Three Scobeys

Dear 2009,

Whew! Where do I even begin with this? You have been a year of lessons; lessons learned... most of them learned while I was kicking and screaming; bottom lip pressed firmly out into a big, fat pout. It has been a really tough year. Like; didn't-know-if-I-would-make-it-through-with-my-head-still-attached tough.... I know that it has been for a lot of people.

But, oddly enough, I would like to thank you, 2009. I would like to thank you for the lessons learned. I have learned how to be a mother - this lesson has been the most difficult of my life (by far) as it is backbreaking, really, for an entirely selfish person to learn how to be.... well... not. Learning how to be a mother implies learning all sorts of other things; like changing a diaper with one hand, for example.

I have learned how to be a dreamer - which is directly opposed to the feet-on-the-ground-make-others-happy person I have always been. And let me tell you, allowing your passion to take flight is both exhausting and wonderful. Oh, and totally terrifying. But I am in this wonderful place right now, where I know that anything is possible. Actually possible.

So thank you, 2009. I am so looking forward to 2010. In a different way than I have ever looked forward to a New Year. Because I am a better person than I was last year and, with the help of my friends and family, I am certain to be even better yet. I. Just. Cannot. Wait. So, I will be bringing in the new year in a easy, low-key way: sitting on my parents' couch watching a rented movie and sipping champagne in my sweats. There is nowhere I would rather be.

Lovingly and Optimistically,

Ashley N. Scobey

P.S. - Look, 2009, at what we made!! How great are we?!?

* photo by the amazing Carla TenEyck *