E very year on Valentine’s Day, I turn the volume all the way up and blare OutKast singing Happy Valentine’s Day. There’s a line I’ve always loved: “Every day is the 14th.” It’s bold. A little gritty. Not soft and pink and Hallmark. And maybe that’s why it resonates with me. Because love — real love — isn’t just one day. It isn’t just flowers and dinner reservations and polished smiles for pictures. If it’s real, it’s daily. It’s ordinary. It’s choosing each other when no one is clapping. Yesterday morning I put on a shirt that simply said, “You matter.” On the back it read, “Dear person behind me, the world is a better place with you in it.” I wore it to CJ’s basketball game, not thinking much of it. But somewhere between the squeak of sneakers and the echo of whistles, a woman I had never met tapped me on the shoulder and asked if she could hug me. A complete stranger, that the message resonated with. And it hit me — we are all walking around needing that message. We need ...
It’s been 14 years since I last wrote here. In that time, I stepped away from blogging, but I hadn't stopped writing. I've captured life's moments on Facebook, in social media posts, and in the pages of my journal. Truth of the matter is, I function best when words are written. A lot has happened in the time since I've written here — we’ve added two busy, fun kids to our family, lost our sweet Bo, welcomed a new dog, Bruno, navigated COVID, experienced family loss, and lived through all the messy, beautiful moments in between. Blogging may not be what it once was, but some things are still worth putting into words. This post is my reflection on 2025 — a year that stretched me, stripped things down to what was real, and reminded me of what truly matters. ⸻ 2025: A Year That Asked a Lot 2025 asked a lot of me. It stretched me in ways I didn’t see coming and stripped things down to what was real. This year wasn’t loud about its lessons—but it was relentless. Family ...