12/31/2025
2025ā
This was a year that tested me in many ways.
Iām incredibly grateful for my side businessāBut behind the pretty pictures was an overstimulated, exhausted mom, wife, and full-time employee. In 2024 I felt it emotionally; this year I felt it physically and spiritually.
Many nights looked like putting my kids to bed, telling Collins that her dad would have to get her to sleep becuase I had to keep working, and then staying up until 3 or 4 a.m.āonly to wake up for my full-time job and do it all again. I said yes too often, took on too much, and stretched myself far beyond my limits. I would feel angry for no reason, and looking back, I know whyāI had no margin, no real time for my family and espically myself. Busy has always been part of my story, but a friend once told me, āwhen the devil canāt make you sin, heāll make you busy,ā and that truth caught up with me this year.
This Sunday at church, the final sermon of the year felt anything but coincidental. The message was about taking off our grave clothes and living in the Spiritāand I realized how little space Iād left for that. I barely opened my Bible. I prayed when I remembered. I was simply stretched too thin.
As the service came to a close, the final slide on the screen is pictured at the end of these photos. Sometimes when Godās whispers arenāt enough, He puts it right in front of you. I was walking to the front to help lead worship and had to pauseāI couldnāt even start helpign with the chorus because I was in disbelief at how clearly it spoke to me. At the bottom left of the screen was a spool of thread.
So this year, Iām choosing to slow down and put my faith first. Iāll be taking very limited orders and only offering TRVL luggage for Easter, Motherās Day, Back to School, Christmas, and limited preorders for SmockCandy and Heirlooms. If you are local and need something, Iām happy to helpābut Iām letting whatever flows from this season be enough. This isnāt goodbye; itās just slowing down and being more present with what and who matters most.
The last photo in this post is the slide from Sundayās serviceāit still makes my jaw hit the floor because these feelings have been circling for months and thereās no denying God put that sermon, that slide, and that seat with me in it for a reason.
