This year marked some big milestones for me: being published in print for the first time (thanks Kentucky Bride!), being a part of a photo shoot I’m unbelievable proud of- and not just because it was picked up by Greenweddingshoes.com (one of my favorites), but because the team I worked with let my mind step out of the box… Nathan, Michelle, Katie and Corey- you guys are awesome. Then, my biggest accomplishment… Glitter Central… which lead to being featured on Design*Sponge (I still get giddy over that). It’s been a pretty wild ride for me and I put a lot of what I was able to accomplish into some major refocusing… which I owe to a lot of that push for change to those of you reading this.
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Let me elaborate a bit on Design*Sponge (because it’s just that damn good, in my book). I would equate waiting to see our names pop up on the blog to Selection Sunday in NCAA basketball. You wait and wait… and wait and when you finally see your name pop up, there’s an eruption of applause, yelling, hugs, high-fives and all-round giddy excitement that can’t be contained. Had we all been together, I’m sure we would have popped a bottle of champagne, sat and stared at the post for the rest of the day.
All five of us were sitting at a computer, with cellphones in hand, refreshing every few minutes to see if our post would be next.
9am: nope.
that’s cool- we have 4 more hours…
10:30am: nope
“so, we have to be next, right?”
11:something am: not us
“seriously?”
“did the email say FOR SURE we would be going up”
“where are we?!”
noon: nope.
A flurry of texts and emails back and forth
“Is that it for the day?”
“where are we?”
“WAIT- she posts 4 a day sometimes!”
refresh… refresh… refresh…
1pm: a frenzy of texts, emails, Facebook posts, tweets, phone calls- you name it. We all let out a sigh of relief and I’m not sure we stopped smiling the rest of the day.
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So what’s in store for 2012? I have a lot of ideas cooking- some in the prep stages and others are just about done. I do know that I’m really excited for what’s ahead of me. An extension of Five Dot will now be in Lexington with the awesome girls of Simply Love Studio, which was a goal I secretly set for myself. Two locations will be a challenge, but I’m prepared for it. I can’t help but believe if I continue to focus two steps ahead of right now, keep asking questions and pursuing opportunities that are either presented to me or I seek out, I have no option but to succeed.
I’m not gonna lie- I have no idea what happened at the beginning of this year. I honestly don’t (though I’m sure with Facebook’s new timeline, I could go back and look, but that thing kinda freaks me out). What I do know is I’ve ended the year much stronger than I began and with much more confidence in my ability to really make this whole adventure work.
My constantly-in-motion lifestyle has definitely tested my limits this year, but as they say, “find your limits, then push past them” so I don’t know that I necessarily have a choice but to embrace that mentality and do whatever it takes to get myself to the next level, personally and with my business. I know I have plenty of support behind me to push me thru when times will be rough (and I know they will… it’s inevitable with the way my life is structured). So with that, I know I will have to sacrifice some blog posts, miss a few events or work a few hours later, but taking one more step when I’m ready to quit will only help me get thismuchcloser to realizing a dream.
So, here’s to 2012… may it be the best yet.
