1. no matter what tomorrow brings, whether heartache or happiness, Jesus is still better.
2. i took lots of photos of flowers. no one is surprised by this. not in the least.
3. we lost our second + third babies via miscarriage.
4. one of my favorite memories from this year will be us going into applebee's to eat dinner and realizing we were in wrong restaurant AFTER we got our menus. still so dang funny.
5. i learned that motherhood is hard, but hard doesn't mean something is wrong; it's just hard.
6. my faith was rocked. (see #3). there are questions i never thought i would ask God. but healing is happening. i have been a believer for over a decade, but when i had my third miscarriage, everything i thought knew came into question. i never once questioned if He is real or anything along those lines. but i had an awakening. despite the incredibly difficult circumstances, there has been good come from it.
7. when i'm having a crappy day (or even a great one) - i make a list of what i'm grateful for. whether it's big or small, naming the good forces me to look outside of my circumstances and if i'm being honest, away from my self-centeredness.
8. i left my job at the accounting office. i never, ever thought it would happen. after some unfortunate happenings, i knew i wouldn't be there long term. then a position opened up at a local credit union, and i knew it was time to move on. i have really enjoyed my new job. great people, great company.
9. our childcare changed a couple times this year, and i was always so worried how it was all going to work out. but God answered every single time, usually before i had a chance to ask.
10. i learned to check the weather before driving to oklahoma. i got caught in a severe thunderstorm for three hours, and it was terrifying.
11. i was featured on wichita life ICT.
12. i learned that it's okay to not finish a book. and it's okay to only read books that i want to read, but just what's popular on bookstagram.
13. jared + i celebrated four years of marriage.
14. after jared's grandma died, we heard story after story of how she loved spending time with everyone. it made us all realize that family get-togethers matter to someone.
15. i got to pet a penguin, and it was one of the highlights of my year for sure!
16. i fell in love with cooking + baking. i'm definitely not a pro, but i enjoy finding new recipes.
17. jared + i sometimes have "couch dates" where he plays video games + i read a book/blog/etc. this may not sound like much of a date, but we actually still have meaningful conversations. (we are having a couch date at i type this blog post!)
18. we bought our home - officially! it has been fun (most of the time) making this space ours.
19. veronica mars officially became my favorite tv show ever.
20. i received my first summons for jury duty, but ended up not having to serve.
21. we celebrated jackson's second birthday.
22. lot of time was spent on the pergola that jared built.
23. i learned that just because people are loud about stuff on social media doesn't mean that they are the majority. loud sometimes means you're just loud. that's it.
24. after years of talking about it, i finally launched wichita collective on instagram. it has been so fun to connect with others in our community + support local businesses.
25. communication is key, in any relationship - marriage, work, friendship, etc.
26. essential oils are cool. i like using them. but that's as far as it goes for me.
27. experienced some firsts: gave jackson his first haircut. visited my first food truck + trader joe's.
28. i love podcasts so much. i almost want to start one of my own. but i won't. but i wanna.
29. i have successfully kept plants alive all year.
30. it's okay to grieve. it's also okay to grieve while doing things i love. healing comes in many forms.
31. learned/learning - "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." [colossians 1:17]
32. Jesus is where the joy is.
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