Hiiiiiiii everyone!!!! Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New and Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!! As you can see, those were all the holidays I missed since my last post!!! But, hey, here I am and ready to launch my very first post of 2017!!!

For this first post I would like to share with in a quick summary ( I promise I’ll do my best to no write too much) on my year of 2016. Although many people would like to scratch last year form their memories/pages, I instead, cant say the same…

My 2016 was filled with lovely surprises and events happening in the speed of the light! It was filled with uncertainty and the same time full of hope. It was filled with scars from the past and healing from the present. It was filled with old faces saying ‘hello’ and new faces saying ‘I love you’! To summarize it: I felt loved!!

I’ll tell you why I felt loved in 2016.  Although 2016 was the year the world turned upside down with wars, sudden celebrity deaths, politics’ ‘shenanigans’, hate spread, natural disasters, etc; my family and I experienced love from God and people in a very special way.

Let me take you back to 2015 so you can better understand my 2016. In 2015 I was at the peek of my battle with postpartum depression  (read my previous post), my babies were “2 under 2”, my parenthood was still being established, marriage was shaken by all the changes in our dynamics, I didn’t have any emotional support group outside of my family,  husband was unsatisfied professionally, and many other things going on. Therefore, I entered 2016 with my heart full of hope and wishes for a more balanced 2016.

Year 2016 arrives and my family and I move cross country to a new place, new environment, new, scene, new era, new aroma, new pollen (Claritin and Sudafed are my bffs) and new everything. Hey, that is positive, right? New year, new place sounds great to me!! Aaaaaand it was!! I’ll tell you this: Meeting new people and leaving others behind (not all, but some) gave me a new chance to start all over again!! Gave me a new chance to feel loved when I thought love was gone; gave me a new chance to love others when I thought I had fallen out of love towards people; gave me a new chance to discover there is life away from comfort zone and is good!!

We moved to California on January of 2016, by beginning April we had become members of a church, my kids were well adapted to an amazing family daycare, I was part of 4 different social/hangout groups, and life became so busy I barely had time to keep up with everyday changes and new discoveries. Without knowing, 2016 would be the year that God would heal my emotional wounds from the past, gift me with hope for a better present. I’m so tempted to bullet point everything that made me feel loved in 2016, but I’ll select 4 major moments that impacted me the most.

1- Southbay Church! The church my family and I are serving was truly God sent. We were “church shopping” since we arrived, but in none God spoke to us as much as He did in our current church. Since the very first service God used the pastors and people to teach us on humility, love, grace, mercy, joy, hope and Jesus!! I am beyond thankful that God presented us with this church.

2- Refresh! That was the name of a group for moms in my church who also welcomed every mom who wanted to participate. My gosh, how awesome was to be part of that group! The first time I attended I had not known anyone!! On my very first meeting I was already crying my eyes out because those women embraced me as if they had known me forever!!! I felt as if their eyes were actually noticing me, and their hearts were telling: “Everything will be ok, we are here for you!!” Do you know what that means when you are a mom? It means you are not alone on your everyday battle raising your children when sometimes (most of the times) you have no idea what you are doing!!! So, yeah I need that! Olivia was 1.5 and Noah was 2.5, so I need that emotional support!! From that group I learned to be less judgmental on my motherhood, remember that God still loves me if I fail, meet awesome moms who later became my friends and to thank God for being a mom.

3- Target! Guys, I started working for Target in 2016! That was my first job since 2012 when I got pregnant with my firstborn. Working at Target opened the doors for a new me. For so long I thought that I was only good on changing diapers, preparing baby formula, and giving birth. Being a mother full-time for 3 years was a privilege, but it also created lies into my head that I couldn’t be anybody else but a mom. Plus, which mom wouldn’t LOVE to work at a place you go ALL the time fro fun?? So, for 4 months I worked at happily at Target, met new people, received kind compliments from customers, exercised my skills on helping others, drank my everyday Frappuccino from Starbucks, and overall I felt loved by God to be given an opportunity to get out of the house! 🙂

4- My parents! If you know me, you know I am super glued to my parents! But in 2016 they exceeded their limits of being awesome! They were beyond amazing when they came over to visit us for the Holidays last year. To begin with, they literally put their lives on hold for 2 months to come to California to serve and love their grandchildren! For 2 months they cooked for us, cared for us, cleaned for us, entertained us, prayed for us, and loved us unconditionally! Their love for me and my family, taught me to be a better a person. The way they love Noah and Olivia drives Noah to draw our family including Vov’o e Vov^o (grandpa and grandma in Portuguese), true story! I mean, I could go on and on trying to describe how awesome it is to have them here with us, but I will resume to one word: Love.

I’m telling you, love is a powerful thing that make others feel better, brings healing to the soul, brightens somebody’s day and fills the room with positive vibe!! I hope those 4 events in my life could describe a little bit of what Love felt like in my life in 2016. I learned so much about myself in 2016 that I am really excited to apply all that learning in 2017. Now, it’s your turn to tell me what makes you feel Loved!!

Love,

Camila