As we come up to the end of 2016, I cannot help but feel grateful. It wasn’t the easiest year at all but it carried so many surprises and beautiful gifts. Being able to blog full time was a dream I honestly never thought I could achieve. Now that the day is here and I’ve been doing it for 6 months, it still doesn’t always feel real. But I’ll be honest with you, it’s not always easy to be a full time blogger. I don’t get paid consistently every other Friday anymore or have a boss giving me deadlines or even just the guidance of a job description. I had to (and still am) walking through so many unexpected hurdles in the working from home/running your own business world.

I have a tendency to overwork just to prove myself. To make the pay cut & job transition all worth it. To prove that all the time I spend on this blog actually means something. It’s hard – learning balance, discipline, trust. Constantly fighting off the lies of perfection and comparison. Always trying to prioritize and figure out what is most important to work on. I could work forever on “blog stuff” – it’s never ending. I’ve been pushed deeper into the Lord – trusting Him for provision and looking to Him for my identity.

So I’m taking a huge (and healthy) step back for the holidays. No new blog posts, no social media checklists, no blog stress. I’m spending time with friends and family, dreaming about 2017, and reigniting the love for this space. Not that I’ve lost the love, but just that I need to tend to this relationship. The blog and I need a date night for dreaming without the day to day responsibilities of getting things done.

I thought about doing a readers survey (and I’ve done those before) but it didn’t feel right for this season. This season is about finding what I want to blog about and share in this space. It is about figuring out what I do and don’t want to spend my time on. It is about  growing this blog in the ways and directions that play off my passions, my hopes, and my desires. It is about sorting out my priorities and figuring out my role in the internet world. AND I hope all that is what you want to. I hope that you are so on board with the new things (& old things) that 2017 will bring. And if your not, that’s okay! I can’t be for everyone and I’m learning to be okay with that 😉 haha!

All that to say I’m out of here for a couple weeks. I’m taking some time off and I’m giddy like a school child. I’ll be back in 2017 and that also makes me just as excited. I’m so thankful for YOU. It is such a gift to have you as part of the Oak + Oats community. I wish you a Very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!