When this year began, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was unemployed (by my choosing), about to start a new semester of university after three semesters off, and my dad was in the hospital after suffering a stroke the last week of 2014. I’m not one who loves change, at least not when I’m not the one initiating the change. It was also around this time that I decided I wanted to start this blog. I didn’t know what my life would be like in the next year, but I knew it would be different. It’s been nearly a year since that uncertain time (though isn’t all time uncertain?), and I have to say I have learned a lot.
In 2015, I learned that people can change, but in order to make those changes permanent, it takes a lot of effort. After my dad had his stroke, he also found out that he had diabetes. In my family, heart problems and strokes are quite common, but diabetes was new territory. However, despite this new challenge, my dad wasn’t defeated. He learned what he needed to do to stay healthy and he kept at it. It wasn’t like the changes we tend to make when the new year comes, and we do really well for one week and then revert to our old ways. He has been so consistent and I have been so inspired by the changes he has made. He even started running, and we ran a race together in the summer. It was both strange and completely awesome that I couldn’t keep up with him anymore.
In 2015, I learned how love expands and multiplies. At the beginning of the year, I had no idea that I would be an aunt again — twice. My oldest niece (still sounds weird to say that), Charlotte would turn 1 in May, so I wasn’t thinking of our family being added to for a while. But, at the end of October and the beginning of November, my sister and sister-in-law gave birth to my newest niece and nephew. Being an auntie for the past four years, I know how amazing it is, and the connection that I have with Joey and Charlotte is really strong, but after meeting Isabelle and Michael (both in the hospital on the days they were born — something I wasn’t able to do with Joey or Lottie), I was able to feel that instant love and connection all over again. I love those babies, and love that I get to be their auntie. Sometimes when I hold them (often when I’m trying to put them to sleep — which seems to have been my job when I’ve been with them recently), I just feel overwhelmed by how much I love them. I can’t even imagine the love that my sisters feel for their babies, because I know it’s even greater than that.
In 2015, I learned that blogging is my calling in life (besides being a mother one day, because I know that when that happens, it will trump everything else). I used to have a personal blog (you can find it here if you’re interested) and blogged off and on for a long time (I started in 2009), but after Christopher and I got married in 2012, I didn’t want to blog about my life anymore. I knew that I still wanted to blog, but I didn’t know how to go about it. Then last year, I discovered some really amazing beauty bloggers, and rediscovered old favourites too, and did a lot of research into how I could do this for myself. I’m not sure how I would have survived my final semesters of school without this creative outlet, or survived the summer without the routine of a job. I love having this outlet to write, to share my thoughts with you daily whether it’s about makeup, books or just my life. I really feel like blogging saved my life this year — not in the sense that I wouldn’t be alive, but in the sense that my life has had more purpose because of blogging.
I’m looking forward to 2016 and seeing what it will offer!
What have you learned this year? What would you like to see from Be Loverly in the new year?
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