The Important Things

Jody and I were married on October 26th, 2002.

By that time, we not only had full custody of Hunter but I was also pregnant. To say that things moved quickly in our marriage is an understatement. There was a time in 2006 when Jody and I were ridiculously bull-headed and rather than work through it, we took the "supposed" easy route and divorced. He got an apartment in Tallahassee and we put our home up for sale. During the rather brief time we were divorced, there wasn't a day that went by that we didn't talk or see each other. Right before Christmas, I took his original wedding band and had it engraved simply with, "Marry Me Again?". He said yes and we were re-married in early 2007.

Earlier today, Jody tagged me in a Huffington Post titled, "12 Lessons Learned in 12 years of Marriage. I can't encourage every one of you to take the time out of your day to read it here.

The bottom line is this: cherish your spouse. Never become complacent. Never become nothing more than roommates. Remember the reasons you fell in love in the first place.

2014 in Reflection

2014... What can I say other than it couldn't have ended fast enough.

It would be easy for me to say 2014 was all bad, but, it wasn't. Nothing in life is 100%. Saying something is "always" or "never" something or another is not only inaccurate but makes you a drama llama. Nobody likes a drama llama.

Rather than making a list of resolutions that I know I'll fail or won't follow through with, I'd rather take a moment to take stock in life as of today. My kids are healthy, I have a roof over my head, food in the pantry and a husband that still loves me.

I could rattle on about my declining health, losing my job, feeling that I'm not pulling my weight around the house, and feeling otherwise, not enough.

But, it can't rain all the time. Everything has its own silver lining, thin as it might be, it's there.

With the loss of my job, I was given the opportunity to put the focus back on my photography. While I don't have the client base to depend on this as a consistent form of income, I've had the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing people along the way.

Our family took a vacation to the mountains and in those few days, we focused on the precious time spent together and left our worries at home. Even though I'm pretty sure we spent the majority of the time in the truck, we were happy.

As I navigate through 2015, I'll remind myself daily what's really important. I'll strive to find a new job. I'll remind my family how much they mean to me. I'll reassure my husband daily that he is my rock, my love, my best friend. I'll take better care of myself, physically and mentally. I'll stay in touch with my friends. Last but not least, I'll forgive myself for my shortcomings and strive to be a better human being.

Life moves pretty fast and none of us are promised tomorrow. Cherish the time you have and the people you hold close to your heart.