It's here... a new year! I know people have been saying that we need a new year since 2016 wasn't great in many ways. But as I look back at this past year I feel a lot of gratitude for the personal growth that I've made in this journey called 'Life.' It was not an easy year by any means... I had a completely different role and like any role it takes a while to adjust. And being a stay at home mama isn't all unicorns and lollipops. And honestly it might not be for all of us, and I now understand the pros and cons of this role. In many ways I miss going to work every day. I miss getting dressed (in something other than sweats or yoga pants), I miss getting to go to the bathroom by myself and I miss just chatting with people! Don't get me wrong, I chose this path for my family. And I honestly don't regret making this decision. It's just hard adjusting to barely any respect from a two year old, or being looked at as less than your husband because you don't make money any more and many, many other things. But I also learned that my identity was tied to my job - and I never even realized that it was.
But 2016 was also a year of spiritual growth for me. I won't get into the details because I rather talk to people face to face about hardships. But in any case, I needed to deal with a hurt that happened a bit ago that never mended. And if I'm being honest, I didn't know that 'it' was lingering with me until this year. And it was excruciating. I will admit I spent a lot of time crying, I spent a lot of time in counseling (not ashamed to say that at all. It's HEALTHY!) and a ton of time in prayer.
I learned a lot about 'letting go' of something even though it may always be in the back of your mind. That sounds contradictory doesn't it? But I guess what I mean is the horrible pain that was there before is significantly smaller and will never go away completely, but I have used that situation to shape my journey. To not let bitterness of the expectations I had on that time of my life to steal the joy of the future or even the past for that matter. I can look back at that hard time and still find things that were good. That might sound odd, but that's currently where I am on this healing process.
So yes, 2016 was a rough one, but one that shaped my chapter immensely. And for that I choose to be grateful!
Ok, enough talk, more fun pics! My family again appeased my desire to have some fun with confetti and I'm so glad they did. Cleaning it kind of sucked though. lol.