So I know I’ve been totally absent on the blog here lately, and when this happens, I always feel like I need to give some ginormous update post to fill everyone in on the happenings of my life.

But that just sounds exhausting right now.

So I’m going to pretend that my last post was yesterday, and I’m just going to jump in headfirst again.  Everything will get filled in eventually. 😉

What’s on my heart tonight is something that was missed during my posting hiatus – Our One Year Asheville Anniversary.

It’s crazy to think that a year ago the OPS guys helped us tightly pack a U-Haul in Louisiana (I underestimated the amount of stuff we had just a bit), and we headed to our little cabin in Black Mountain.  It was a day I’ll never forget – our hearts filled with hopes and dreams as fully as that U-Haul was filled with what we had built as our life together.

We made a quick decision to follow our hearts, and we didn’t really know what we were doing or getting ourselves into.  But we were taken care of from the very beginning, and now it’s easier to see the pieces come together and realize that everything is unfolding as it should.

Dustin and I had dinner with some friends of our the other night.  We went to HomeGrown, our favorite little local diner, and we started talking about our experiences living in Asheville.  They (a couple) had moved here from Nashville just a few months before we did, and we all started talking about the challenges and changes you go through once you move here.  And this is something that is common knowledge around town by those who grew up here or have lived here long (and gone through the hardships themselves).  They say that Asheville attracts certain people that need to go through a kind of change in life, and then it takes them through the ringer.  It just forces you to face some things in life you need to face in order to make the changes in life you need to make in order to become a better, more evolved you.

And boy are they right…

The last year has been… chaotic, moving, heartbreaking, awakening, strenuous, phenomenal, and all around life changing.  The change that I’m going through, the processing that’s fully happening – it’s breathtaking.  And excruciating.

Among the beauty and fulfillment I see when looking at the past year of my life, lay also my lowest, darkest days.  I’ve cried more, screamed more, slept more, and stressed more in the last year than I thought my strong, responsible, positive mind ever could.  Due to doubting myself so much and being so full of fear, I’ve often forgotten what it felt like to be the me I was before this change started happening.  And now that I’m feeling like myself again, it gives me a completely different perspective when looking back on those low, dark days.  But I’m thankful for those dark days.

Pain = Growth

The key to overcoming that pain has been remaining grateful for this beautiful life I’ve been given.

I live in the mountains, in one of the most spiritual, magical cities in the country,

I have a husband who loves and adores me,

and two beautiful boys who love me as their Kimi.

I am so, so blessed.