Dear 2016.

Dear 2016, 
I feel like I could make this very simple and just give a quick, "to hell with last year!" and be done...but this: 

and this: 

and this: 

So I can't just write you off as some weird year that kind of sucked (although, I've gotta say, that seems to be the general consensus) and was really painful (even though that's true), because in the midst of everything else, you were the best year of my life. 
Two weeks into you, my life was permanently changed when Jack joined the party. Everything clicked, and my life became complete in a way I didn't know I was waiting on. 
You are the year that made me a mom. And you know, I'm actually pretty good at it. So thank you. 
When I look back at the last 365 days, it's sort of shocking how much can happen in a single year. You were quite the rollercoaster, my friend. But, as I reflect at the close of this chapter, I can see this: 
I am the strongest version of myself that I have ever been. If someone would have made a list and handed it to me and told me, "This is everything you will have to handle this year" I probably would have checked myself in somewhere because there is just no way. But I did it. I handled newborn life and rank lists and uncertainty and match day and moving and intern year and dark times and loss and confusion. I would like to say I did it all with grace and dignity, but alas, not true. Instead, I fought my way through this year. 
I won't sugarcoat it: You sucked. You sucked a lot. But 2016 will always be the year that brought me Jack, the greatest, greatest gift. And because of that, you've earned yourself a spot in the best years category. Lucky break for you, I guess. 
I've never had such a good year, I've never had such an anxiety-ridden year. I've never been more thankful for a year, I've never been more ready to say goodbye to a year. 
So, 2016: Thanks for making us a family. Thanks for being the year that brought us to a new home in a new city where we can settle in. Thanks for working out when you did and thanks for making me stronger when you didn't. 
And now: Goodbye, good riddance, I'm keeping Jack but you can have everything else, I never want to see you again, get out of my life, BOY BYE. 
PS: Dear 2017: PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOODNESS CAN YOU BE BETTER AND MORE CHILL THAN THIS CRAZY YEAR? 
What did 2016 look like for you?

What December Taught Me.

Welcome back to real life, friends! I hope you all had the merriest Christmas ever and that your post-Christmas blues aren't too painful. Not to rub it in your face, but this picture is from yesterday. I spent the day after Christmas in an 85-degree paradise by the pool. If there's one way to fix the after-Christmas slump, it's that one. 
December is coming to a close, as is 2016, so it's time to talk one final time about what I'm learning from this year. December taught me. . . 
To be more present. I know a lot of people say, Stop working, put your phone away, be more present! But that's not my problem. Mine is that I look ahead and try to plan, constantly. Chris doesn't get a lot of time off, so when he does, I always want to take advantage of it. Sometimes that makes me look ahead too much and not enjoy the moment. We'll be on a walk and instead of just enjoying the walk and the time we have together, I'll be thinking, if we head home in the next five minutes, then we could eat dinner quickly, then we'd still have time to watch a movie before we need to go to sleep so we can get up early enough to go to breakfast and have time to go shopping after that. Please tell me I am not the only one who does this. 
I'm learning that on many days, silencing my need to plan every detail is the key to being present and enjoying the moment. 
To think more about my priorities. December always seems to bring the reminder that you don't have time for everything. You don't have money for everything, you can't go to everything you're invited to, you can't do everything you want to do...you have to choose what's most important to you. This is something I want to carry on throughout the year. I want to think often about what my biggest priorities are and shape my days around those. 
To put things in perspective more often. Life is good, end of story. There are hard days, but those will always (eventually) be followed by good days. We made it through this crazy year and had a wonderful Christmas. The good is always on its way.
That Christmas with a baby is the most magical thing ever. There's really no way to explain this, so I'll just leave you with a picture. 

I MEAN. Pure joy. Nothing like getting to see that for the first time. 
What did this month teach you?

Merry Everything + A Happy Always.

Every year around this time, I get so overwhelmed with thankfulness. The music and the lights and the cheer make me feel so happy and sentimental. The heat is on (sometimes...this is Florida, after all), the presents start stacking up under the tree, and I think about how fortunate I am. Not only do I have a home to sleep in, but I can buy presents for the people I love. 

I think about what Christmas signifies for me - The birth of a savior. About how vastly different my life is because of that. I think about how many people I love, and how many people love me. And I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness and feel so, so lucky. 

