Happy New Year!  I wanted to reflect and share 2021 with my naturist friends.  You all have contributed to my journey in one way or another!!  This has been my first full year of being a natutrist...when and where I can.  Overall, it has been a year and a half since I first began this journey toward freedom.
This year was one of many challenges.  The low point this year was finding out that I had cancer in April.  It was a very challenging time.  I have always been very healthy and have never faced medical issues.  I always thought I knew what I would do for a holistic diet if I ever got cancer.  But when it came time, I wasn't sure I could follow through with that.  I got in touch with someone I had met years ago who had an ozone sauna.  Ozone has helped in the cancer journey for many people.  The man who created this sauna years ago had seen many people healed with ozone.  I chose to do this as an alternative to doing radiation.  I started these sauna treatments before having the tumor removed.  The treatments helped clean up the edges of the tumor.  I had surgery in June.  One of the margins of the tumor had cancer cells in it. They wanted to go back in to take out 6 one hundredths of an inch.  I decided I didn't want to do that but would rely on the ozone to clean those cells up.  One big reason is that surgery really wipes me out and another was that there was no guarantee that there were any more cancer cells there.  I was able to purchase my own ozone generator and have been drinking ozone water daily for some time.  I bought a portable sauna that I will set up to do ozone saunas at home.
I am part of a Christian Mewe group as a result of connection with someone who has a Christian naturist website who came out of the same Baptist background I had for many years (connecting with him was definitely confirmation of this journey last year).  Joining this group had been such an encouragement to me.  Through that group,  I found out that Oaklake Trails in Oklahoma had an administrative assistant position opening and visited to interview for the position.  I met the office manager through our Christian group and made a wonderful friend.  Although I was offered the position, it wasn't the right timing for me.  How wonderful it would have been to work in my naturist state at a job and influence others positively.  However, that is a possibility in my future to either work and or live in such a place.  This is a beautiful resort with over 430 acres and 7 miles of hiking trails with two full sized swimming pools and many amenities. 
In April, I visited my friend in Austin and was able to go to Hippie Hollow Beach with a new friend I met through our Christian group on Mewe.  He and I had never met face to face and yet the same story is always true...you have a genuine connection in naturism.  We visited the beach for a while and then he dropped me off at the airport.  Hippie Hollow is beautiful.  My goal is to keep checking places off my list when I travel.  I completed the Naked Mile with some friends at Valley View this summer.  This is the closest resort to me and I had not visited it.  Last year, there were covid restrictions for the pool and I wanted to wait until I could enjoy the place fully.  Every time I visit a place, I am able to meet new people and make new connections.  It is so important to stay connected with others on this journey and they are some of the most amazing people you will ever meet.  That is a very common statement among naturists and why they love it so much.
My good friend from Oklahoma visited this summer for a few days.  He has been the office manager at Oaklake Trails for 4 years.  I was able to take him to Toadally Natural, the clothing optional farm where my journey began.  He was able to meet some of my friends and thoroughly enjoyed the unique atmosphere there.  We also visited Blue Lake in Illinois while he was here, which has a very down home feel with great people there.  We of course drove naked to and from the resort.  I may have even gone to the bathroom on the side of the road somewhere in Illinois in the natural!  I have proof! 
My high point this year was spending a week in Oklahoma with 40 Christian naturists at Oaklake Trails Resort.  In July, our Christian group from Mewe put a retreat together at Oaklake trails on my second visit to the resort. They allowed me to be a part of the worship team.  To sing as "God intended" was a very Spirit filled experience.  We had a keyboard, a mandolin, a wooden flute and two guitars.  I am so glad I videoed myself singing with the group.  Every time I listen to it, I cry.  It was incredibly powerful.  To be with a group of precious like minded people was a treasure that God gave me.  It truly solidified that naturism was my path.  
The group also prayed over my cancer.  We all held hands, as God intended...just wow!  Another treasured moment....and another first!  I felt I was to lead a women's meeting.  Eight of us women shared our journeys to naturism for 3 hours.  It was so humbling to be used by God.  It had only been a year since I started this. They all couldn't believe how much I had experienced in a year and how progressed I was in naturism.  That is God's handiwork in my life.  I have struggled a little bit at times, thinking, why am I doing this...am I losing my mind?  This is especially true because it has resulted in a very strained relationship with my daughter in Colorado as a result of choosing this path.  Then I reflected that God brought me to this...I would have never chosen this!!  He also reminded me as to how I have been able to influence and encourage others in this lifestyle.  I know what it has done for me and want the same for others!
