What I learned in 2011

Hey everyone!

I have missed you all, but the busyness of life has taken a hold of me lately. This whole balance thing is still very elusive to this 28 year old blogger/wife/daughter/friend/retail-worker. I'm not sure I'll ever figure it out fully. Unless maybe I learn to stop trying to achieve perfect balance, because maybe that's not our concern or our job. Anyway, I don't want to bore you with my strive for more balance in life.

I really wanted to share some of the things

that I have learned through the course of last year.

It sure was an adventure!

Here are some things I learned last year in 2011........

Life is hard.

Life is difficult, exciting, crazy, humbling, challenging, and fun all at the same time. My husband and I were in for the ride of our lives when he received a phone call last spring about a job opportunity with a new airline. We watched everything around us change within months. Our home as we knew it was taken away, along with our understanding of our life together, but we have found ourselves learning an incredible amount about our capabilities to adjust and deal with change. We have made plenty of sacrifices during this whole experience, but we are learning to trust that everything ends up working out in the end. If it's not okay, then it's probably not the end. Life is hard, but we should try and enjoy the ride of a lifetime.

Give thanks for everything.

Life can change in an instant. Be thankful for any and everything that's a blessing in your life. It could be a smile from a stranger to a hot meal for dinner. Material possessions are not forever, and neither are our lives on this planet. We sold my husband's paid-off pickup in order to afford our move from Colorado to Florida, and we bought a rather old Saturn car as replacement. It was all we could afford when we got here. When faced with car troubles, my husband actually said he really appreciated having his crappy Saturn over having a piece of crap Saturn that doesn't work. Having things and losing them helps make real priorities more clear. We must make the most of every single day, because you never know when you may not have another. I hope to continue growing a grateful heart, even through setbacks, because gratitude makes for a happy and a healthy heart.

Social media is not all it's cracked up to be.

Real life is so much more interesting than what people portray their lives to be through social media. I deleted my facebook last year, and I have gained more than I've lost since then. More of my friends have actually called, sent a text, or emailed to keep in touch. Not having a facebook account has also reminded me that relationships take actual work. They don't come along on their own or by reading about what your friends are doing. Going out of your way to remind people you're thinking of them is much more meaningful than receiving a facebook message if you ask me. Getting rid of a major social media connection in my life has forced me to work a little harder to maintain meaningful relationships with family and friends. It's definitely been a learning process thus far. Here's to more phone calls and hand-written letters in 2012!

Laugh a little.

At the end of the day, it takes real strength and a good sense of humor to laugh at your own misfortunes. Those little quirks of life may actually turn into real blessings. You just never know. When something that may seem negative happens to you, laugh about it. "Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out of it alive."

We're definitely looking forward to what 2012 has to offer.

Life is an adventure, and we hope to continue learning and growing!