Making my 21 for 2021 list seemed more difficult and at the same time easier than in previous years. In addition to having high hopes that the world will be able to get back to some sense of normalcy in 2021, we are trying to find a new home and move this year — together these things make me feel like planning anything is a fool’s errand. So, I did my best to put together a list of things we can do regardless of many unforeseen circumstances. 

Isn’t it funny that one of my list items last year was to make cardamom bread and somehow I am the only person in the world who didn’t make bread in 2020. There are lots of things on my 20 for 2020 list that I didn’t complete. As I post my 21 for 2021, I am letting go of high expectations and fears of failures. Instead, I am taking Gretchen Rubin’s advice (again) to “focus on actions, not outcomes.”

I hope you will join me this year and make a list of your own. I made a template for you!

Ok, here’s my list:

1. Get Covid vaccine
2. Find a primary care doctor
3. Read 6 books
4. Go to 3 book club meetings
5. Host quarterly trivia nights
6. Host quarterly activity nights
7. Post to blog monthly
8. Try to walk every day
9. Try a daily stretching regimen
10. Make 20 new meals
11. Simplify wardrobe
12. Send 12 letters
13. Send 6 emails to Luke and JJ
14. Make JJ's year one book
15. Have Luke and JJ take swim lessons
16. Buy and frame a print of JJ’s special painting
17. Do an "I’m on the Market for Friends" project
18. Make cardamom bread
19. Make a piece of art for our house
20. Make an activity jar
21. Take a new family portrait

Last year we started selecting a word of the year. The word is just meant to help guide decision making and state of mind throughout the year. 2020 was the year of FLEX, which really came in handy when essentially everything planned and normal went out the window. The word of 2021 is HELP. Hopefully, I’m going to work on asking for help and be able to provide help outside our family unit more regularly.

2020 was not a flop. We welcomed JJ and celebrated lots of family milestones. But, it could have been better! Let’s do what we can to find the good in each day and start 2021 off with so much hope. When I feel like I can’t do that, cue asking for HELP. 

We are a few days out from Thanksgiving and we usually don’t start Christmas-ing until after Turkey Day. This strange year there is even more pressure than ever to get the tree up and do all the holiday things immediately. I’m not quite there yet, but thought that this post may inspire some holiday cheer or even provide you with a project if you are not feeling the usual bustle of Thanksgiving travel and gathering this week.

I love the holiday season. We didn’t have kids to make Christmas more fun (pretty sure), but they certainly add layers of excitement to November and December. And never say never, but we will never be an Elf on a Shelf family. Instead, I am so excited to create new (less intensive) traditions and build wonderful memories for myself, my husband, and my kids. This year we are starting our Yannes Family Holiday Handbook. I am doing my best to build it loosely so that it can develop as the world changes, as our kids grow, and as our family evolves. Am I putting too much stock into it? Probably. Times change and sometimes there is a pandemic. But I am pumped up about little joys in this crazy state of the world. Maybe you can find some inspiration for traditions too. 

​Holiday Card Album
We started sending a holiday card in 2013 (two years into our marriage). We send a New Years card so that if for any reason we are delayed in getting them in the mail, there is no pressure. Highly recommend! Until now, I’ve always remembered to save a copy, but haven’t displayed them in any way. We rarely get physical albums nowadays in our house, so this at least provides one or two photos from each year.

Yannes Family Santa Clause
I know I will lose some of you here. I have an inquisitive husband and I think my children are going to get that curious trait from him. So, when it comes to Santa, I would like to have clear communication about how our family interacts with the North Pole and the big guy himself. This made me think of one of our family’s favorite holiday movies, The Santa Clause. The “e” at the end of Clause makes this different from just the jolly dude, instead it’s a document or contract. I’ve started our Santa Clause with some basic questions, but as our kids have more ideas and concerns, we will check in with Santa to make amendments. Keep reading to see our Yannes Family Santa Clause.

Becoming a parent is hard and to be rudely frank, getting unwanted stuff in your house makes it harder. I know women become new moms all year round, but if anyone in your life will be welcoming a baby into their home this holiday season, here are some recommendations for practical and indulgent gifts.

We have so much stuff for our kids and it’s fun to get them that stuff. It can be even more fun to get stuff for other people’s kids because it lives in their houses. I really do my best to be mindful of people’s space and what kids will actually use when we select presents for birthdays and holidays. We love giving experiences (from supplies for water balloon fights to museum memberships), but because much of the world is closed for business and we are not getting together in big family groups, stuff feels like the answer right now and for the winter holidays. I’m building my gifting plan here; so, don’t be surprised if your kids get some of these things from us. I’m pretty focused on little kids because I live in the little kid world right now. 

There are so many things I want to create, write, and dump out of my brain right now to express my frustration with myself and the world. I feel like I’ve been spinning and not producing anything, except for empty dishwashers, folded laundry stacks, filled Duplo baskets, and occasionally mopped floors. Not being able to find the headspace or time to create something, anything, is leaving me running on empty every day. And even worse, I find myself projecting that emptiness onto my family. Here’s what I’m going to do about it today, I’m going to close my eyes and transport myself to December. In the words of Auntie Mame, “we need a little Christmas now.” I imagine the holidays will look different this year and I will be grappling to create magic for my little people, for my big people, and for myself. I have some holiday projects started around that I hope to have done by December. But, when I’m not feeling creative, internet shopping is always there waiting for my browsing eyes. 

I want to share my online shopping finds with you. Let’s kick off the holiday season already with some gift guides because who doesn’t love a gift guide during a pandemic?!

Last year I debuted my Very Practical Gift Guide. This year, I hope to bring you guides with safe-at-home and safe-while-slowly-emerging-from-home for your friends and family of all ages. I’m trying to challenge myself to find new sources for gifts to support small businesses and BIPOC communities. And I know that we all are considering budgets more carefully these days because we’ve learned that things can change in a heartbeat.