I'm No Good with an Alias

I am no good with an alias.  I am not one to hide.  It made writing here feel unauthentic. The false name chafed at my strict "honesty policy."  So basically, I'm back.

Me.

The me who loves nothing better than a good book, a jar of nutella and a snuggle from my Brinkle. The one who has a habit of traveling without plans, and rearranging her furniture at the drop of a  hat. The one who regards her blog (and readers) as her best friend and confidant.



Hello, my dears.  I've missed you.  And I'm better now, for the most part.

It has been almost fifteen months since my world shattered, and in the past year I have carefully stitched my life back together.  My wounds have knit themselves neatly closed, and I am stronger than I have ever been. I am armored in the scars of naivety, tempered with the knowledge that I have endured my worst fear, my worst possible outcome, and lived and thrived in spite of it. I have found more love than I believed the world contained.  I have (quite literally) climbed mountains.  I have found work that gives me purpose, and scuffs at my mind like a whetstone.  I have found reasons to adore the small town I was born in, and a thousand reasons more to explore the rest of the world.

I feel, for the first time in five long years, content.  How ironic that it only took losing a part of myself to make me feel whole.

Here's a glimpse at what I've been up to.  I won't leave for so long again...

Here's one of the mountains I was talking about.
Can you believe I was on top of that?
You guys know I don't do heights, right?
Or... I didn't used to...

I spent a lot of time getting to know the outdoors.

This kid had a lot to do with that. Meet Ryan.  a.k.a. "Bryan."

I became "Aunt Carrot" to Brianne's ("Leanne") daughter.

Her name is Camille, but she'll always be "String Bean" to me.

I have never seen anything so beautiful.

I spent Christmas with my family.

And Brinks is doing just fine.
Here he is trying his best to steal my sandwich from earlier today.

After holding down my first "big girl" job for a little over a year, I bought this beauty.  I call her Stella.