Mattox Live

I know there’s still over a week in 2018, but lets be real here: this will be the last time I blog this year.

So, 2018… you’ve been a year. I can’t call it a bad year. I really can’t. It’s had some pretty incredible highs and adventures. But its sure going out on a note of, “Don’t let the door hit ya on your way out.”

Let me just address the thing that absolutely broke my heart recently… I said good bye to my sweet Bailey. I’ve had pets that I loved in the past, but I also grew up in the country. And I got really used to not having a pet last very long for a laundry list of reasons. I never got TOO attached to most of them. But Bailey… Bailey was special. He had my heart, and as he’d gotten older this voice in my head started whispering that time with him was going to start getting short. I had no reason to think that, but I always was aware of it.

Bailey was the most loving pet I’d ever had. When his big brother, Sully, was on his last, he spent all his time going between Sully and me… checking on both of us. Worried for us. Loving us. He wasn’t sure about new people, but once you gained his trust it was nothing but pure love from him. That’s all I could ever say about him. He was love.

Last Friday, he stopped taking food. I tried everything I could, but he refused it. We took him to the vet to learn he was in major kidney failure. He hadn’t shown me he was sick, and we were far too late to slow things down. Petting him as he went to sleep for the last time… I guess if I had to choose a way to say good bye this was the way. He was love, and he ended his life wrapped in love. I’ve cried a lot this last week.

Financially, we took some hard hits this year with vehicles and home maintenance. Both of us working hard, but still having days of, “Hey, we have $100 to our names for the next three days” has been humbling, but also has fueled our fire to work harder and make dreams come true.  I’ve spent a lot of time stressed to a level that was exhausting over things that I just can’t go into here. But suffice to say, I’ve said the words, “I’m just DONE.” a lot.

But that’s not to say it hasn’t been a great year at the same time. I’ve gotten to photograph some really cool events and have started to be recognized by people with, “Hey weren’t you covering such and such event?” I was a credentialed photographer at CMA Fest this year which was a bucket list item I didn’t even know I had. Started following the growth of a new baby girl (now nine months old!) and adore the families I’ve gotten to photograph. And my niece is a senior in high school, so I have started her senior portraits… the little flower girl in our wedding is all grown up!

I’ve come to feel more and more at home at Yazoo Brewing Company. I love my Yazoo family, and I am crazy excited about where the company is headed in the new year.

I have so many friends how have new babies, and watching them all embark on that new chapter of life has made my own heart explode with love and pride for them.

I got to spend a few days in California this summer, and I got to explore a small area of it. And lets just say I might have a new top 5 vacation spot and I want to go back again and explore further.

I got a new truck this year, going from a Ford to a Chevy, and I got to spend my birthday in my beloved Aggieland WITH MY HUSBAND.

I was honored to be a part of an awesome committee for the Association of Former Students, and I’ve made strides to pass the local Middle Tennessee A&M Club on to a new generation of Aggies. I could not be prouder of all we’ve done with the club, and I am crazy thankful for all its given back to me.

My husband and I are always dreaming new dreams, and I feel like 2019 is going to be a wild and amazing ride as we explore those. So 2018… you weren’t bad, but you also weren’t great. And that’s okay! You have to take the bad with the good. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve experienced a lot. And I’m going into another year wiser and with even more fire in me.

I wish the best for everyone out there… have a Merry Christmas. A Happy New Year.