GOODBYE 2019 // HELLO 2020
Goodness gracious. As I sit here, thinking about not only the last year, but the last decade, I am overwhelmed with emotion. This time of year in 2009, J and I had only been married for two short months and a ten-year anniversary seemed like a lifetime away. But now, it feels like we blinked and here we are. We celebrated every second of our 20's. Learned more lessons than we can count. Transitioned from our starter home to one we can't wait to raise a family in. Started a business that allows me to do what I love every day. City by city and country by country, we saw so much of the world and allowed it to change us. In turn, we came home to our two pups each day who love us endlessly and have been with us since the very beginning. There were high highs and low lows, but no matter what came our way, we got through it together. We grew into the people we were always meant to be.2019 came at us head on. We knew it would be a year that forced us to lean on each other more so than ever, and inevitably, knew that the last nine years prepped us for that. If I had to sum up this year in one word - it would be heavy-hearted. Not constantly, but at times, it felt like the heartbreak outweighed the celebrations. However, this year taught us more than any of year of our marriage has and for that, we're beyond thankful. We learned how to not only sit still, but appreciate the stillness. And in that stillness, we realized we had to shift our mindset. We were forced to find the good in everything. We kept going, kept gravitating towards our community and doing life together, and with that perseverance, it renewed a gratefulness within us for the little things. Early morning coffee together, weeknight dinners up the street, late nights outside looking at the stars rather than our phones, impromptu lunch dates with sweet friends, and just enjoying sitting still rather than filling our days with busyness. J and I love moments - we think they're what memories are made of and they can be life changing. Big, little, doesn't matter. We love celebrating them + sharing them with people we love. Throughout 2019, good moments or bad, we were reminded to simply be thankful for them. Even if the glass was only half-full, we were just grateful for the water. We planned a dinner party surrounding that damn glass and made a moment out of it. Time after time of continuing to find the good amongst the difficult, we were reminded that those unwritten pages are okay. We left them blank and celebrated anyway. We stopped focusing on what we didn't have or what just wasn't happening for us and shifted our mindset to all of the amazing things that are right in front of us. In the end, it brought us closer than ever, our relationships are strengthened, and our perspective changed. Once we stopped running from the heaviness, it somehow felt lighter.Healing happens by feeling - we found the soul in our season.We're ending 2019 with a couple of hard lessons behind us, a few empty wine bottles, and a whole lot stronger. Just so thankful that even though this chapter of our lives wasn't quite like we would've written it, we wouldn't take anything for it. God's timing is always better than ours.
That brings us to 2020 - whew. I want to share a few resolutions (mostly so you all can help hold me accountable), but I want to be intentional about them, all while giving myself a little grace. I feel like I need the 'moment' of tonight - ending 2019 and crossing over into a new decade to finish writing them, so I'll be sharing them in a separate post later this week. I hope you all have a beautiful (and safe!) New Year's Eve! For the first time ever, J and I are staying in - a bottle of Veuve, grilling steaks, making twice-baked potatoes, + wedge salads and celebrating in sweats on the couch. I could NOT be happier about it!Cheers to the start of a new decade, friends - we love you all so much!Meg