How is it July?

Just like that…I woke up and it was suddenly July 1st. Did anyone else experience this?How are we already half way through the year? That doesn’t seem possible.

Usually on my birthday or the beginning of the year I do a lot of soul searching. What have I accomplished and what is still on my list to tackle? Today seemed to be one of those days also.

I started the day with pulling weeds and then went for a long walk in the vineyard. It was a spectacular morning. The temperature was a fresh 63°F or 17°C. A gorgeous blue sky and nothing but birdsong to accompany me.

Having time to think, ponder, ruminate is something that I treasure. Just some quiet time to let the mind wander. I thought about what a difference a year can make in one’s life. What my life was like last July. Last year on this day I got out of work early and we drove to my cousin Donna and her husband Carl’s house on Lake Norman for the long Fourth of July weekend. This year, we’re living in a vineyard in Spain. It still seems like a dream sometimes.

We hated traveling on holidays due to the traffic. They drove down from Connecticut and our drive was just a mere three hours. Somehow Donna got us to travel to their lake house for just about every holiday. I’m so glad she did otherwise we would have missed out on making so many wonderful memories together. When I think what we would have missed if we hadn’t have stepped outside the norm.

It’s been an amazing year since then. Our lives have changed completely because we decided it was time to make our dream come true. Take the road less traveled one might say.

Ours just happened to lead us to a road into a vineyard.

Donna and Carl’s dream is also about to come true. They bought the property on Lake Norman in North Carolina in 1997 and built the house in 2006/07. Their dream was to live there permanently. Well, they made the decision this year to push to make this happen. And guess what. It is happening. I couldn’t be more thrilled for them.

Our friends Doug and Juanita have made their dream come true and have just moved into their new home on a golf course. So excited for them too.

I think we all have dreams. Some are dreams that we know will never happen. Some are dreams that we know we can make happen. Sometimes the circumstances need to be right but I think a lot of the time we can also work to make the circumstances right. We have more power than we think to make our dreams come true.

We never dreamed of living in a vineyard. Our dream was to live in Spain. The vineyard is a huge bonus! I wanted to get back to my photography. Now I am doing that and I am writing which has been a dream for a long time. A year ago I wouldn’t have thought it possible but now look where we are.

We’ve been here three months now. I’ve grown a lot during that time. In ways I probably didn’t think I could. Moving to a new country will do that to you. It certainly takes you out of your comfort zone. I know I have a lot more that I want to do. Ways I want to grow. And I will. I will continue to dream. I will continue to stretch myself.  To learn new things and to finally make some more dreams come true.

We’re halfway through the year. I’m excited to see what the rest of the year has to offer. What I can make happen.

What are you going to do to make your dreams happen? Don’t let your current circumstances stop you from doing what you truly want to do.