Florida + Family + The New Year

After a 2018 that was all over the map, I had the absolute best end of the year and beginning of the new one. I woke up on this first day of 2019 feeling full of hope, energy, creativity, possibility and love. For the first time in a year, I arrived back in Charlotte tonight without a sense of dread. I was happy to get home and excited about what’s ahead.

I have had a handful of really great New Year’s Eve experiences in my adult life but I’ve had more not so great ones.

I am SO GLAD that I decided to spend New Year’s Eve in Florida with my family. The icing on the cake was that my nieces were there too. Our New Year’s Eve consisted of cuddles with Finn, pizza, ice cream, games and an early bedtime. I slept through the clock striking midnight. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

What I have for you tonight is a collection of photos that make my heart happy. They represent a shift that has taken place for me over the past few years where I have realized that family, friends and meaningful relationships are incredibly important to me and something that I now prioritize more than ever before.

This holiday season was the first time my entire immediate family has all been together…my grandmother, my parents, my brother’s two girls, Finn and me. I just wish my brother could have been with us.

My grandmother was an elementary school teacher for many years and has that + the “grandmother awesomeness” working for her. All of the great grands LOVE her. She has a whole cabinet full of games and toys for the littles and she plays with them!

My nieces are so amazing with Finn.

And Finn is equally as smitten with them.

We all ventured out one night for dinner and it went better than we could have hoped!

The weather was so weird on this trip. Very cloudy, rainy and foggy. I didn’t get in nearly as much outdoor time as I usually do but we did sneak in a few beach walks.

These girls. I’m going to frame this one for my bedroom so I can see them every day when I wake up and go to sleep.

Looking forward to many more walks like this but with Finn running in the sand with the girls.

My grandmother passed this Dear Abby to me this morning (New Year’s Day) and said, “read.” Wise words.

I can’t believe we got home tonight. I arrived at the airport for my 7p flight to learn that no incoming flights had been able to land since before noon because of crazy fog. All of the pilots were making attempts and then diverting to other airports. My parents came back to the airport to wait with us to see if our flight was going to go. Somehow, our pilot was the first one to be able to make a landing all day so our flight to Charlotte took off as scheduled!

I took this picture of the fog from my grandmother’s balcony. It was like this all day. Apparently, when the fog is like this the pilots can’t see the runway until they are literally landing. Can you imagine the skill it would take to navigate these conditions?

Finn was wide awake for the whole flight but in great spirits. He was climbing all over me, peeking between the seats and smiling at the people in the row behind us and looking out the window at the lights.

I actually got to work the crossword puzzle while he was using me as a jungle gym. I think being able to solve the crossword is a good sign for the new year to come. That doesn’t happen all that often. 😉

Until next time. <3

How did you celebrate the new year? Did you stay in or go out?