Originally posted June 2016
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Hi Beautiful Ones!
First and foremost, I wanted to say that I appreciate all the love that I have received over the past 9 months since I left my former website NecoleBitchie.com, and launched the women’s lifestyle brand xoNecole.com.  The transition has been both humbling and rewarding!   As I look back on all the obstacles I’ve overcome, as well as the people it has brought into my life, the lessons I’ve learned, and how I have personally evolved as a woman, I realize that this move was so necessary for me to get one step closer to living the life of my dreams. I’m not sure if the life I wanted for myself, and my old brand could coexist in the same space and it’s mainly because I really didn’t have a lot of time to do things that I enjoyed outside of working.
What I’ve learned is that sometimes you may have to give up something in order to get something else that you may want, all while believing that what lies ahead is far greater than what you are leaving behind.  It’s all about trusting the process and surrendering to this beautiful journey we call life.


Lately, people have been asking me, “When are you going to update your personal blog! I love it so much!” and the truth is, I’ve noticed that it’s harder for me to write things when I’m going through them, versus when I’m on the other side and I am able to write about it from a more reflective standpoint. Just so you know, I’m on the other side (I’ve what I felt was a major meltdown) right now, so I’ll be writing about a lot of things I’ve learned, mistakes I made, LOVE, coming of age, and plenty of lessons over the next few weeks.
I’ve also noticed that since a lot of people have told me they were inspired by my personal site, I felt like I always had to write inspirational content, but that’s not necessarily the case.  I want to switch things up and make the site more lifestyle, so I’ll be talking about everything from entrepreneurship, to travel, my fitness journey, my meal plans,  self-care, books that have served as my mentors, and all things that I love in the future.
Which reminds me, I need to make a new bucket list!!!
Last year, the kind people at Axel and Ash sent me a gift pack with the My Bucket List journal and a Swept Away By Wanderlust travel journal.  The My Bucket List journal allows you to write out 101 things you’d love to do in this lifetime. The idea was inspired by a guy who lost a close friend of his and realized that life is too short to waste while not living true to his values.  He thought about the things he kept saying he wanted to do and realized, “Why are they always in the future, why not do them now?’  So he wrote down 101 things he wanted to do and over the last 6 years, he completed 67 items on his list (including visiting an inmate on death row, learning French, he grew a beard, and he got marred to a stranger — LOL!) YOLO (you only live once).
my bucket list insert
My Bucketlist Journal before page
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I love this journal because it really made me think about everything I want to experience in this lifetime.  My parents both died at ages 41 and 42, so I learned very early on that life is short and we have to live every single day to the fullest. I want to take full advantage of this time I have here on this earth.   So here is some of the things that would are on my bucketlist:

  1. Write a book –i.e. Memoir  (I’ll explain later why this hasn’t happened yet)
  2. Sky dive (I tried to go in Dubai and let’s just say I should have booked earlier)
  3. Visit Greece  — Santorini and Mykonos
  4. Scuba Diving
  5. A commencement speech at my former high school
  6. A women’s empowerment tour
  7. Expand my business
  8. Redesign and relaunch my personal site (I’m working on that right now!!)
  9. Live abroad (if only for a few months)
  10. Learn a new language (French perhaps?)
  11.  Become a mother (But not before becoming a wife 🙂 )

I had “Talk to Oprah”, ride a camel, visit Dubai, The Grand Canyon,  fall in love and The White House (not listed) on my bucket list in 2015.
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and BOOM!

Grand Canyon - March 2015

Grand Canyon – March 2015


My March 2015 Visit to Antelope Canyon

My March 2015 Visit to Antelope Canyon


 
grand canyon skywalk
My March 2015 visit to Antelope Canyon

My March 2015 visit to Antelope Canyon


My sister and I riding a camel in Dubai

My sister and I riding a camel in Dubai


Riding ATVs through the Desert in Dubai

Riding ATVs through the Desert in Dubai


A visit to the White House with Terrence J

A visit to the White House with Terrence J


 
I met Oprah October 2015

I met Oprah October 2015


Look at God!
I would have never in a million years thought I’d meet Oprah or visit The White House so soon, but it’s all proof that you can manifest the things you want into your life by keeping a running tab of your goals,  visualize you actually having those things, and most of all believing it will happen.
And if I add my career transition to the mix, I’d have to say that 2015 was a monumental year!
**Sidebar: Gosh, now that I look back, through all the tears, I really didn’t give myself enough credit last year. Can we take this moment to appreciate all the things in life that we have been able to accomplish despite adversity! Perspective is everything!**
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I’m so excited to knock a good amount of these items off of my list over the next year or two.
Although I put it at the end of my list, one thing I’m really focused on as I continue to evolve as a woman is to have work/life balance. A lot of entrepreneur women I’ve talked to don’t believe they can have a career, and juggle that with marriage and kids…and for a long time, I didn’t believe it either. I felt as though I’d have to give up one, to get the other but now I am determined to prove to myself I can do it.
Will it be perfect? No.
Will something be sacrificed? Yes.
But that’s my ultimate goal item. The ultimate bucket list item. Being able to love, be love, and pour that love into my husband, my kids, my family, my friends and everyone I come in contact with daily.
And to make time.
Since rebranding, I’ve found more time to celebrate friends’ birthdays, attend bachelorette parties, go to wine tastings, take road trips, and pick up the phone and have lengthy conversations with friends and family and it really has improved the overall quality of my life.
P.S.  I need a new My Bucketlist Journal.  Before I had the chance to write in it,  I gave it away as a gift to someone who means a lot to me and just to show you how cheesy I am, I wrote this on Page 50 🙂
 
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I’m old school and like to create things that people can look back on so this journal works for me, but if you are more of a new-age, I-like-to-do-everything-on-line type of person,  there is a site called bucketlist.org (I don’t believe it’s ran by the same authors) that has everything imaginable on there. I haven’t looked too much into it but it looks like a social community for bucket lists.  You can even create a bucklist of your own and keep up with it on there. (I just came across it today while writing this post ironically!)
In the meantime, I’d love to know what’s on your list? What are a few things you hope to do this year? And in this lifetime?
Feel free to share in the comments!
Until next time 🙂