Hello friends, family, and community far and wide. I’m inviting you to join Ryan and I on a journey of bringing new life into the world. The next 6 months, if all goes well, will include some major life events (roughly in this order): I’ll become an aunt for the first time; my son Nikolai will graduate from college and start his career; and Ryan and I will be traveling to the country of Georgia to meet our new son, who is currently being carried by an 18 weeks pregnant surrogate mother. (Yes, in case you didn’t know already, you read that right).
We’re also heading off on another road trip towards the end of February, back to Asheville, NC, via the southern route (NM, AR, LA, MS, AL, GA).
So be on the lookout for new posts coming very soon, which will include the backstory of our journey with surrogacy. The road we have traveled has many twists, turns, stops and starts. We have traversed through infertility and early menopause, Covid, the death of Ryan’s father, reuniting with my sisters, the war in Ukraine, and our first trip to Tbilisi, Georgia. Along the way, there has been lots of soul searching, surrender, and attempts to overcome fear with faith - which we’ll need as we navigate the many changes in our family over the next 6 months. In addition to sharing our journey of choosing to become new parents again in our late 40’s, this blog will also give real-time updates of these changes as they coincide with: our second road trip to Asheville; the birth of my nephew; Nik’s graduation; our second trip to Tbilisi, Georgia; the birth of our son in late June/early July; and our return home by the end of summer.
In 2022, I wrote a blog called Rachel’s Midlife Journey, which tracked our northern route road trip from Longmont, Colorado to Asheville, North Carolina, and our adventures living in a construction site in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. For those of you who followed along with that journey, this new blog will be somewhat of a continuation - part travel journal, with photos of beautiful places.
The results of the next six months are unknown, but we hope you’ll join us on the adventure of celebration and hopefully welcoming new life into the world!
I’ll leave you with this photo of me and a butterfly in January of this New Year, a few days before my birthday. May we all be touched by grace and life in beautiful environments during this next trip around the Sun!
So excited for you on the beautiful journey ahead. Sending you lots of love and all the best ♥️♥️