My one word for 2016... was TIME... I was asking for precious, sacred time... Just that simple.

And precious, beautiful, sacred {time} was what I got.

It's always {time} and {quiet} I'm after and both can be a little elusive. Life as we knew it, was changing and we wanted to make the most of every moment we had together this year before we sent this girl of ours out into the world. We wanted to max out every moment we had together.

And I'm so grateful to say, we did...

I was based mostly at home this year which meant I was there to pick up her at 12pm everyday. Yup - what they don't tell you about Matric is they write exams just about the whole year long and they don't do full days and the days she didn't write exams, she was home and I got to spend that time with her. Us sitting on the patio while she studied and I worked, having breakfasts and lunches together and fetching our Kitty-girl together. What stood out to me most of all, is how much she made me laugh through the day. She's a joy to hang out with, I can see why her friends are always laughing around her. With our kids mostly being at school all day and sports in the afternoons and homework at night - we miss so much of their lives and who they are actually. What we are often left with is not really enough.

I am so grateful I got to have this year with her so full-time and slowly and so preciously. I will never forget how choosing time intentionally gave me so much in return.

She left us 4 times this year, to travel independently from us. I thought I would never cope with it but we have been surprisingly ready. I think it helps knowing she was ready too.

At the moment she's living on the other side of the country where I spent a big part of my childhood.

Life is just so exciting.