We are in the final stretch of 2017, and it has been a year to remember in the Diaz fam.
Someone asked me today what word defined this year for me. Without hesitation, I said FREEDOM.
The biggest change was our #backtothefuture #socalorbust move forward to California again. We've been in SoCal again for half the year, our hearts are home. Of course, we miss the proximity to family and lifelong friends. Those two years came at an important time in our kids' lives and the Diaz/Getz families. But there's a centeredness, a sure-footedness, a stability that our souls have craved. We feel like ourselves again. Our kids transitioned almost effortlessly and they are thriving (something they never did during our 2 years in Indiana). Brian and I laugh more, feel lighter, and are more in sync with one another. We are surrounded by dear friends who feel like family, diversity, incredible food, rich culture, and of course sunshine, beaches, palm trees, and bougainvillea. I really didn't know that people could belong to places until we left ours in 2015. We are OVERWHELMED to be home. What started as a curse in an unexpected tax bill turned into the greatest blessing of 2017. It's a great reminder that gifts from above that aren't expected are awaiting to open, asking hands. God is always at work on our behalf and while he first desires our hearts, he also desires to give us good, good gifts.
Here's a FREEDOM overview from our family of five...
ME. Since I'm the author of this post, I'll go first. 2017 started off by weekly travel while I flew over 35,000 miles in the first quarter of the year -- and stayed healthy the entire time! I traveled for speaking and coaching gigs to Shanghai, China again with Brian and Asher, and to 12 states (some states multiple times). I've been privileged to coach 40 individuals, 4 churches, and train over 30 new coaches in the art and science of long-lasting transformation. Working with great organizations and people means the world to me.
On a deeper level, I'm becoming clearer on the work that I must do in this world. I'm becoming more deliberate in stewarding those callings and gifts. I've been a daily student of myself via the Enneagram (8w7), dedicated to becoming the best version of myself. I've been attentive to listening and learning to voices from the margins - people of color and women - more than ever. I've felt alive as my worldview, faith, and perspective is growing as I learn from those who's voices have been challenged and yet risen above. I've been purging my soul of a scarcity mentality that's existed since childhood, and learning what it means to walk in both contentment and abundance.
BRIAN. Earlier this year when we were talking about Brian going back to work and what he was hoping for moving forward, he articulated for the first time that his greatest joy was seeing our family thriving and supporting me living out my calling. Speechless. I married quite a man. He's continued providing the firm foundation for our family, but he's working for our dear friend, Cami, in her snowboard shop. He's taking care of the online side of the business in the hours between school drop offs and pick ups. He's finding his running groove again in his adored Peter's Canyon trails, and on the mountain-to-sea trail right outside our house. Two of my dear Indiana friends visited us a few months after we moved and they both blurted out how different Brian was - happy, confident, relaxed, and seemingly more himself. There's nothing better than to see your partner doing well.
Together, we celebrated 16 years of marriage. "Celebrated" as the key word because we are truly more in love and better partners than we've ever been. Our dreams, goals, and hearts are in sync in ways that is mostly a gift but is earned by the hard work of intentionality and commitment. Together, we traveled to 10 states (thanks in part to our cross-country drive to CA) and Shanghai, China.
Together, we've also been working on growing our dōTERRA essential oils business. We fell in love with their products when we brought Judah and Addise home 7 years ago and have been using them ever since. A little over a year ago, I found myself telling everyone about them and bragging about how healthy our family was as a result of them. So, I realized: I must build a business! We started learning more about the company and it resonated on so.many.levels. Brian and I discovered this is something we have shared passion and commitment to, so we're all in. We're building a team of leaders and gathering like-minded folks who want to live empowered in their emotional and physical wellness. I'm finding it's synergizing 20 years of leadership and people-development in a world that's different from the church-world I've lived in. Want to join us in 2018??
