Raising a Glass to 2015

Cheers to the struggles, the joys, the growth, the ups and the downs and the in-betweens of this last year. To all we accomplished as individuals, as a couple, as a family. To all the growth and all the healing and all the learning. To the times we almost gave up and to the other times we thrived. To the dreams we have dreamed and are still dreaming. To the goals we reached and are still reaching. To the fight, to the conquering. To the life we were given and lived and fight to thrive in. To change and more change and continued change. And to a whole other year to come full of more of it all. To a whole other year of uncertainty but yet certain change and growth. 

It's been years since I have stopped "believing" personally in all of this "new year = new you" making new year resolutions and goals...thing. If we want change we should, we can, make change any day of the year. If we want a clean slate, a fresh start, more than the ruts one can find themselves living in why would you wait for the end of a year and a new year to start. 

For me: new year = new adventures. A new chapter, yes. But the last thing I want is to only make goals and dream dreams and strive for more and seek out change just one time out of a year. I've glimpsed and tasted what living life alive is like enough to never want to just live just to breath now. More than to try for something once and it not last and then wait until the end of the year to try for something else again... 

"For what it's worth: it's never to late to be whoever you want to be. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again." 

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

"I want to grow with you, to see how much we can thrive together. 

I want to help you fight for your dreams, and see them come to life. 

I want to be there for you, when it all seems too much, I want to be the voice that reminds you of hope. 

I want to make you smile and laugh, to experience joy every day. 

I want to be real with you, to open myself and lay down my armor. 

I want quiet nights, filled with sweet nothings. 

I want days filled with you, and I want to continue seeing you, in your weakest or in your strongest, I want to be there with you." 

- T.B. LaBerge