Hello 2017

I love the start of a New Year. It is always filled with so much promise. If I'm being honest I was more than ready to say good-bye to 2016, especially the last few months. November in particular. I don't know what it is about this years presidential election but it really opened my eyes to so many things. It left me emotionally drained. It was the month I found courage to speak up, and for that only to be followed by back lash. It was the month I learned that people like me, but prefer me to be silent.  It was in that month I realized just how big of hypocrites some people really are. The month I realized that friendships at this point in my life come in the form of quality, not quantity. And it was the month I realized I really, really, like myself and I refuse to apologize for the things I believe to be true in my heart. So maybe it wasn't a bad month, but it was a hard one, and one of self discovery.

Despite the awful month of November, 2016 was really filled with so much good. Exactly a year ago we were in a moving truck on our way to our new beginning in Helena. I was sad and scared to be leaving behind Billings. But a year later I can honestly say it was the best choice for our us. For the first time in a long time we have stability and we needed it so bad. Helena has been a blessing to us. We love the town. We are content and not looking beyond it for the next best thing and that too feels good. Helena has brought in my life so many incredible people, and two very best friends who I'd be lost without. The kind of friends whose families become your family, whose kids become your kids, & whose homes feel like your home, and it is the BEST. We absolutely love it here.
2016 was also the year I decided to take better care of myself & my skin. You know, the year I realized I was aging. It was the year I discovered Beautycounter. Which then lead to me becoming a consultant, which became one of the best choices I ever made. I am successful at it in my own right, and I am so passionate about it. I'm so grateful for it coming into my life and I can't wait to see where it takes me in 2017. 
2016 was also the year we announced we were once again expecting. This May we will welcome to our family our third daughter, Norah. 2017 will most definitely be her year. It will be the year we become a family of 5. I hope to fully embrace the beauty of pregnancy these next four months, for it is my last time. Pregnancy is hard on me. But we are so excited and cannot wait for the beautiful chaos of adding another to our clan. 
So here we are at 2017. In 2017 one of my biggest goals it so become okay with the unknown. To remain positive even when things aren't always clear. Mixed in with the joy of a child coming later this Spring is something very hard coming up this fall. Something I am already fighting with every day to not let steal my joy. So as always I hope to be present. To take everything one day at a time. I truly believe 2017 is going to be an incredible year, it just may be a year I'll need to find a little extra strength.

Some of my other goals for the new year include things such as reading more books. Real books. You know, actually holding them in my hands, and smelling the pages kind of thing. I love books, and reading them on a kindle just isn't the same.

I hope in 2017 to make time for my friends face to face, at least once a week. Even when I'm busy. Friendships are so important to me.

I want to continue to embrace little joys, like new coffee mugs, visits to starbucks, and perusing target. I'm aware that may make me seem basic, but I'm okay with that. Basic equals happiness in my world.

In 2017 I also hope to get outside more. To make it to both Yellowstone & Glacier with my family this summer.

I hope to take more pictures, even if they are just of my kids.

In 2017 I want to keep up with my writing, and share the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Lastly, I hope to embrace my body after three, which will no doubt be hard for me. I hope to look in a mirror and see the beauty of what is left after my body carries a third child, and not to see the ugly of a body that isn't what it used to be. I know deep down I can do it. I can love myself. Just as I am.
2017, please be kind.