My dad and I at my mama’s farm, probably 1990ish. (College years for me.) Daddy we will be at your favorite Cracker Barrel January 17 on your birthday. 🙂

Happy New Year everyone!

This blog needed dusting off a bit and I’m just not quite ready to quit blogging.

I’m not going to lie to you — 2018 was pretty tough. I lost my dad in October and while it was not totally unexpected (he was 85 after all), it was tough. I am thankful that we got to see him the evening before he passed and that he was completely lucid and even cracking jokes. He survived a massive heart attack earlier in the week and of course he did because he was my dad and tough as nails.

I had to deal with things like selecting a casket for my father, choosing the music for his funeral service, gathering all the photos for his memorial and writing his obituary. It was tough and I’m thankful that my siblings were super supportive. Here is a link to my dad’s obituary, which speaks volumes to him. He lived life to the fullest and never met a stranger. He was a wonderful Papa to my girls and for that I am forever grateful. It’s honestly still a little bit hard to believe he is gone.

2018 was also the first full year that I’ve ever been solely self-employed and I’m pretty proud of that. I have my own content marketing agency now and some incredible clients.

What else happened in 2018? Here’s a really quick recap.

My older daughter Miss C had a second concussion in the fall during soccer.

I made some adult decisions like purchasing life insurance (I’ve always had it through my employer but since I’m self-employed now I wanted to purchase it independently).

I turned 49.

I took my older daughter to her first college tour.

My “baby” girl Miss A started her last year of middle school.

I became a cat lady. (Ha! I would have NEVER dreamed that.)

I took in my mom’s dog, due to her increasing health issues. This means we are now a THREE dog and ONE cat household OMG.

I took my girls on our second annual trip to Seagrove Beach, Florida, which I hope will become an annual tradition (if not Seagrove, then some other fun destination…I am looking at NYC for winter break 2020!)

I got to travel to Margaritaville Resort Gatlinburg with my best friend since elementary school for a travel review opportunity.

So I’ve learned that we keep evolving and changing and growing and healing and all of that good stuff. I’ve learned to set boundaries and set goals and I survived a pretty tough year and despite it all really done pretty well. I’m thankful for family and friends and my health.

We will see what the New Year brings! I love to write about travel so I hope to continue to do that. I also hope to start focusing on more mid-life issues and sandwich generation issues because this blog has evolved and so have I. I do post more frequently to Instagram so if you’re not already following me there, I’d be honored if you would!

Happy New Year to you!