Tuesday Truth #75

Tuesday Truth.

Number 75.

Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow -Anita Desai

Isn’t that so true?

From the places that I’ve moved to the places that I visit, they all become a little piece of me. Shaping me into who I’m becoming. An ever evolving journey.

Sometimes the journey I go on is down memory lane. Whenever someone happens across one of my archives, I will often go reread what was written. Partially for the journey, but also to check for the inevitable grammatical error I will stumble upon. Ones hidden for over nine years…boy is that humbling. But the journey is so compelling. So much has happened since I began this blog in 2016. All those little bits and scraps of moments turning the pages of time. Moments not in the forefront of my mind….all of my children beginning to drive, Miss Sunshine getting braces, making recipes for Mr D’s Spanish class, the journey with tall children (especially Big Mr). Moments that I feel so lucky to be able to relive in words. Isn’t is amazing how words can take you right back to a moment? And how a photograph can as well?

Time captured.

If you were around when I used to share the top 10 most visited posts of the year, then you know that Love Letter to My Daughter, a love letter written to Miss Sunshine as she turned 13 came out of relative obscurity, sitting in the archives when it was written in 2016, to becoming my Top Post of 2019. It moved down to #2 in 2020, replaced by 11 Things to do in Charleston and then reclaimed its #1 spot for 2021, 2022, & 2023. I also wrote Miss Sunshine a Sweet Sixteen Love Letter that while it doesn’t get read quite as often, has ranked in my top 5 most read posts since 2020.

Every so often I will open them up and read them again. They fill my heart with love over and over. Miss Sunshine is now finishing up her Junior Year at NC State, studying to be a Civil Engineer. She has some exciting opportunities coming up and hopefully I’ll be able to share them in the future.

The post that surpassed the love letter in 2024 was What I Learned From 30 Days of No Alcohol. If you were reading my words back at the end of 2017, beginning of 2018, you may have followed my “this is 40” year of monthly challenges. The kickoff to this was a month of no alcohol. I did an update to the post in 2020. Over the years, I thought about updating it again because people were still coming to it and reading it. Yesterday, I finally added a 2025 update. Part of my 2025 year of self love (for more: Commitments to Self) was beginning the year with Dry January. I’ve extended that to present day.

However, that brings us back to today’s truth. I am to travel to someplace new! The hubby and I are about to celebrate 26 years of marriage! For some of my intentions (goals) for 2025, I decided to get very specific. So our trip to CALIFORNIA will check off some of those boxes. Curious which ones?

Well… I’ve set a goal to visit all 50 states before I turn 50. So that’s roughly 2 1/2 years, but I have A LOT of states to visit. California is a new one for me. We will be visiting Joshua Tree National Park (my goal is to visit at least 2 of the 63 National Parks this year). I have a goal to visit at least 5 of the other National Park Units (monuments, etc- there’s between 433-463 of these). I plan to visit the Cabrillo National Monument on this trip. And lastly, I have a goal of visiting at least 10 State Parks (for my purposes, which is about being in nature, State Reserves, etc count towards this. I have noted in my agenda that there are over 6600 State Parks). Our trip has some fluidity. We have hotels booked in various locations, but our hiking timeline is still loose. In the possibilities are Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Mt. San Jacinto State Park, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, and possibly some State Beaches.

How does that tie in to my extension of Dry January? Well I’m not sure yet if I will sip cocktails by the pool or continue with my current mode. Either way, I’m hoping to share some of my travels on Instagram (you can find me here). We head out March 31st. I can’t wait!!

Have you been to California? I know some of you live there! Have you visited any of the places? Any recommendations?

And finally, back to today’s truth… has somewhere you’ve been ever become such a part of you that it changed you completely?

Let your light shine!

Amy

p.s. the photo in the quote is Kure Beach Pier. One of the other intentions I set for the year is (when in town) to visit the beach at least once a week.