As I’m sure you could tell by my sporadic-at-best blogging, 2016 was an exciting but tumultuous year. A year ago at this time, J and I had decided to pursue a major change in our lives, seeking new jobs and a new home on the Front Range. Of course, no teaching jobs are posted in January, and we didn’t want to tell anyone about our plans until we had definite plans, so we spent several months feeling anxious, unsure, and unstable.

Then came April and May, the big hiring months in education, with the juggling act of applying, interviewing, and still being decent teachers at our then-current jobs. After what seemed like endless interviews (but really wasn’t that many), we both got hired, and then came goodbyes, and guilt, and excitement as the school year ended and summer began.

Summer 2016 ushered in more instability, as Jordan’s new job sent him from training to training, we got our house on the market and started shopping for a new one, and I hung out in an odd place of mental limbo, wanting to do all I could to get ready for my new job, but not really knowing what to do, as I didn’t know anyone and had only a few resources. I also got injured for the first time in my running life, and, as I wrote about here and here, being injured only added to my already-turbulent mental state.

Although summer doesn’t technically end until mid-September, for us it ended in August. We moved into our new house in Milliken and started our new jobs, kicking off an exciting-but-stressful fall. For the last five months, our work-life balance has tipped almost entirely to the “work” side, as is to be expected when starting new jobs. I’m certainly not complaining — I love my new job and am grateful to have it — but that lack of balance has made settling into our new home and community happen much slower than we expected. In fact, we just this week have finally started hanging pictures, which has done wonders for making our house finally feel like home.

2016 was a good year for us, but it was certainly a stressful one. As I look to 2017, I’ve realized that I don’t want to make resolutions, or set lofty goals. I’ve had enough big changes lately. Instead, I want 2017 to focus on one thing: stability. I want to work on continuing to make this house feel like our home, through painting and completing lots of the other projects that need done. I want to meet people and build friendships  in our new community. I want to finish out this school year and immediately start working on making next year better, now that I’ll know how things are done and what is expected at my new school. I just want to stabilize, and then, as ’17 goes on, maybe look at making changes or setting goals.

That same concept applies to my running life, too.  I’m knocking on wood here, but I think I’m finally recovering from this injury. I’m still taking it slowly, as I’ve thrice set myself back again by pushing too hard, too soon, but hopefully, I’m on my way back to normal. I literally need to focus on stability: strengthening, stretching, and foam rolling my muscles to keep this injury healing and prevent others from popping up. Although I’m eyeing the Loveland Sweetheart Classic four-miler in February, and I’d love to do some trail runs/races this year, I’m not signing up for or committing to anything until I’m completely healthy –stable –again.

I’m certainly excited for 2017 and looking forward to what I’ll learn and experience this year. Once I have a stable foundation, in all parts of my life, who knows what will happen next?

Do you have any resolutions/goals/words for 2017? Share them in the comments!