Happy New Year 2023! I know it’s already February and I’ve only now had time to sit down and write my first post of 2023! It was the beginning of our winter term at Bristol Language School that took most of my attention, but it was good to be available for last minute questions and enrolments. Thank you to all our students for joining our winter language courses.

Before writing this post, I went through my last year’s reflections and plans. It’s interesting to see what was important to me then.

So first let’s see what 2022 was like. It was both a challenging and also beautiful year. This year definitely belonged to our baby boy, as this was the year when our third baby was born: how we all fell in love with him! He’s so adorable, but we’d love to have a better evening routine, as he usually wakes up a few times in the evening (yes, evenings are me-time / me-and-hubby-time / work-time / doing nothing time, hence very important time for mama!). We still continue home-schooling. This was actually our second year of home-schooling; obviously, it was slightly different because of my last months of pregnancy, then postpartum and first months with our new-born baby. However, I think we managed to enjoy the home-schooling time together, although there were some little crises and difficult days (maybe even weeks ;). My girls had their 4th and 8th birthdays in 2022 and that made me think about time (also after reading Four Thousand Weeks); how it’s important to cherish those everyday moments and each other’s company.

In business, we celebrated our 10th year anniversary at Bristol Language School! Yes, the school was founded in August 2012! A little project that turned out to be an exciting hub for learning and improving language skills. There was an anniversary party, cake and wonderful guests. It’s amazing that we could celebrate this wonderful event together.

Personally, I didn’t have as much time for my passions, as my priority was my little baby. But, I’ve managed to read some interesting books, listen to podcasts in three different languages, writing inspiring blog posts for you here (!), do some wild swimming, cycling and long walks. Also, I was supported by my family and friends, which made this year a lot easier. I’m so grateful for that. I also became a dark hot chocolate enthusiast, so maybe I’ll prepare a post about my favourite cafes?

So, what are my plans and dreams for 2023? I think last year I talked about patience with my family and I think I was a bit more patient in 2022. For 2023, I’d like to bring more joy into our daily life, and maybe to express it in the form of playing music together, singing and dancing.

In business, I’d like to introduce a series of talks with interesting individuals on interesting topics. I also want to support our language school by creating a patreon’s site for the friends of Bristol Language School. I’m very excited about this project. You can find out more about it here.

Personally, I think I want to keep the right balance between all the different hats I’m wearing right now, and remember the importance of having time for myself. I also want to have a clearer vision for the daily or once-in-a-while rituals. Also, I’ve already started planning some sustainable family trips in 2023, of course!

These are my reflections on 2022 and visions for 2023. Have you made plans / visions / dreams for the New Year? Please let me know in the comments below.