Dear Jess

New Year’s is by far my favorite holiday! Don’t get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I am a girl who loves a fresh start! New Year’s is like a clean slate to get anything want! Do you take time and reflect on how far you’ve come and where you want to go? Full disclosure, I have not always been good at this. This year I am determined to be better. If you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time. So today my friends, I am starting a plan. Before we get to that, I wanted to take a little time to reflect and see how far I have come (another practice, I am not so great at). So here is the letter to myself for 2018. I hope you take the time to reflect and plan, let me know what your biggest takeaway from 2018 was and what you plan to focus on in 2019! Happy New Years to everyone who reads this, as this blog was a goal for 3 YEARS and it finally became a reality this year!

Dear Jess,

Hey there love! I know you've been struggling, you've been under a mountain of pressure that you have been building for years. An expectation of perfection that no one can obtain. Trying every day to figure out how to make miracles happen and make it look flawless while you do it. Never letting anyone in on the secret, holding it together in public and completely falling apart in private. It took a while, but you finally figured out this is not the way. Progress is wayyyyy better than perfection. Being real is relatable and is truly the foundation of amazing relationships

You want to be the perfect wife-- no such thing and Germain doesn’t want perfect, he wants you!
You want to be the perfect boss-- doesn't exist, but truly caring about your team is powerful and attainable!
You want everything to be done the "right way"-- nope, try again girl. There isn’t one right way, stay open!
You want the perfect house-- Ha, girl you are funny! You have a gorgeous home that is truly lived in and that’s way better than perfect, it’s warm and happy!

This year was all about learning, you learned you are worth more, you know you can do hard things, and come out stronger! Even with how amazing things are, you deserve more and you are finally okay with that. You know that it’s okay to desire more, and still be grateful for everything you have.

You deserve a big life
You deserve an exceptional marriage
You deserve a work environment that celebrates who you are
You deserve people around you who see how amazing you are
You deserve a life that makes you feel whole and worthy as you are
You deserve to take a break and just breathe when you need to

2017 absolutely shattered you, losing your mother was the most painful thing you have gone through in a long time, you lost who you were in your grief. You stopped taking care of yourself and buried yourself in work, your social life and anything that would mask the pain or help you avoid it. I know it’s hard to hear that, but just know that you needed to go through that to grow in the way you did.

2018 rebuilt you, you learned more this year than ever before about yourself, about leadership, about community, about marriage, about life. You learned how to really support yourself and what you need. You were intentional about improving your life, about being present, about inspiring others and staying positive through all of it. You got promoted after years of working your tail off to get it. You launched your blog and started building a community and really sharing your heart in a vulnerable way. Looking back, it’s kind of incredible how far you have come in just 12 short months.

The last two years for you have been the most difficult and beautiful of your life so far. You have survived (and thrived) through unimaginable loss, and stayed humble while smashing goals. The highs and lows have been massive. As if that wasn’t enough, today you have a brand new year to keep growing and reaching from the strength you gained from all that life experience! I am so excited to see what you can do in 2019, you have unlimited potential and you can have everything you want. Take some time to breathe, and really reflect on how much progress you have made, remember your lessons, celebrate your successes and get ready to take on a brand new year!

You got this, girl! Do it FEARLESSLY!
Love you to the moon and back babe
xo, Jess