2020: No-Stress Zone

I shared a highlight reel of my year on stories last week, but that was only a highlight reel…

A lot of great things happened in 2019 in my life! My sister getting married and Wes & I getting engaged definitely topped the charts. Many amazing trips to the Outer Banks also made the recap, along with our trip to Puerto Rico, volunteering with Lucky Dog, followed by an amazing vacation for the two of us.

But over the past few years, I’ve felt a stupid amount of pressure that I really let get to me at times. I carried so much weight about big life things, like getting married, having kids, having a successful af career, a perfectly decorated home, a bigger home… The list goes on and on. But I’m declaring 2020 on a No Stress Zone. Because something recently switched in me – I stopped feeling scared of the unknown, and got really, really excited for it. As we all should be! It’s okay to not have it all figured out yet and it’s never too late for anything in life. I surely don’t have it all figured out at 32 years old but I can confidently say I’m totally fine with that.

It wasn’t until I opened my heart and my mind to this whole new idea that 32 years old is “so young,” not “so old,” and that I have plenty of time to accomplish all that I want to, to make the life that I want, and to become the woman I want to be, that I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

If you’re struggling with feeling behind or not where you want to be at this exact moment, I recommend you give it a try. Because there truly is no timeline in life.

For example – Everyone (including me and probably Wes too) wondered when we would get married. Then, to get engaged on June 4th, 12 years later, and feeling like it was the exact moment we were meant to get engaged all along felt… SO. AMAZING.

After years of being conditioned that I must keep up with all of people around me (or else something was wrong with me), feeling bad about it was a hard and bad habit to break. And, now? I feel the exact opposite about my life. I feel young. I feel blessed. I feel grateful. And hopeful. And, I hope you do too. 🙂

You guys are a part of my daily life and one of my resolutions last year was to build more of a community around here. I think we’ve definitely started building a great one, one that I’m so thankful for! Some of you I speak to daily, lots weekly. But this year, I think it’s time I open up a little more about life and the struggles I know we all face and can relate to. I know I don’t have to, I can just share outfits and beauty tips and puppies and you would all love that. But I don’t think that’s the type of “blogger” I’m meant to be.

So with that, I wish you all the best in the new year! Here’s to 2020 being the best one yet.

xoxo,
Natalie