If you don’t already know, me and my family have been in Arizona for the last four months. This was something new we decided to do for the winter to gain some perspective on life, which is hard but one of my favorite things to do. As well as get away from the family and the snow! We picked Arizona because my husbands’ grandfather stays down there for the winter. We came to the conclusion that it would be a great bonding experience for him and his grandpa, and give us some much needed space. It was the perfect idea right?! This is the new start to an old journey.

The New Start

Well, does anything ever pan out the way you thought it would? Haha, no, at least not for me. We learned so much! We grew into ourselves so much! And we grew as a couple so much! All of those things are usually hard, they feel amazing once you conquer them but honestly it sucks when you’re in it. We don’t grow as people from easy or content times. We grow from hard times. If you can look at life during a difficult time and say “what am I learning right now?” That’s how you know you’re growing. You might have no idea what you’re learning, but you will. That’s the trick of a new start to an old journey.

We just got home, back to northern Idaho last weekend. And the week before that we were in Mexico, so today we are finally feeling settled at home and starting to get into a routine again. Now that I am home, I can see what I learned and what I accomplished the last four months. Those four months were not easy, there were many times of tears, sleepless nights, sadness, stress, and lack of motivation. Not to say it was all hard, but the majority of those months were tough.

Living & Learning Each other

As a couple my husband and I learned to rely on each other instead of our family all the time. It was only us, and we had to figure life out by ourselves. We came home a lot stronger unit. A major thing that came out of this for us is knowing that we are finally ready to settle down. We have moved several times in the last few years, changed jobs often, and just didn’t really know what we wanted. It feels like an accomplishment to know what we want as a couple, as individuals, and as a family.

The Accomplishment of a Lifetime

The biggest accomplishment for myself, that came while being in Arizona, was finding my purpose and finally knowing what I want to do in my life. For the last five years I have been trying to find my purpose, what I was made for. I worked lots of jobs of all kinds, I tried college for a couple years, I played college softball for a minute, I got married, and I became a mom. I thought that maybe through doing all of those things I would find my passion and my purpose.

After recently having a baby and becoming a parent, then leaving to Arizona by ourselves with no family for months at a time. I finally figured it out! Now that I have finally found my purpose after five years of really searching, I feel a huge relief. It is amazing. This my new start to my old journey! Don’t get me wrong, it was not easy, and my purpose may change as I go through life. Right now I know my purpose. Work no longer feels like work, I am excited to get up everyday and work towards my dream. If you do the work to find out who you really are, and what you are here for, it’s like you accomplished the world. It’s probably one of the toughest, largest hurdles humans go through in life.

You Have the Power to a New Start

After two months of being in Arizona I finally told myself that dream is not true. People who say they knew what they wanted to do since they were five are just lucky. The ones who write books or blogs, or speak about this dream of finding your purpose, I figured it was fake. I started saying “Alright fine, there is no perfect job that you love so much it doesn’t feel like work. You just have to settle down in a job you don’t like but it makes decent money, and has all the benefits.” I told myself this, until I came upon a book that I listened to. After listening to this book, that light bulb just went off.

I was talking to my mom one day on the phone and I said “I am going to teach and guide kids to become emotionally intelligent. I am meant to be a teacher.” Once I said that it clicked. Ever since, I’ve been creating my life around this dream I have, and for the first time I feel one hundred percent confident in myself to get it done and actually tackle this dream.

It’s mind blowing to finally know and feel that dreams can be real, and you have the power to make anything happen.