2. We had fun trips with family this year! In May all four of us spent a week at a beach house off the the Oregon Coast with Ben's family. It was a surprise for my mother-in-law's birthday. Then, in December, we went to Disney World with my parents, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law & 2 nieces. This was the first time both of our families have been together since our wedding!
3. There was heartache. In May we lost my 27 week old nephew who was stillborn. I will never forget the night my mom called me to tell me that they couldn't find a heartbeat or my brother asking for prayer. That week was so hard with many tears - it was hard to not be in St. Louis with them, it was hard to grieve someone I never even met and it was super hard to know that my brother, sister-in-law & my niece were going through yet another hard time this year. I am looking forward to 2014 with them in mind & hoping/praying for a better year for them! In addition to my sweet nephew, Beckham, I grieved the loss of my last living grandparent - my paternal grandmother. The timing of her death overlapped with a work retreat I was privileged to attend so I wasn't able to go to her funeral in Ohio. It was hard to not be there, but I am thankful for technology and the ability for me to make a video message for the funeral.
4. Books! I finally read Anne of Green Gables. Evidently I missed that boat years ago! I enjoyed it and look forward to the other books in the series. I was also challenged by books like "Anything" by Jennie Allen and "Radical" by David Platt.
5. This work retreat I mentioned above was such a special trip! I was invited, along with about 15 other Navigator women, to a "Navigators Emerging Women's Leadership Retreat" in a small Colorado mountain town. We got to stay in a beautiful home of one of our board members (who just so happens to be the same family that a college roommate of mine used to babysit for while we were at IU)! All of us were invited by some leader in the Navs and they wanted us to have a refreshing/reflective/rejuvenating weekend with other women - many of whom we didn't know prior to the retreat. I met some really, really neat women and was pampered, encouraged and loved on by some pretty cool leaders. I walked away from that retreat more convinced and affirmed in my role and call at The Navigators. The retreat came at a much needed time - right after the transition from Human Resources where I worked for the past 7 yrs and after a hard 2 - 3 years of stress and heavy workload.
6. This was the second year in a row that I got together with four girlfriends in Winter Park for a long weekend. We all were in a small group/Life Development Group when we all lived in St. Louis years ago. Fast forward about 10 years and only one of us still lives in STL, but we all have committed to getting together (all FIVE of us) at least once a year to hang out, pray, encourage, laugh and be real. Friendships like these are absolutely priceless. There is no need to explain myself - they just "get" me. They know more about me than I sometimes remember myself. Our daily lives often look very different - single, married, kids, no kids & add to that 5 distinct personalities, and somehow it just works. God knew what he was doing when he put the 5 of us together for such a short season in STL.
7. NINE years of marriage! Ben & I celebrated 9 years this past October. While it wasn't anything fancy, just dinner out without kids, it was nice. The past 5 years have been filled with newborn babies, toddlers and crazy work schedules so there hasn't been a lot of "us" time. To be brutally honest, we didn't "love" the newborn era with kids. Don't get me wrong we love our kids more than anything but that phase wasn't a whole lot of fun and games. We really like this "next phase" with kids that can now dress themselves, go to the bathroom on their own, and turn on the TV in morning so we can get a few extra zzzz's!
8. Health! Ben and I have been really working hard at eating more healthy and exercising more. We started doing the Shaun T. Insanity workout in 2012 and did it 2 times after that. This year we added another one - T25! With our crazy busy schedule, T25 fits us so much better. The workouts go by so fast!I Along with working out and eating we have been using Advocare products and have really noticed a difference. My brother introduced us to these products and we fell in love with them. Seriously good stuff! If you are curious about these products, let me know!
9. Authentic relationships. I desire more than ever to develop relationships with other women that get to the heart issues. The older I get, the more I am aware of life and its ups and downs and the importance of getting to the real "stuff" of life. Superficial relationships just leave something to be desired. I am praying through some ways to engage and develop relationships I already have and how that may look in relation to my crazy schedule of being a wife, a mom, working and involvement at my church. I recently started being mentored/coached by a pretty neat lady who has a lot more life experience in the areas of motherhood, ministry and marriage. Such a blessing!
6. This was the second year in a row that I got together with four girlfriends in Winter Park for a long weekend. We all were in a small group/Life Development Group when we all lived in St. Louis years ago. Fast forward about 10 years and only one of us still lives in STL, but we all have committed to getting together (all FIVE of us) at least once a year to hang out, pray, encourage, laugh and be real. Friendships like these are absolutely priceless. There is no need to explain myself - they just "get" me. They know more about me than I sometimes remember myself. Our daily lives often look very different - single, married, kids, no kids & add to that 5 distinct personalities, and somehow it just works. God knew what he was doing when he put the 5 of us together for such a short season in STL.
7. NINE years of marriage! Ben & I celebrated 9 years this past October. While it wasn't anything fancy, just dinner out without kids, it was nice. The past 5 years have been filled with newborn babies, toddlers and crazy work schedules so there hasn't been a lot of "us" time. To be brutally honest, we didn't "love" the newborn era with kids. Don't get me wrong we love our kids more than anything but that phase wasn't a whole lot of fun and games. We really like this "next phase" with kids that can now dress themselves, go to the bathroom on their own, and turn on the TV in morning so we can get a few extra zzzz's!
8. Health! Ben and I have been really working hard at eating more healthy and exercising more. We started doing the Shaun T. Insanity workout in 2012 and did it 2 times after that. This year we added another one - T25! With our crazy busy schedule, T25 fits us so much better. The workouts go by so fast!I Along with working out and eating we have been using Advocare products and have really noticed a difference. My brother introduced us to these products and we fell in love with them. Seriously good stuff! If you are curious about these products, let me know!
9. Authentic relationships. I desire more than ever to develop relationships with other women that get to the heart issues. The older I get, the more I am aware of life and its ups and downs and the importance of getting to the real "stuff" of life. Superficial relationships just leave something to be desired. I am praying through some ways to engage and develop relationships I already have and how that may look in relation to my crazy schedule of being a wife, a mom, working and involvement at my church. I recently started being mentored/coached by a pretty neat lady who has a lot more life experience in the areas of motherhood, ministry and marriage. Such a blessing!
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