Welcoming a baby girl into the world, adding to the Picky Bar line, and the returning to the familiar feeling of a joyful run.

Here are Lauren's favorite highlights from 2017 - 

1. THE BIRTH OF MY BABY GIRL

20 minutes before she was born, I was told I was ready to push and everyone started readying themselves around me. Carts wheeling, supplies laid out, doctor getting prepared. I just held Jesse's hand and started to cry from relief. We got this far. She was going to be ok. She was going to be born soon. Pregnancy was going to be over. Life would never be the same. I knew this is a way I didn't when my first child was born. It felt so incredible to anticipate the magic. And there were of course, many many tears once she came out. All the kinds.

2. LAUNCHING PICKY OATS

After seven years in business, we had launched new flavors of Picky Bars, but never a new product line. I was nervous. Obsessive. Then we put ourselves out there to raise money from our community on kickstarter and I got even more freaked out. But then the packages arrived, beautiful and stark. It tasted exactly the way I hoped it would. Sweet sweet relief! Followed by a huge rush of excitement. We finally had Oats! 

3. DECEMBER 10TH RUN. 

After 5 weeks of tiptoeing back into running after 6 months off, a totally inactive pregnancy, and recovery from birth, I had just about gotten used to running feeling pretty awful, but loving it anyway. I was grateful for movement, even if that movement was lumbering along feeling uncoordinated. But then there was this run. I had to talk myself into continuing one mile at a time for four miles but then I just started flying again. I slipped into a new gear, I felt coordinated, the ground was giving me something back for a change. It lifted my spirits so high I felt brand new.