Things to look forward to in 2018

Family bike rides. Since getting my bike, Tim and I have made it a goal to get the rest of the family set up so we can take family bike rides this summer. We discovered a few parks and trails last year that we thought would be perfect for a bike ride. Can't wait!

New traditions. Our kids are still young, so we haven't pinned down many traditions yet. Tim and I have a couple traditions around Christmas that we've carried out since getting married, but we're still learning what we'd like our family traditions to look like. There were a few things we discussed last year that we'd like to implement this year.

• Holy Souls Day—One of my good friends from college is Mexican, and I was always in such awe of her family dynamic. Her culture is so rich and full of tradition, I remember thinking I want to raise a family that is sewn together by tradition. That's a bit difficult today. We're one big, giant melting pot, which is wonderful in its own rite, but I think something is so lost when we forget about our roots. Since I've gotten married, I've looked much deeper into Polish traditions. My grandpa was born in Poland, so I experienced some Polish traditions as a kid since my Dad grew up in that culture. I've adopted a couple traditions, but one that I learned about this year was how the Polish celebrate the Feast of the Holy Souls. It's a Catholic feast day, but the day is treated like a national holiday in Poland. Next to attending Mass, families reunite and visit their deceased loved ones at the cemetery. It's a day dedicated to being with your living family honoring and remembering those who have passed. How beautiful is that? 
• Baptismal days—I don't know my baptismal date. And I actually didn't know my kids' off the top of my head either, I had to go back and look. But I did, and I marked the days in my calendar, so we can celebrate them next year. Ella will be 4 in April, so she's at the perfect age to begin this tradition. 
• St. Nicholas Day—Listen, we do Santa Claus around here. I know if you're religious, there is this debate if you should acknowledge Santa Clause or just St. Nicholas. I'd like to do both. Actually, I wish we were kind of like Europe in that St. Nicholas is the prominent figure and Santa is refereed to as "the Christmas Man." Regardless, I didn't grow up celebrating St. Nicholas Day, so it hasn't come naturally to me. However, it's something I want to raise my kids with, so next year it will be on my calendar.    

Vacation. Now we all know how plans go when we Lochners plan a trip. Everything we had planned for last year, we had to cancel. But we have a trip for this year on the horizon. And I will not say anything more on this topic in fear of it jinxing it.

Five year wedding anniversary. This year Tim and I are celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary, and I'm excited about it. I feel particularly proud of this milestone as the past 5 years have included some hard-hitting lows that we overcame together as a team. It's an anniversary to celebrate, no doubt.

Ella goes to pre-school! We plan to send Ella to pre-school in the fall. Some parents decide against pre-school, some send their kids when they hit age 3. To be honest, it's not a decision that is easy to explain. It's a parent-instinct thing. I'm happy we waited a bit, but she's ready.

We're already 2 months into 2018, so I was hesitant to post this. The post has been sitting in my drafts folder since December. But it's never too late to make a to-do and goals list! 2018 will be a great year.