Last Thursday marked one year since we lost our sweet Joe-Dog. He was my one and only for 9 years and then one of my two and only after I met Brett. He was my baby and I loved (still love) him SO much. I miss him every day and still cry when I think about him. I don’t think I wrote a blog about it when he died. I may have mentioned it, but I don’t remember for sure. It was extremely painful when it happened, and still hurts to think about it.

As I think about everything that’s happened over the last year, I am reminded of just how crazy life is. It all happens so fast. We deal with it in the moment but rarely stop to notice just how much things change.

In September I turned 37 and got to speak at the Your Weight Matters Convention about Fun in Fitness

Two months after Joe died, our 19 year old cat, Rambo, died too.

Then I met my brother Jason for the first time (he’s the tallest one)

A month after that we almost moved to San Francisco because Brett was offered a job there. So we started staging our house to put it on the market…and then we didn’t.

A month later I found out I was pregnant and…

A month after that I found out that I had miscarried.

Later that month we rescued Coop.

A week in February and March were spent in Phoenix.

April was the Spring retreat.

May was a much needed last minute trip to Jamaica.

June was spent wondering if I was pregnant again, and trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life! Including whether or not I wanted to drink a gallon of water per day.

And July was a blur involving 10 days in West Virginia without my luggage…because I left it at home.

Which brings us back to August, one year since I lost my sweet boy, and 9 months since I got pregnant.

To this day I haven’t gotten emotional over the miscarriage but I keep waiting for it to happen. I’m fairly certain that I think about it every day, or least that’s how it feels….it seems like there should be more to say about all of this, but there really isn’t.

It’s just crazy how much can happen in a year– pain and heartache, and joyful celebrations, all of it adding up to growth— physically, mentally, and emotionally.

As I approach my 38th birthday, I am in aw of myself and what my life has been so far. There have been so many ups and downs and unexpected twists and turns, but one thing I know for sure, is that everything is temporary. I remind myself of this constantly. It makes the valleys much more bearable and the peaks that much more enjoyable.

We only get to do this whole life-thing once, without any prior knowledge or experience.

All we can do is ride the wave, expect the ebbs and flows, and do the best we can with what we’ve got.

I love my I’mperfect Life.  I hope you love yours too.