#thedertings

  covid changed me, you read that right. that's when i changed. i changed my outlook, i changed our routines, i changed our home! i changed a lot of things because it changed me and somehow makes me see the tragedy that occurred in the state of NC last week differently. there is perhaps a little bit of aging in my outlook too, don't get me wrong, but i am forever a different person as the years pass. i am not the same as i was last year and i won't be the same next year, i am certain. but it's these types of life changing events that make you sit up and realize. it. could. all. be. gone. tomorrow. and if you don't realize that, search asheville, boone, saluda NC….they are proof. the things we get up everyday to do on our to do lists, they don't necessarily matter. yes, i am a firm believer in a purpose, when my feet hit the ground every morning i go through my to-do list in my head, BUT it could change any minute of any day and we have to know what is important ...

 the road to college has been a road with ups and downs, twists and turns and i am still unsure what the end of the road will be.... i highly recommend that if you have a high school student (freshman year would be best) to start the process of the college search if there is ANY chance they want to attend a college. i feel like we were late to the game and currently the game is in fast forward. there are so many things to do and i honestly havent found a super helpful resource yet. i truly dont know how students do it without some sort of parental support because at this point i need some support much less bryson doing it alone. maybe i am doing it all wrong and i dont know any better but there are endless steps and so many decisions it is a daunting task. (if you have some tips, please share)  my 1st tip....take tours, go as early as possibly in case you need to go back and take another look. i feel like we have learned so much on tours. you get to see how it feels, how ...

post 5 of 6 for my 2023 vision board... i'm a tad behind which really annoys my OCD. the week didn't go as i had intended and i ended up sick which is not a norm for me, so i have struggled to recover and accomplish things that should have already been accomplished.  in this post i wanted to share my progress on my 2023 vision board.  my word of the year was intentional-i absolutely feel like i lived up to this word. i have caught myself on many occasions seeing that word in the middle of my board and bringing me back to being intentional! i have tried to leave things better than i found them, i have lived in the moment and worked hard at making things intentional.  grounding-i have failed on this one....it has been harder than i thought it would be, but grounding is something that i feel like i can mentally carryover and continue to work on.  travel-in my book we have accomplished this. brooks and i traveled to mexico. we have made several little trips-snowboarding,...