i'm going back to basics.

I'm not new to the idea of blogging. In fact, I was pretty proud of myself for a few years because I was updating my blog constantly... with pictures might I add. And then a big life event happened in May of 2013 and I just never wrote again.

That big life event was my husband coming home from his year long deployment in Afghanistan. That day, no matter what has transpired since, remains one of the best days of my life. I can still close my eyes and go back to that day and feel the excitement of seeing someone you love for the first time in a year...military homecomings are so much more than just that, though. That first hug isn't just an, "I missed you so much," hug. It's an, "I am so glad you are back home and alive," kind of hug. It's an, "I know I heard your voice as soon as the plane landed on US soil, but seeing it is believing it," kind of hug. Homecomings are also bittersweet because you realize in that moment, that not every family gets to have one. There are those who never make it home, and the experience is humbling. You just can't forget a moment like that.

The days that follow that day, I remember too. Some of them I remember better than others, and there are a few I'd like to forget. But all of those days led me to today and I'm incredibly thankful for that. So when I decided to begin blogging again, I came back to the blog I had been using since February of 2011. I read through so many of my posts... I laughed at myself, I cried a few times, and I saw exponential growth from the person who wrote those words and the woman that's keying these. While it was tempting to hit "New Post," and pick right up where I left off,  I felt like it was time for a fresh start. I'm definitely not deleting that blog - on the absolute contrary! That blog has the most detailed accounts of my life for those precious years and I wouldn't trade that for anything. The good, the bad...that story is mine. So it will stay with me, but it will also stay where it belongs: part of my past that develops my future. I may reference it from time to time or link to certain posts, but that blog is not who I am any longer.

This blog, however, is about who I am now. Right now I'm a 24 year old woman living in a different city who is going through a most definitely unplanned divorce & is reevaluating every part of her life while analyzing every decision she ever made...but is managing to still put a smile on her face and a pep in her step. I totally wasn't managing that 7 months ago, but right now? I'm healing every single day and each one is better than the last. And I'm kind of biased but I really like the "now" version of myself. I'm doing lots of things in life that have completely surprised me, and daily I am learning how to walk a path with confidence that I didn't design for myself, but that is full of new life. I'm taking the time I need to get back to the basics of who I am as a person and I'm learning about what makes me completely and totally happy. One of the things I love is writing, so this seemed like an excellent decision along my path of self discovery.

I'm 100% okay with talking to myself, but if you'd like to follow along on this life journey of mine, I say the more the merrier. I don't promise to update all the time and this may not be the cutest blog on the block, but it's a continuation of my story and I'm ready to write again.