10 Year Challenge, 2009 vs 2019
2009 me had just graduated from interior design school, was working in a showroom at the Merchandise Mart, loving Chicago and never entertaining the thought that she would ever leave the city.
In the next 10 years she would find an incredible community in the city, have a quarter life crisis (read: doubt her skills and abilities) and leave the design world to work at a bakery, see everyone in her immediate family move to Arizona, resent them for moving and further dig her heels into Chicago, visit Washington for the first time and fall in love with the mountains, discover her love of the outdoors and in 2017 follow new dreams that led her West.
2019 me had the most epic outdoor year so far. Getting WFR certified in a record breaking snowstorm in Flagstaff, hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, officially launching @brushesandboots (while still doubting my abilities), leaning into the community I’ve found in Tucson, finally accepting that Arizona is my home, learning to love my body, allowing myself to dream impossible dreams, and hiking my first long trail in the Sierras.
Needless to say, I’m not even close to where I thought I would be 10 years ago but I’m grateful life led me here! I’m looking forward to this new year and new decade filled with dreams I have yet to dream.