Hey pretty peeps! I have so many thoughts, ideas and words ready to share with you. I am so excited! Many people have asked if I could write again. Yes, absolutely! Here we are. Got your drink? Got your blanket? Ready to catch up? Yes. Yes. YES! Let’s go!

I think we can all agree 2020 is a weird year. A lot of bad and a lot of good. Just an overall feeling of weird. Well I have had my fair share of “life storms” and I have a feeling there are a good chunk of us that are experiencing those life storms now. Before I dive any deeper, I just want to remind you/a little PSA. The key here is I haven’t been in your storm and you haven’t been in mine. Is there a possibility they are similar, yes. Same, no.

Friend, life is unfair. It is. You don’t get a participation trophy. You may work really hard for something and it gets taken away from you. You may deal with extreme loss, illness, or whatever terrible thing that is happening or happened to you. Life is unfair.

Friend. Get your cute butt up, wipe those tears off or cry the entire time, put one foot in front of the other and get walking. You walk towards the things you want, put those pieces of your life back together, cry it out, do the things that bring you the most joy, be angry, and you feel all those feelings. You cannot run or hide from them. You have to face them. It’s messy. It’s hard. You my friend, are strong, brave and by God you will get through it. Just move. Now. Today… not tomorrow. You have said tomorrow too many times.

It’s not fair. I know. Your life isn’t what you wanted. You wish it was different. You wish a million different things compared to your current reality. Well guess what it isn’t your plan. It’s his. The plan you are living is made for you to prosper. To thrive. To be better than you can imagine. You can’t have flowers without the rain. You don’t know what this chapter is preparing you for.

Little reminder, these moments are when you grow the most. This is when you are shaped the most. This is when you find out the good, bad and ugly of who you really are. It’s messy. It’s hard. It’s also beautiful. Stay with me…

Hurricane Harvey rocked our world. You should never have to evacuate your home. Ever. That is your safe place. We floated out of our house on an air mattress with a weeks worth of clothing, important documents, our fur babe and a sinking feeling in our stomachs. We knew it was going to be bad. What mattered in life got put in perspective real quick. Those material things we worked so hard for could be replaced. Our health, my fiance, dog, family and friends could not. I knew as long as I had them everything else would be okay. We would get through it. Fast forward, we did. It was hard and I learned a lot of life lessons. I was stronger because of Hurricane Harvey. God knew I needed THAT life moment. He knew what was coming.

Fast forward nine months later, I had to find my inner strength to serve my new husband divorce papers. Ouch. I just thought I was down in the dumps with the hurricane. Oh man was I in for a ride!! 100 days. I cried 100 days in a row. I know it was 100 days because on day 101 I was laying in bed thinking about my day and realized I didn’t cry all day. Got to thinking and couldn’t remember the last time I cried. Tracked it back in my calendar and exactly 100 days. Wow! Go me!

I could have laid in bed for those 100 days and never saw the light of day. People would have been understanding. I didn’t. I went to work. I worked out. I talked to friends. I hung out and made memories with people. I found all the things that brought me joy and did them. At first, everything was tied to a memory with my husband. Everything, and I mean everything, triggered an emotion. Most were negative emotions at first. Eventually they became happy triggers. I was surviving and living my life. I wouldn’t go as far to say thriving. I was putting one foot in front of the other and moving in the direction I needed to go. It was hard. Looking back now, that was strength!! I am proud of THAT Amanda. She pulled up her boot straps and just figured it out. I was bruised, broken, discouraged, but I got back up every single day. I didn’t let it keep me down. Trust me there were times I would cry throughout the entire day and barely keep it together. There were also amazing days of pure joy, laughter, and genuine love for my life. I eventually had more good days than bad. Now the flowers in my field are gorgeous! There are definitely some days of rain. Just not as many as before.

Thank you God for giving me just the rain I needed to thrive.

Sweet soul of a friend, you my dear are oh so brave. Things may be tough or you may be recovering from a “life storm” or you are just trying to figure things out… hang in there! Let the people you love in your life be there for you, lean on them, be selfish with your time and what you allow in your life. Sit it the moments and learn to dance in the rain. It will wash away what is meant to wash away. It will nourish the things that need to be nourished. You will come out better on the other end as long as your put one foot in front of the other and focus on getting what YOU want. Be healthy. Make good decisions and take care of yourself. You may be catty sometimes, but you do not have nine lives. You have one. Be nice to yourself.

Until next time friends! Thank you for always reading along and spending some of your day with me! Have a fabulous week!

Amanda