BEST ADVENTURE/TRAVEL/TRIP: we took two trips this year: rogers, arkansas with my family + humboldt, kansas as our final trip as a family of three. both trips hold fun memories + good coffee. ☕️
BEST KIDDO MILESTONE: jackson takes after me + can be a shy kid. earlier this year, we asked him to start ordering for himself when we were out at a restaurant. i am so proud of him! he is no longer timid + it makes me so happy to see him order his food. (i would also add his first year of soccer. he scored several goals, and had fun playing with jared as one of the coaches!)
BEST FAITH GROWER: getting pregnant on purpose after suffering five miscarriages. i shared the story here, but walking out that faith— it changed me. what jared + i walked through over the last several years proved this— the Lord is faithful + He is trustworthy + He is good.
FAVORITE BLOG POST(S) WRITTEN:
• i recapped almost every week of the year
BEST TREND YOU TRIED: i made my own charm necklaces! it was such a fun craft 🖤
BEST BEAUTY PURCHASE:
BEST HABIT YOU CREATED: using the reminders app for every random task i didn’t want to forget. jared started using it as well! 😂 we both are always adding random things that we don’t want to forget to the app. i like that it shows up on your home screen + won’t go away until you mark it as done. ✔️
BEST NEW RECIPE: hahahaha— between pregnancy + postpartum, we ate out a lot. more than several years of our marriage combined. and that’s okay! honestly, the best recipes were jared's many latte flavors. crowd favs were honey lavender, salted caramel, white chocolate raspberry, + peppermint mocha.
BEST MAMA MOMENT: telling jackson we were pregnant with his miracle sister. he had noticed i was getting a lot of blood drawn + prayed for me one random evening. "please let mommy's bloodwork come back good." i had no idea he noticed. jared + i went back to his bedroom + told him the reason for all the doctor's visits: mommy is pregnant! he was quiet for a moment, then tilted his head back. when he brought his head back down, there were tears in his eyes. "finally" was all he said. 🥺
BEST HOME IMPROVEMENT: we added twinkle lights to the top of our kitchen cabinets — talk about a VIBE. it is so cozy + warm + i smile every time i see them. ✨
BEST LITTLE LUXURY YOU'VE ENJOYED: my apple watch! ⌚️ i am able to track daily steps for my work’s wellness app, which earns points that turn into free money.
BEST BOOK(S): this was not the year for reading + that’s okay! i did read a few good books though:
BEST MOVIES:
• transformers one • the boys + i dined at mcalister’s before the movie. i ate nachos + sipped their amazing sweet tea. we had so much fun watching the movie + of course i thought it was awesome!
• dune: part two • i won a date night giftcard set at our church’s valentine retreat, so we ate at applebees before the movie. we splurged on appetizers and dessert. i was only six weeks pregnant at the time, so i was nauseous thru half the dinner, LOL. the movie was really good + i managed to stay awake for the whole thing, despite my first trimester exhaustion.
• the fall guy • this movie surprised me. i saw the previews + thought it looked a little cheesy. it might be slightly cheesy, but it’s a cute movie.
• first daughter • this movie came out the year i graduated high school, but somehow i had never watched it. i added it to my favorites list because of the vibes, for sure. it was nostalgic + the boys were gone, so it was just june + i. she slept the whole time while i sipped coffee. it was such a fun time!
BEST TV SHOWS:
• rings of power 🧝🏻♀️
• dark matter ⏱️
• the crown (s. 6, pt. 2) 👑
BEST ALBUM OR SONG: “goodness of God” was obviously the best song, as it was the song that played as our miracle girl entered the world.
BEST FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM: my 2014 self would be offended by this statement, but i didn’t spend a lot of time on IG this year. tiktok was my go-to app!
BEST NON-SOCIAL MEDIA APP(S):
• letterboxed — this is an app that tracks movies you watched. my nerdy, memory-keeping self loves this app because i like to track what i watched throughout the year.
• lapse — it is a photo app that allows you to take photos, but you have to wait for them to develop. they have a vintage feel + it is so fun to see what develops!
• kindle— even though this was not my reading year, i did utilize the kindle app for the books i did manage to read. i like having it for moments when i can’t just whip out my kindle.
• pinterest — this may technically be a social media app, but it became so much more than that to me this year! pregnancy + postpartum were difficult on my creativity, but the one consistent app that gave me a creative boost was pinterest. i created a board that i updated daily to reflect the current mood. i loved editing + adding to my other existing boards as well.
• food apps 😂 — as i mentioned earlier, we ate out a lot this year, due to strong pregnancy cravings. i racked up a lot of points/rewards. my favorites were swig, crumbl, chipotle, + chick-fil-a.
BEST DATE: i had a short appointment with the surgeon a few days before i was scheduled to give birth. afterward, jared + i had an impromptu breakfast/coffee date. it was a sweet time, just the two of us, before we became a family of four.
BEST FAMILY MEMORY: coming home from the hospital as a family of four 🥺
*this idea came from em for marvelous
** affiliate links throughout post
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