This year, though. This year there just aren't words. 

I could sit here and write out a list of everything I'm thankful for and why, but there's too much. My baby and my love and my family and my old friends and my new friends and grace and good food and my house and my city and, and, and, and...

Instead, I'll just say I hope you feel thankful today too. I hope I can carry this feeling...this overwhelming feeling of thankfulness and humbleness and awe and coziness and cheerfulness...I hope I can carry it into all of 2017. This year has had its ups and its downs, but sitting near the end of it, I am thankful for each day, even the ones that hurt, because they all brought me to this place. 

Merry Christmas, friends. May you have the most wonderful holiday weekend ever. And may you capture the wonderful feelings that surround you this weekend and hold them dearly in your heart the whole year long. 

I'll leave you with my good friend Linus, because no one says it like he does. 

Seven Christmases.

Seven Christmases ago, I spent December 22 both making a scrapbook for a boy I had only dated for six months and worrying that a scrapbook was an inappropriate gift for that early in a relationship. We exchanged gifts on December 23rd, not knowing then that we were unofficially picking a day that would always be special to us. PS: The scrapbook was the perfect gift. 
Six Christmases ago, we spent December 23rd driving around the town we had fallen in love in a year and a half ago. I made a scavenger hunt and gave him cheesy little gifts at each stop. We took pictures and ate ice cream and laughed and watched the sunset and it was perfect.
Five Christmases ago, December 23rd brought me the very best present in the form of a surprise proposal and a shiny diamond ring. With every gift I opened on Christmas morning, the ring caught my eye and reminded me just how perfect life was. 
Four Christmases ago, I was just a little distracted because my wedding was four days after Christmas. After almost a year of wedding planning, my dad put a ban on wedding talk for one day only, but that didn't stop me and my mom from sneaking off to the kitchen to remind each other of last minute things.
Three Christmases ago, I woke up in the same bed as the love of my life, in our first apartment. It was one of the best days of my life, opening gifts and playing with our new puppy fox. My heart was so full and life was so good. 
Two Christmases ago, we did all the fun Christmas things downtown had to offer and celebrated in our little apartment in the sky. Our tree was set up against the window and it looked like our Christmas lights blended right in with the city lights, and it was the perfect place to live. 
Last Christmas, we were right on the cusp on everything changing. We were two weeks out from the baby that had taken us by surprise that year, and it made Christmas feel so full. Everything was uncertain - what would parenthood be like? Where would we be living next Christmas? But as we spent our last Christmas just the two of us, everything felt so precious. On Christmas morning, we exchanged gifts and talked about how next year, there would be three of us. 
This Christmas, absolutely everything is different. It will be our first Christmas in our new city, our first Christmas with a house (that we decorated!), and our first Christmas with Jack. It has been wonderful. 
Jack has brought a whole new meaning to Christmas. The joy and thankfulness and celebration I usually feel this time of year is doubled because of him. Buying him toys and watching Christmas movies with him and dancing around the room to Christmas music while he laughs has made this the best Christmas ever. 
As I always do this time of year, I think about our first Christmas together and all the Christmases we've shared since then. And I look at my life now - my beautiful, messy, perfect, stressful, joyful life - and know that it all started because two teenagers fell in love in a little town by the beach. 
How many Christmases have you been with your significant other?

A Virtual Christmas Card: Merry Christmas From The Jacobs Family.

I've always wanted to do a Christmas card, and this year was going to be my year. We were going to get cute family pictures taken, I was going to order the prettiest foiled cards and send them out to everyone with little updates about our year...because really, if there was every a year that deserved a Christmas card / letter, it's this one. 

Alas, that did not happen. Instead, here we are. So do me a favor and pretend you just walked down to the mailbox and got this, and of course will hang it on your fridge.

