The Beautiful In Between

I cried. A lot. I found strength in being alone. I treasured all my focus on my kids. I fell in love with a kayak. I remembered what the f*ck I've made it through. I made hard decisions. I felt all kinds of grief. I remembered who I was. I said painful goodbyes. I gave myself the credit I deserved. I loved my favorite people hard. I set my mental health as a priority.

I watched a social media video of someone talking about everything they wanted to change for themselves 2025. However, then she took a moment to reflect on all her in-between moments of of the year. Like afternoons at the beach. Dancing in the rain. Baseball games. Laughing uncontrollably at something simply foolish.

Kind of like when the kids and I made a full brunch and pot of coffee in the woods and hiked it over to Nana’s campsite, singing “Happy Birthday” as we unzipped her tent. Or laughing and making the best of shattering my cell phone [also in the woods] and needing to make an adventure out of it, venturing back to Duluth to buy a new phone in the middle of a 10-day camping trip. Watching the kids you grew in your tummy play together and crack inside jokes. Getting to see them help to band birds, hold them and release them in the air. Then there was the evening where 4 generations of us, Great Grandma, Nana, me and my kids, set up a chilly, fall bonfire and outdoor movie, only to be surprised at the finale by breath-taking show of Northern Lights, right in our backyard - Great Grandma’s first she’d ever seen. And all the countless giggles and acts of love in between.

Life isn’t about the conquests you conquered, but all the life you lived along the way. How I continue to be introduced to such beautiful moments to remember, and to such amazing people I get to meet and value, I’ll never truly understand. What absolute miracles I’ve been granted. It’s not lost on me how in between the moments I am fighting for my joy, I am also blessed with the unexpected, and most extraordinary memories a lifetime can offer.

2024 was good. It was pain. It was growth. It was beauty. But I won't look back too much. The best is yet to come. Happy New Years, 2025! ♡ Keep fucking going.