A year has come and gone. Many bloggers have created lists about their memorable times, accomplishments and disappointments in 2007. At the risk of sounding cliche, I will spin out my own list of sorts.

The year 2007 for me as a mother was a very hard and challenging year. The past 12 months have tested my strength and will as a mom. But look at me now, I am still standing, breathing… smiling. Though I must have aged considerably, more hair strands have gotten white, more lines have appeared on my face, my knees have gotten weaker, my back more sore than ever before… my spirit has grown more muscle. I will not call myself a survivor, (I think that should be reserved for those who truly deserve it) but I must say I have survived the most horrendous year in my 30-plus or so life (hehe).

The year that was… my personal challenges:

• 2007 is the poorest year I have had. Our family (me, my hubby and kids) have made a lot of sacrifices. We gave up traveling first and foremost. That was really hard for us as we loved traveling, even just to drive to nearby provinces. We gave up our weekly trips to the mall with the kids and instead became creative with the activities we did at home. My husband and I toned down our date night. If before we went to every new restaurant we have heard of (partly to have something to write about at our food blog), we also had to be creative about how we spent our date night. We settled for watching DVDs or our favorite late night shows while binging on junk food and reserved nights out for special occasions.
• 2007 is the continuation to my journey through married life. There were new lessons that I learned, new pains and challenges as a wife,  new revelations that contributed to my growth to becoming a better wife to my husband.
• 2007 is the hardest year I have had trying to balance work and family life. With a sweet but demanding husband (I love you sweetie), two equally demanding and growing kids, and a full time job, there were days when I could barely wake up to get up.

The list is short but the things that make up my list actually makes up my whole year as a mother.

The most important thing that helped me go through it all is the love of my dear family. My husband’s growing love and support for me, my oldest son’s faith and trust, and my youngest son’s love and smiles he throws my way. I have no doubt that 2008 will be much more difficult, much more challenging than the past year was but I also do not doubt that I will live through it just as I did today.