Happy New Year!

There's nothing like a brand new, blank calendar to represent a fresh start. One of my favorite things about the new year is finding a planner and deciding what colors I'm going to use for each month to make it pretty. Can't blame a girl for loving office supplies! While I try my best to make each day an opportunity for growth and change, each new year just signifies something bigger. It's a time to look back on the past twelve months to see where I have been and what I've accomplished.

There were a lot of ups and downs in 2024, and everything - good, bad, easy, or challenging - everything brought me here. To this magical place. I have explored more nature in the past few months than I think I have in my whole life. To sit in the stillness and silence of nature, to hear the leaves rustle and the water flowing, is nothing short of awesome. How lucky am I?

Yes, last year provided many changes, and I already know that this year is going to be filled with many more. As a former control freak (yes, I did mean to say 'former'), and someone who lives for a really detailed plan, change is terrifying. Even so, change is the one thing we can count on in this life. And, having learned that "the words we attach to our experiences become our experiences" (Tony Robbins), I'm going to replace the word terrifying with exciting. Let's be real, I'm going to have to consciously change those words numerous times. Hopefully the change will become permanent at some point. What can I say, I'm a work in progress.

I'm grateful for the experiences the past has offered and the lessons I have learned. Those things have given me a strong foundation on which I can build a beautiful future. A future full of ups and downs, wrong turns and backtracking, tripping on tiny stones and being passed by faster hikers, being awestruck at running deer and locating my bear whistle in case they are being chased. All of which provides many wonderful lessons and surrounds me with the most amazing views and some of the best humans on the planet.