At the end of my stay at Oaklake Trails, my girlfriend from Tulsa and I traveled to Austin to see our friend that I went to Hippie Hollow with as mentioned above.  On our way to Austin, we stopped at Wildwood resort since she is a member there.  No one was there, so we took all kinds of pictures.  We had a blast doing crazy pictures...even posing by the pool.  The next day we headed to Star Ranch.  I love the feel of that place.  It is rustic and very green.  We spent a few hours there and then returned the next day to help with a work day. I was able to meet a Christian friend I had been chatting with online there.  What a great thing to meet someone you have prayed with!   We met someone who was a "first timer" and encouraged him.  We also met a Christian couple that has never told their family and had been practicing naturism for years.  They were so excited to meet other Christians who practiced naturism.   I was able to meet another Christian friend I had met online and had been chatting with for many months.  It was great to meet him as well!   Christians live in fear of others knowing...myself included.  I try to exchange numbers with first timers to stay in touch.  God has been preparing me for the day when I will be completely open about it with my other Christians friends.  All of my children know about it, which is another story.  But I have only told a few friends besides them.  It is sadly so misunderstood and makes it so difficult to tell others.
It has been a gift to encourage several male friends in regard to their wives not participating in naturism.  They have been able to ask my perspective which helped them.  I sent my story to them so that they could share it with their wives.  The greatest thing was being able to pray for their wives and seeing God answer our united prayers.  Two of them started participating with their husbands.  Those men were like kids with glee and excitement when their wives joined them.  It is such a freeing experience and has so many benefits that you want the person that you love the most to be a part of it.  
I was able to lead a discussion at the farm where my journey began this summer.  They asked me to speak about my first year of naturism.  I shared my story, but made it interactive.  I asked people to introduce themselves, tell how long they had been a naturist and what they loved most about it.  There were several couples there for the first time.  This encouraged them greatly to hear other stories.  I simply could not have dreamed all of this up. Again, this is clearly God's journey for me.
In September, I was part of the first naked bike ride in Milwaukee.  Prior to that, it had only been held in Madison.  There were over 260 participants.  My role was naked van rescue for those that couldn't complete the bike ride.  There have been subsequent naked events with that group as a result of that.  The day of the Naked Bike Ride, we also had nude yoga which was amazing. The event 

was next to Lake Michigan where people were renting charter boats.  So we did have a little bit of an audience. We had a naked comedy night which was so much fun. They have had gatherings at people's homes.  I was at a gathering at someone's house last week.  Of course people always ask how others got started in this.  That night, someone asked me about my journey to naturism.  When they heard me mention "God" and religious background, they all started listening.  There were 14 of us there.  I told them about my experience at the Christian naturist retreat and how amazing it was to worship that way.  Several people asked how they could get connected to the Christian group.  
It has been fun to connect to more naturists.  Because of the website, Just Nudism, I have met people from all over the world.  I have met Nancy and Joe from the website and they are precious friends.  We connected instantly like family!  It is amazing how you can genuinely connect with people virtually.  I have made life long friends that are near and dear to my heart.  We are meant to connect, love and inspire each other in any way we can while living this life!  Locally,  I am friends with one couple that have allowed me to stay at their home overnight.  We made snow angels, took pictures, cleaned house and just did life together.  It is amazing to just hang out with friends naked.  It feels so good and natural.  This year, I experienced my first bowling in the buff event.  I also went out taking fun pictures in nature naked with another friend a couple of times.  One of the pictures was very momentous.  As a child and for many years, I dreamed that I was naked and could only hide behind a pole on a swing set.  We found a swingset and captured that scene for me!  What was once a terrifying dream for me to be naked had now become my passion!  It truly has been my road to freedom, honesty, body acceptance and a new understanding of God!  I also took a picture in the swing naked for fun.  This was at a state park in the winter.  As I was about to put my clothes back on, we heard people coming.  I was hidden behind a big wooden playset getting my clothes on...not sure if they saw me haha!   Another Christian friend of mine who is like a brother from New Zealand, told me I needed to be sketched.  I was thinking I had no idea how that would happen.  Well, one of my friends that visits the farm is an international artist and one day he asked me if he could sketch me!  He was sketching people that day and sketched me!  Wow!!  I am just blown away at all the things I have experienced and the walls that have come down in my life!!  It is very freeing to realize that we are made in God's image.  The body is to be appreciated.  You can be naked doing every task, without shame or embarrassment. When one can do that, there is such a feeling of bliss and freedom!
As I reflect this year, my most memorable times have been while I was naked..as God intended!  What a gift I have been given.  As God told me the very first day I experienced naturism, He has chosen a path for me that few are willing to follow but I would be very blessed!  Being able to understand what naturism does for me is very powerful.  When I am stressed, I will go for a naked drive for a few minutes and it immediately brings joy.  There have been a few times I have ridden topless which destresses me as well.  I still haven't figured out what the law is on driving naked in Wisconsin, but toplessness is not illegal in most cities, including the one I live in.  My hope is that I will continue to encourage as many people as possible to realize the joy and freedom that comes from being free from clothing and letting your skin feel everything.  Even if it is only by yourself in your home, there is so much relaxation from it.  Love your body, embrace who you are and experience this beauty of living as God intended to your fullest!!