It has been a huge couple of weeks for me.  I started a new job & it feels a little like a new chapter of my life is about to start.  It's a bit intimidating, but my coworkers are lovely and I am full of hope and optimism about what it will hold for me.  I've never worked in the non-profit world before and it hold it's own challenges, but I am absolutely ready to be part of an organization that makes a difference for the community.  That explains my absence from the blog for a bit, but I am doing my best to find new footing and find the balancing act.

This week seemed like the perfect time to add some art to my skin as well.  I am really excited about my lovely new tattoo.  It still has another session for shading and touches of color, but I am absolutely in love with it.


My tattoos are the story of who I am.  Each piece represents something significant about where I was, where I am, or where I hope to be.  I've been thinking about getting this new tattoo for awhile now and this week seemed perfectly fitting to have it done.  It's inspired by my favorite Dolly Parton quote: "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain” 

This tattoo is a reminder that life is going to have a lot of rainy days and even quite a few thunderstorms that knock us down, but it's the beautiful calmness and the amazing miraculous things after the storms that are what make life so worth living. The rain is sometimes necessary and when it breaks, the most amazing things can happen. It's a source of hope. When I left my previous position at the beginning of this year, I felt really lost and hopeless, but the past few months have been some of the most amazing months of my life.  I needed that storm to see that.

I am getting settled into a new schedule and I will be getting back in the swing of the blog-o-sphere very soon, but I want to thank all of you so much for following, commenting, and always offering your support and encouragement - you all are absolutely part of that rainbow after the storm. <3