Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013: Year in Review

Ahhhh, the last day of 2013! I feel inspired to write something inspirational and deep. But since that's not going to happen, you get to enjoy wherever this post goes, which I have no plan for, so there is no telling!

2013 has been a wild ride for us. We keep talking about how we went to a wedding in NY in April, and it seems like it had to have been the last April. But since April 2012 was our wedding, we know it was this year! This year seems so long, but not in a bad way. It's hard to explain. The beginning of our year should have been an indicator of the wildness we'd have in store. We started out the very beginning of the year discerning whether to start trying to get pregnant. We had to make a pretty clear cut decision one way or another after meeting with our doctor, and we decided at the end of the month that we were going to go for it. So February began loooooots of medical tests and treatments as we began to TTC (try to conceive). In March, we went on a little weekend trip to my college town with my parents, and enjoyed the zoo, the state museum, board games, and playing musical hotel rooms when every room they put us in was gross.


Midnight picture to ring in 2013!




March was another month of TTC/medical stuff, as was April-June BUT the year got really busy because April was a trip to NY to go to a grad school friend's wedding and visit my sister! We also celebrated our first anniversary in May by going to the Ignited by Truth conference together. We got a beautiful wedding cross there which now hangs above our front door.


 It was gross.




 In May we celebrated my birthday by going to a little nearby town for the day, and I began trying my hand at container gardening (only the tomatoes produced enough to be worth it!). In June we went on a whole family cruise to Alaska which was one of the very best parts of the year! It was not only amazing scenery and adventure, but an awesome time to make memories together as it's rare for us to all be in the same place for more than a day or so. 







July was a big, big month. We found out on the 1st that we were going to have a BABY! We drove down to tell my parents on the 4th and told my in laws a few days later. We had a 10 year reunion with my closest high school friends. We also spent the summer trying out our new grill and patio set, which had more downs than ups, but made some funny memories like me biting into raw chicken, the accidental permanent scarring of the brand new grill when I melted a meat thermometer on it, and general sweet memories of sitting with Steven out on the back deck. 








Oops.



August was much of the same and we went to a few of the outdoor concerts in our neighborhood, plus our friends Dave and Liz came to visit with their little boy which encouraged what I know will be a life long friendship (and we went to the most packed, most miserable Durham Bulls game ever which makes us laugh looking back). The fall was fairly calm, if you consider me frantically preparing for baby calm :). Steven and I spent those few months doing projects around the house, reading lots of books.... similar to what we are doing now! We painted all the furniture in the nursery for days and days and days. We celebrated Steven's birthday in October and broke the tradition of endless shrimp at Red Lobster since they moved their dates after 6 years(!) but started a new tradition at the Applebee's near the house. We did our normal fall festivities of going pumpkin picking at the farm, getting pumpkin ice cream, and making a jackolantern.


 Trouble in sibling paradise?




 In November, we invested in our marriage by going to Marriage Encounter which was such a good experience for both of us. And November and December of course brought the usual fun and busy-ness of the holidays and extra time with family. And our baby shower! 











What am I looking forward to in 2014? Well, of course, the baby! I can't BELIEVE tomorrow starts The Year of the Baby. Not to be dramatic ;). And I haven't talked about this on the blog yet, but we will be having a February baby, not March, so the fact that tomorrow is January and THEN COMES FEBRUARY is mind blowing to me. I'm nervous but beyond excited about becoming a stay at home wife and mom. Beyond that, I'm not setting my sights too far into 2014. I know I'll have many weeks and months of getting accustomed to having a baby, so I'm going to take the year as it comes. We have a beach trip with family in June and hopefully a trip to see baby's godparents and family in the fall, but other than that I am going to play the year by ear! I'm actually really excited about that. Less goals and things to do can only be a good thing when we're incorporating a new member into our family AND learning to live on almost half our income all at once! Flexibility will be my mantra in 2014, which is something I'm generally not good at so I'm looking forward to stretching my mind a little. So here's to a year of baby cuddles, sleepless nights, and some of the best memories we will ever make together :)!

*Yes, I know there are more than 13 pictures but in my defense I can't resist a good link up and I wrote this before I knew about it! :)

3 comments:

  1. Oh! I am SO SO SO soosososososo happy to hear you're expecting in February! You will continue to be in our prayers.

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  2. AHHh!!! Baby!!! Happy New Year!! :) We're praying for you as well! God bless you. :)

    ~ Country Girl's Daybook

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  3. That cruise looks amazing! How beautiful!

    Can't wait for your little one to be here (so I can continue to ask you ridiculous questions)! :D

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