Two weeks into the new year and I’m crushing this whole balance thing. We had the best week of vacation the first week of the year – even though we both went in and out of some gross illness. We went skiing and visited breweries. We also went to bed at 8:30 on New Year’s Day.

We were unpacked with laundry done within 24 hours of returning and still had plenty of time to have breakfast with my dad, drinks with my mom and I finished my first book of the year.

During our crazy week back at work, I switched offices, caught up from our vacation and even allowed myself to sneak away for a midweek lunch date for pizza. After work, we spent a few nights completely reorganizing the pantry, the fridge and the linen closet. On our fun nights, we went to a fondue party and dove into Shameless season 7.

This past weekend, I met with some girlfriends to make plans for our bookclub, had dinner with some friends we haven’t seen in forever and hosted a pizza party baby shower. In the same weekend, I also had hours of silent reading time and actually snuck in some yoga.

I finished up my busy weekend riding a roller coaster of emotions that was the Vikings game. I was elated, angry, sad, defeated and then screaming and jumping for joy on my couch. It’s been 24 hours now and my heart is still racing from that finish.

The best thing about picking the word “balance” is what I’m learning about my feelings towards myself. I’m learning that it’s OK to get excited about having a night on the couch if the next night involves happy hour or a workout.

When I jump up, I come back down. Before now, I haven’t let myself enjoy both sides. I’ve gotten excited about plans and vacations and then overwhelmed and annoyed with myself when I watched a movie by myself and read magazines the next night. It’s all part of life and I’m good loving every up and every down.

I can be annoyed at the people that take really awesome and graceful jumping pictures because mine are… well, you can see. Hope your new year is off to a bang.