Renew.

Well helloooooo long lost friends! It's been awhile.

We are back from vacay and I have been slowly but surely easing my way back into all things real life and after living a week unplugged, it has taken me a bit to catch my breath.

I could tell you a lot of things about my time away, such as our fabulous company, yummy food, books read, perspective gained, naps taken, new goals set.

I could talk about how nice it was to get away, catch a breath, take it easy.

The greatest thing for me, though, was a moment on a mini-hike one quiet afternoon as we meandered our way down a tree-lined trail behind our cabin.

I was thinking about the year, soaking up some sun (and keeping an eye out for BEARS which okay fine I was terrified of seeing even if the odds of doing so were oh-so-slim) and still trying to make sense of all the crazy bumps we've had along our way the last few seasons.

We've seen a lot of people go through a lot of hard things. We've gone through some hard things ourselves. And several times I looked around and felt so very small, so insignificant, so forgotten. And I would try my hardest to look outside of myself and my circumstances, but when you're feeling empty and depleted, and when your world seems to be a bit rattled and your mind is whirling, well, even when you try to look outside your story, everything seems to be a bit tilted, off-color, blurry.

But you keep going. And it gets better. But it still leaves you a bit shaky as you try to put one foot in front of the other.

So there I was on that trail breathing in some crisp mountain air as the sun dazzled on the nearby lake and the trees towered and the mountains loomed in the distance and it seemed impossible to do anything but gaze outside myself. And I had to keep reminding myself to watch where I was going because I was surrounded by so much beauty. And I felt so small, so insignificant, so forgotten.

And oh, how wonderful to get lost in a bigger story again.