The year that was 2014 really started out very, very, VERY bad, having lost a dear friend on Christmas – an event that would shape the lives of the people around me right up to Christmas 2014 and beyond. I learned a lot about myself dealing with a fresh type of grief, the kind that comes only from suddenly, permanently losing a friend with whom I had a soul connection. The wake of this tragedy was horrific and at moments unbearable, but through it, we found ourselves continually touched by her legacy – she brought new friends together, pulled introverts out of their shells, reminded us of the importance of friends and family, and most of all, to embrace every second of living, breathing life because it’s short.

After a few months of floundering early in the year, I decided it was time to cut a path through the debris and start living again. I set goals, some of which were immediately actionable giving me the courage and motivation to move on to the bigger challenges. The best part? Realizing each goal came with many more rewards than just the initial outcome I was aiming for. One fed another, propelling me, and each seemed to be touched with the glitter of my friend’s memory. I could feel her in my heart still cheering me on, just like she did when she was physically present in my daily life. And despite how much I still missed her, my heart began to fill full again. Not just a little bit either. I tried to find a word or way to describe the fullness of heart I began to experience but as Zelda said, even poets hadn’t found a way to measure such a feeling.

So I ended up having a very blessed year living life full, with hearty travels, a career changing for the positive, my style business in full take-off mode, fabulous live music and great films. I climbed some mountains, laughed, and had other losses to grieve for. But I crossed many things off my life bucket list, one of which was right here at the end of 2014, one that I said I’d share when I began my blog, that of setting my feet on hallowed, surfing ground, not once, but twice. These I’ll tell through pictures and captions. I hope it sufficiently captures my joy-filled heart and in such a way you might be Sensespired to reach for your dreams in 2015.