Well it is the 11^th and I am finally able to sit down and write this first post of the new year and actually my first post in a long while. I wish that I had a better excuse than that I was bogged down with work and work and more work, but that is pretty much the reality. After the holidays I went straight into work mode and this is the first moment I have had to poke my head out and breathe.

Many incredible things happened during this last holiday season. I set out on what I thought would be an awkward and semi-stressful adventure with my fiancé to her family’s home in Texas that somehow turned into something so much more wonderful than I could describe. Everything that I had hoped this adventure would be it was. I was able to be myself and we were able to be ourselves and were welcomed in…maybe it was a façade for some, but for us it felt so real. It felt like a deep breath that we have been waiting to take for years. Years of tentatively saying my name in choice points of conversations with her mom and casually relating their stories to my experiences so they could get to know me in an indirect way. It paid off. It paid off and we got to feel like a part of the family which very genuinely felt like a Christmas miracle. It only got better with a trip to Corpus Christi where her mom taught us how to fish. We laughed, we bonded, and we had a complete and total blast. By far one of my favorite Christmas’s for the books.

We rolled into the New Year feeling at peace and reflecting on what this whole year has brought to us, the ups and the downs, and the love that grew not only between us but around us as well. On New Year’s Eve I sent my fiancé out on a scavenger hunt for her final present. I had been telling her that it wasn’t able to be delivered until after Christmas so she wondered and wondered what it was; when she followed the letters I hid in different significant places for our relationship she was led back home to me. I set up the house with candles and rose petals and then I proposed to her. I know, I know we were already engaged, but she deserved that moment. I wanted to have that moment with her and tell her all the ways she makes my life better every single day. She is my world. She is my best friend. And that moment was perfect.I was everything I hoped it would be.

2016 brought tears, it brought drama, it brought realizations, and it brought me happiness and helped me dive deeper into what I want and how I am going to live my life for myself.  I am excited for this year. I am not one for resolutions, but I am looking forward to new experiences, seeing my loved ones more, and growing…continuous growth in all directions.

I know this is a short one, but duty calls as they say.. thanks for listening and I hope we can all collectively take more breaths this year, dig deeper, grow stronger, and come together.