big boy with one shave! 

We had lots of trip to the beach and pool before Lily's big surgery in July. Through her recovery we had lots of family visit including Grandpa, Mimi, Uncle Bubba and Aunt Sarah! 

Mia had so much fun at the beach this year! She was big enough to keep up with her siblings! 

We had fun at the county fair and we went to the movies (Aladdin, Lion King, Toy Story 4 & Frozen 2!) 

We had fun with our VA cousins at the beach and got to see the theatre production of Peter Pan with Aunt Seal and cousin Camille. 

We evacuated from another hurricane (that didn't end up to be nothing), but it was fun to visit family in Atlanta and visit the Georgia Aquarium! 

I snuck away for a girl's trip, my second trip to a blog conference and had a blast. 

We were there to celebrate my brother and Cassie get engaged! 

Noah became a Jeep owner again! 

The girls and I had so much fun being nerds at Frogwarts! 

Levi loved playing soccer with his daycare pals! 

He attended his first birthday party and had a blast! 

Ava and Lily finished 1st and 2nd grade and went on to have an amazing time in 2nd & 3rd grade. 

I helped co-host my best friend's epic Game of Thrones baby shower! 

The kids were adorable for Halloween. Ava was Seven from Stranger Things, Lily was a pirate, Levi was Maui and Mia was Moana. 

Noah got a new job and we visited him at his new office.

We started our good-bye tour by spending as much time with friends as we could. 

We took a trip to the Jacksonville zoo.

Mimi and the kids squeezed in some time with Santa before Christmas

We packed up our house to prepare for our move to North Carolina and we had our last day at daycare, school and work!

We said good-bye to our Georgia house and hello to our new North Carolina house! 

We definitely ended 2019 with a bang. We are so excited for what the new year will bring. 

Merry Christmas everyone, from our crew to yours!! 

We love you! 

How to Slay your Goals in 2019

A new year means a fresh start right? 

I recently got my hair cut and it couldn't come at a more perfect time. I think a fresh new cut is a great way to start the next chapter.

I'm excited for what 2019 has in store for me.

Best of 2018

2018 was a year! I love reflecting on all the memories made with my family. Let's get to it!

Mia experienced more firsts in 2018. January gave us our first Savannah Snow for the first time since 1989 so Mia was able to see snow! All the kids had such a fun two days playing in it!

Mia also celebrated her first Valentine's Day, Lunar New Year and Easter!

We celebrated lots of birthdays, too! 

Ava turned eight (8) and she had an epic slime party! She loves to make silly music videos and binge Fuller House on Netflix. 

Lily turned seven (7) and we hosted an awesome slumber party. She loves to play outside and is obsessed with LOL Surprise dolls. 

Levi turned three (3) and we celebrated with him at the Jacksonville Zoo. He loves super heroes and is the funniest kid! 

Mia turned ONE (1)! Her birthday theme was georgia peach because she is so sweet! She is by far my easiest baby. Except when you ask for kisses, she'll say no and laugh. But I steal them all the time! 

2018 was filled with fun! 

-Levi was potty-trained successfully! 

-Ava, Lily and I had fun screen-printing tees! 

-Took the kids strawberry picking this summer

- We had fun at the pool, beach and even in the sprinklers! Mia is a water baby like the rest of the Cruzan crew. 

- Ava and Lily spent two weeks this summer in Virginia with their aunt/uncle and cousins!

- Ava discovered Harry Potter! 

- We visited family for Fourth of July! 

- For mother's day we had a special photo shoot on the beach! 

-Levi and Mia enjoyed Halloween this year going door to door to trick-or-treat

-Mimi came to visit since she moved back to Virginia

-Daddy traveled alot for work, but we (I mean me) survived! 

- I went to my first ever blogging conference and saw Taylor Swift in concert! 

-Daddy gained a Panthers fan!

-Noah and I celebrated 10 years of marriage! 

-Ava met her best friend, Addison! 

-Lily learned how to ride a bike without training wheels! 

-Noah and I traveled to New York for our anniversary trip! 

-We enjoyed a date night and a concert in Charleston! 

-We traveled to VA for Thanksgiving!

-Levi visited the dentist for the first time! 

-Ava joined her first school club and had a couple of McAllister Musicians performances! 

-Mia learned to walk! 

2018 was a ton of fun! My life may be crazy but I would not change it for the world. 

Happy New Year and I wish you all a wonderful 2019! I cannot wait to see what it has in store for us! 

Best of 2017

2017 was one for the books.  I can't believe how fast it came and went. About as fast as my pregnancy with Mia!

The biggest event this year hands down was the arrival of our 4th baby, Mia Claire. She arrived in May and we have been blessed to spend the past 7 months with her. She completes our Cruzan crew! 

We have celebrated lots of firsts with Mia this year!  It's crazy how much she has changed with each holiday!

2016 in Review

I'm sorry I've been MIA from blogging. The holidays were crazy! But now that I'm back at home I'm ready to get back into it!

2016 sure did zoom by. I think with kids it starts to go by quicker than normal. It was a wonderful year filled with new friends, family memories and lots of new discoveries.

We enjoyed lots of firsts with Levi this year. Plenty of milestones and first holidays!

We celebrated new birthdays-- Ava turned 5 in March, Levi turned 1 in November and Lily just turned 5 this past December.

Noah and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. So much as changed since then. I'm so happy I get to spend my life with him. I grow more and more in love with him. I am so proud of him and I could not dream up a better father for our children!

This year we made lots of memories on our family vacations to the beach, the mountains and visits with friends and family!

Some highlights:

* First dolphin cruise
* Trip to Gatlinburg, TN with friends and Dollywood
* Trip to Pensacola
* Ava's second dance recital
* Lily and Ava playing soccer for the first time
* Cruzans walk the Gulfstream 5K
* Cabin trip to Ellijay, GA for Thanksgiving

The girls started new school years, tried a new sport (soccer) and had a great 2016 overall!

This year I also worked on my blog, made new friends, co-hosted an event, collaborated with some awesome companies and joined a great group of women that are so supportive and encouraging!

(Photograpy by Andrea Kinnear Photography & Design)

  My friend Megan and I hosted an Instagram Meet-up in Savannah over the summer. 

I joined the Savannah Influencer Group and we already participated in our first Give Back event over the holidays with the Dwaine and Cynthia Willett Children's Hospital! 

I feel so blessed looking back on our year. I can't wait to see what 2017 has in store for my little family!

I wish everyone the best for the new year filled with joy, happiness and prosperity!