***

Merry Christmas, friends!
For us, 2016 has been a year so full of new. I don't think we've ever had a year so full of changes and new things. 
New Baby: In January, we kicked 2016 off by welcoming Jack Isaiah Jacobs into our family. I don't think I need to even say this, but I'm a mom so I will: He's perfect. He has added so much to our lives. 
New City: March 18th is a day we'll always remember because it's the day we found out where the next seven years of our lives would be taking place. Gainesville! We have loved living here and have truly made this city our home over the last six months.
New Doctor: On May 20th, Chris graduated medical school and officially became an M.D. Proud doesn't even begin to describe it. The hard work and sacrifice that went into this are insurmountable, and to see it pay off was incredible. He's in general surgery residency now, still working just has hard, but getting to do so as a doctor now. 
New Home: Not only did we end up in a wonderful city, but we became home owners! We found the perfect house, one that seemed like it was made just for us. We went from living in a one bedroom studio apartment to a home with plenty of room and a big backyard for Jack and Gatsby. It still feels like a dream that it's actually ours! 
It has been the most incredible, whirlwind-like year of our lives. 

Merry Christmas! Thank you for being in our lives, near and far.  We love you. 
Love, 
Christopher, Chelsea, + Baby Jack Jacobs.

It's the Merriest Week of All, Live it Well.

GUYS. We made it to the week of Christmas!
Yesterday we went Christmas shopping for Jack for the first time ever. It was my first time in a toy store at Christmastime since the years when the gifts I wanted actually came from a toy store. No matter how old you are, there's just something about a toy store at Christmas. 
We came home and wrapped Jack's presents and watched The Santa Clause. It was one of those nights that only comes around once a year and made me feel like only Christmas can. 
We get another week of nights like that...enjoy them.
Watch too many movies and listen to too much Christmas music and eat too many sweets. 
Stay up too late and wake up too early and squeeze all the time out that you can. 
Go shopping with the last-minute shoppers and eat lunch somewhere delicious. 
Bake and wrap and relax and drink hot chocolate and talk about how great this year has been and talk about how sucky this year has been. 
Do all the things that make it feel like Christmas to you. Drink your festive drinks and eat your Christmas cookies and laugh a lot and stress a little bit and enjoy and enjoy and enjoy. 
You get one final week of Christmas cheer, live it well. 
How will you be spending this week?
PS: How about some presents for you? I teamed up with some friends to bring you a fun little new year / new you giveaway! Christmastime is full of shopping for everyone else, so treat yo' self and enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dear You.

Dear You, 
I hope that this Christmas season has been a wonderful one. I hope it's been full of magic and cheer and hustle and bustle and slowing down and savoring. I hope that if it hasn't, you start today. It's the merriest week of all, and it's not too late to start celebrating and savoring and enjoying to the fullest.
I hope that the next nine days are spent in the company of those who love you like no one else. If that's not an option this year, I hope the great gifts of memories and facetime help ease any sadness. I hope you still make Christmas magical in whatever home you're celebrating in. 
I hope you do whatever it is that you want to do this Christmas. That you don't feel pressured by the expectations of others. I hope you refuse to feel bummed that your presents and cookies and decorations didn't turn out quite Pinterest-perfect (do they ever?) and that you refuse to be guilted by the articles shaming you for giving your kids more that one present. I hope you find the perfect balance of what is just right for you, and that you celebrate in the way that makes you the very happiest. 
I hope that you take time to remember what it's all about. That you read the Christmas Story and call your family and tell them you love them. I hope you savor the good moments. 
I hope that you allow some of the wonder surrounding Christmas to creep in. I hope that you allow yourself to believe there is still magic left in this world.
I hope you say a simple no thank you to stress. No matter how many presents need to be bought or how many miles you need to travel or how many parties you have to attend. 
I hope that you remember that those who are closest to you love you, and they are not worried about what you're getting them for Christmas. They understand that this year's been hard, that your bank account is looking more dismal than you had hoped. That $5 gift you picked up at Target is going to make them happy because it's a gift from you. 
I hope that if Christmas is hard for you this year, you tell someone. That you let someone in. That you choose joy over pain and sweet memories over grief and celebrations over isolation.
I hope that every single day brings you unexpected joys, both big and small. I hope you learn to delight in the small things, like the warmth of Christmas coffee or the glow of the Christmas tree or the sight of excited little kids lining up to meet Santa. I hope you spend some time with Buddy the elf and the Grinch and the McCallister family. 
I hope your days are filled with all things merry and bright, with so much love and magic, with cheesy movies and Christmas music and eggnog and cheer. 
I hope this Christmas is nothing short of magical for you. I hope that when you remember it years from now, you'll think of it as one of the best holidays you've ever had. I hope that you feel the happiest you've felt in a very long time. 
Merry Christmas, beautiful friends.