3 Things I Learned in 2017

Happy New Year friends! First of all, sorry this post didn’t go up sooner, I promise I’m trying to get on an actual schedule. But with the holidays, a house full of family, two dogs and a husband about to deploy, things have been a little hectic and schedules difficult to stick to. But I’m getting there! Just for future reference, I plan on posting every Tuesday and Thursday after this week.

So, this week while a lot of people are talking about their New Years resolutions, I’m talking about what 2017 taught me and I how I hope and pray that those lessons stick with me through 2018. I hope you enjoy!

1. Know your worth and if someone tells you you’re beautiful, believe them.

To be perfectly honest with y’all, this has always been hard for me, and I don’t really know why. To this day, it’s hard to accept. It hasn’t helped that in 2017, I went from being 100 pounds since high school to, well, not being 100 pounds anymore. I always had a super high metabolism and never believed it when people told me all that Chick Fil A would catch up to me one day. Not to mention the constant influx of social media and E News telling me what pretty should look like. To be even more honest, I hated the way I looked in these pictures so much that I almost didn’t use them (also it was 20 degrees so all I could think was get me a heater). But then Kevin did his usual thing and made me see that I was being ridiculous. He told me that I was beautiful and that I needed to believe it. Of course there was the back and forth. Me saying “oh you have to say that, you’re my husband” and him telling me I was being ridiculous some more. He’s right, though. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. So whether I want to believe it everyday or not, God knew what he was doing when He made me the way that He did. Thankfully He gave me my precious husband to constantly remind me of that. It may have taken until the end of 2017, but I finally realized that I am beautiful and I am worth loving and that I need to let myself believe that more often. If this is also something you struggle with I hope you find comfort in knowing that you are not alone. I hope you learn your worth and I hope you believe the next person who tells you you’re beautiful.

2. Enjoy every moment you have with loved ones, because time is fleeting.

I say it all the time, but I swear the years go by faster and faster after college. Also, time flies when you’re having fun right? This year has FLOWN by for me. I got engaged, weathered my first deployment, got married, birthdays and holidays came and went, and now it’s 2018. On top of all of the excitement that this year brought, it also brought it’s fair share of change. I’m living 5 hours from home which is huge for me. I was never more than a 45 minute drive away from my family before, and I was definitely never away from them during the holidays. That being said, I made sure to soak up every sweet second that I had with them while they were here. This is something that deployment taught me as well. Never waste a second because at some point, you’re going to want that time back. Kevin leaves in 5 days and I’m still sort of in a state of denial. I’m pretending that time doesn’t exist and I’m just trying to do what I can to hang on every second I have with him. That leads into the third thing I learned this year.

3. Not every Christmas has to be the “best Christmas ever”

One day I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a post from a sweet friend of mine. She was talking about all the things she had planned to do for Christmas as far as decorating and being all festive. But she never got around to doing those things. She said “I’m learning to accept that every Christmas doesn’t have to be the ‘best Christmas ever’ and that each gathering with family, no matter how small, brings my heart great joy.” Y’all this hit me hard, and I don’t think I ever told her. So shoutout to Taylor for changing my perspective. How accurate is this though? Every year we get caught up in throwing or attending the biggest, fanciest parties, having our homes decked out in Christmas cheer (don’t get me wrong, I made several trips to Home Goods and Target this year), and having the sparkliest New Years Eve dresses. And if we don’t do those things, we’re probably missing out right? Wrong. Those things are great, but what truly matters is the time we spend with our closest family and friends. It’s about being thankful for all that we have.  As I mentioned, Kevin is leaving in 5 days. So what did we do on New Years Eve? Absolutely nothing. (Well we did go have Mexican for dinner but that’s just a normal day around here.) We could have gone to plenty of parties. But we sat in our cozy little house with the fire going. We drank champagne, and we watched the ball drop on TV. And it was probably one of the most special New Years Eve’s I’ve ever had. It’s amazing how much time seems to slow down when you actually let yourself slow down. I think if we’d gone out, the night would have flown by, and we would have missed the sweetness of it.  So this year, I challenge you all to slow down. Have fun, dress up, and enjoy life. But remember it’s ok if its not the “best _________ ever.”

Velvet Jumpsuit, here (on super sale!)| Mockneck Layering Tee, here | Booties, here in grey and similar here

I really hope some of these things hit home for you guys and allow you to make the most of the new year. There’s nothing better than a clean slate, right? Thanks for stopping by!

xo Hayley