I’m one of those people who tends to brush off accomplishments. To dismiss the accolades when I’ve met a goal. Compliments make me feel weird, because I’m not any better than anyone else. I don’t see myself that way. I’m just over here doing my thing and cheering everyone else on while they do theirs.

I was tempted to let 2018 quietly fade away. It was a hard year for a lot of people and a lot of those people were my friends. I’ve had years like that. When my life was devastated at every turn. Years of loss, struggle, and heartache. 2014… rocked my world to its core and shook the very foundation of my family. 2017… left scars on my heart that have yet to fully heal.

For me though, 2018 is a year I want to reflect on. It was a year of personal growth and positive changes. I met goals and hit personal milestones that were a big deal for me. Pie in the sky moments. I want to acknowledge that and let go of the mindset that it’s in poor character to do so. I want to look back on this post and remember the great moments of 2018.

• I wrote my third book with the hope that it would break the top 1000 on Amazon overall. Everything I Never Wanted hit #97 and sat there for an hour. That was 60 minutes of HUGE pie in the sky. *Thank you to every single person that made it possible. I’m so grateful to my readers for making it happen.
• I wrote my fourth book that will publish in eleven days.
• I won my spot as a signing author at LoveNVegas. Readers voted for me in a “blind” reading. No cover. No title. No identifying information. Just words. And they picked me. I’m still so blown away by that.
• Tantor Media purchased the audio rights to Everything I Never Wanted. It did well enough that Tantor also purchased the audio rights to my debut novel, Healing the Broken, and my soon to release title, Everything Worth Fighting For. *Surprise audio lovers. While I announced the news about Healing the Broken, I didn’t share the news of EWFF. I dreamed of getting one audio contract, I ended the year with three. *Pie in the sky.
• I met Teddy Hamilton, one of the narrators that worked on Everything I Never Wanted and for the second time in my life, I had a fangirl moment. *Back in the day, I saw Emmitt Smith. At the time he played for the Dallas Cowboys.
• I attended two signings as an author and one as a reader. I was recognized “in the wild” at the event I wasn’t signing at by a few readers. They wanted a picture…with ME. I am so in awe of that, still.
• I met so many of my readers and felt so honored every single time I was asked to sign something for them.
• I built relationships.
• In October, with my husband’s support, I took a huge leap of faith and left my day job of almost 19 years to take a year off and focus on my writing. This was my biggest pie in the sky moment. I was a nanny and worked for the same family for all those years. *Considering their last kiddo started college this past fall…it was time.

Then there were the other moments. The ones with a lot of tears. Extreme lack of sleep to the point of total physical and mental exhaustion. Months of working a full-time day job while writing full time. Stress that resulted in tension headaches and being physically sick. I missed deadlines and had near breakdowns. I was plagued by self-doubt. There were moments I wanted to give up. If it hadn’t been for my husband and my besties, M and C, I would have been rocking a straight-jacket like nobody’s business. There were days I’m certain my body was equal parts caffeine and dry shampoo.

It’s human nature to focus on the negative. To let the really great moments, get overshadowed by the not so great moments. So, my wish for you in 2019 is that you’ll all have really great moments. Moments so fantastic they outshine the hard ones. And when you have a win, let yourself enjoy it. Commit it to memory. You’re allowed to be happy.