2018 – What a year…we celebrated a lot of things:

Eight years of dating, two years of marriage, two years in our house, pregnancy, welcoming a baby boy into this world, life with a newborn and most importantly, parenthood.

What an amazing, wild journey this has been. Being a wife and a mama has brought such meaning to my life but getting to watch the man I love become the best daddy is the greatest blessing of all.

With that being said, good things certainly do not come effortlessly. 2018 brought us so much joy but was also filled with endless tribulations. Upon facing each and every obstacle, heart wide open, we learned that with a lot of grace and prayer we could overcome it all. Despite unfavorable situations – there is truly so much to be grateful for. Each lesson teaching us that not everything in life is easy but just because something is not easy, does not make it hard – just means we need to change our perspective. That with a little (okay, a lot of) perseverance we could overcome all those challenging things we were presented with. My 2018 word was intentional – do all things wholeheartedly. With that word imprinted in my heart, we gave our all (as did Jaxson) and we didn’t give up even when we felt we hit rock bottom.

Things didn’t happen in your classic order but we got where we wanted to be, each and every dream/goal checked off. We leave this year with no complaints and no regrets but with hearts filled with endless love and gratitude.

With the new year upon us, I have selected a word to best represent my intentions of 2019 – contentment. Finding pleasure in the present, living in the now and simply never longing or wishing for more. I want to spend this year truly appreciating our current situation; embracing this season of life. I’ll always want to continue being the best wife, mama and overall human I can be but this year I want to focus on what matters most, saying no when it hurts me to say yes, replenishing myself before I empty my tank to fuel others, living intentionally in the moment – unplugged, learning to pause in the midst of chaos and cultivating a little self love along the way. This means cleansing myself of social medias as it can become all consuming. I want the moments where I have time to not be spent scrolling robotically through my facebook or instagram feeds. I want to use that time to read, reflect, pray and maybe use that dusty spin bike that has been sitting in my room for almost a year.

I’ve learned in 2018 that one of the best gifts you can give someone is to just truly be present. Life is short and it is ever so fragile. In a blink of an eye, so much can change. Things don’t always go as planned but those moments can still be so sweet – if we let them. Let go and let God. It isn’t our job to control all things. Embrace the right now because the right now will soon be just another moment passed.

Oh, and as always, give yourself some grace.

xoxox – tiff