12 new chapters, 365 new chances [video]

Who doesn’t love a fresh new start?

Even though we don’t need to wait for the new year to start something new, there is still something special about feeling like the whole world is uniting to new territory together. It allows us all the opportunity to stop, reflect, and plan for what’s ahead.

There is so much that will happen in 2019 to all of us individually and globally, and that number combination will be burned in our memory for those big moments of our lives waiting to happen.

Just when I thought 2018 was on its way out with nothing else to report on, Mat got down on bended knee while we were on holiday in Fiji. It was magical and surreal. While we had discussed marriage, and we both knew we wanted the same thing, I just did not expect the engagement this side of the year!

We had so much fun in Fiji relaxing by the beach, watching massive migrations of hermit crabs, climbing sand dunes, going on jungle treks, drinking fresh coconuts, spearfishing, living in a tiny remote village and drinking kava with the locals (Mat was announced the chief!)

2018 has been one hell of a crazy year but nothing beats ending it with the most amazing man I could ever dream of. I like to think that Mat was a gift from my sister, she was always way too generous for her own good. I feel like it was her way of sending love and support to me when I was living miles away from everyone I knew and loved. Maybe she knew how alone I felt and was trying to do everything in her power to help me. I’m just so incredibly grateful to have found the kind of love I stopped believing in after my heart was crushed so many times. 

Thank you to my soon-to-be husband, Mathieu. Who is seriously one of the kindest, patient, reliable, intelligent person I’ve ever known. It mystifies me how patient he is, I really had no idea people like that existed. I hope one day I can achieve that same level of unconditional support and patience that he shows to me every day, even when I am a horrible rat to be around. I never imagined I’d find a love like this, it makes me want to be a better person.

I’m also thankful to my sister, Elizabeth, who I really feel was the matchmaker of our relationship. I so wish you could’ve met Mat, but in some weird way, I feel like you already do ♥

“New Year’s Day. A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery. Today carve out a quiet interlude for yourself in which to dream, pen in hand. Only dreams give birth to change.”