this time last year ...

070711. If you had asked me last year where I would be, what I'd be doing, and where my "head" is at, I'm not sure I would have answered any of those questions correctly. Because when I look back on the last 12 months ... boy-o ... there was a LOT I couldn't have guessed.

For example, I didn’t know the LO would be a sleep-talker… a constant … consistent … clearly articulate “meerkatting” sleep-talker. “I dropped my key!” she exclaimed at 2 am … popping up like a meerkat out of its hole … pause … plopping down back into deep sleep just seconds later.

And at 4 am … “That’s MY naynay,” she yelled at the top of her lungs. (“Naynay is the sound a horse makes, and she’s been calling them that since she could speak a syllable.”)

And then at 8 this morning, still deep in slumber … “Where’s my bag?” Pop up. “Where’s my BAG!!??!!” … plop down.

I didn’t know I’d be pregnant again. The third time in three years. You see, We thought there’d already be another little one keeping us up at night as I was pregnant this time last year … but it’s important to remember that life happens as it’s supposed to … and we find out tomorrow if we’re having a boy or girl. Fingers crossed for healthy!

I didn’t know the Cowboy would be on a 10-month job while we readied the Cottage to go on the market and house-hunted for a space big enough for the brood and the horses and the dogs.

(Why can’t THIS place be for sale and in our price range? ... obviously, this is just the barn ... the house is hidden behind a grove of trees and is a gorgeous traditional farmhouse ... and I covet it.)

I didn’t know it would be so easy to call Montana “home.” After years in Los Angeles, I’m shocked on most days to realize that the only real things I miss are my friends … who are some of the most amazing gals you’d ever want to meet. Shout out to the ladies!!

I didn’t know how to ride a horse, but I knew I loved the big guy, Red.

I didn’t know I’d be leading a series of 40-day meditations that would do more to change my life and my perspective than almost anything else in my life.

And I didn’t know how to make Vietnamese Iced Coffee ...