2018 Year In Review

Happy New Years Eve y'all!

In light of new things, I am trying a new design for the website this year.

And  welcome to my annual longest post of the year...my year in review :)

JANUARY

We had snow and school was closed for a week.

We celebrated Crawford's 1st birthday

This was one of my favorite purchases...this shelving unit for our pantry from The Container Store.

FEBRUARY

 
Isabella celebrated her 17th birthday with friends.

Brook had a "Galentines Party".

We watched the Winter Olympics.

MARCH

We went to see the touring production of Wicked.

APRIL

We celebrated the Easter holiday.

 
And we also celebrated the engagement of my niece.

I enjoyed little moments with my daughters more after going back to work full time in January.

MAY

So thankful for these girls who call me mom.

My husband and I celebrated 20 years of marriage with a dinner that our girls arranged for us.

JUNE

I took my girls to see Harry Styles in concert.  It was Brook's 1st concert.

We took a week family vacation to Montana to visit where we got married.

This is us standing where we got married.

JULY

I traveled to Pittsburgh to see Leah and Lucas get married. 

I went to see Donny and Marie, a childhood favorite, in concert with my sister and parents.

AUGUST

Brook started her 1st year of high school, also her 1st time going to school in the USA.

SEPTEMBER

We celebrated by hosting a wedding shower for Anna. 

Isabella got her 1st car! 

Avery and I had a VIP day to Atlanta to watch the Braves vs. the Red Sox. 

Avery and I had a date night to see Steve Martin and Martin Short to celebrate Avery's birthday. 

We went to Chattanooga for a college visit.

OCTOBER

Brook celebrated her 14th birthday. 

Campbell celebrated his 2nd birthday. 

We met up with Leah and Lucas in Kentucky for a weekend. 

Our family took a long weekend trip to New Orleans. 

My brother and nephew met us for the day and went on a fishing trip with Avery.

Avery took a FBI course and had a graduation ceremony. 

NOVEMBER

I celebrated my 48th birthday. 

My niece got married! 

I completed my last day of work and also started a new job this month. 

We traveled to North Carolina and I met my new niece. 

We completed the new flooring in our guest bath.

DECEMBER

My nephew graduated from nursing school. 

Brook got her braces off just in time for Christmas! 

We celebrated Christmas Eve with family at my parents house (more pictures to come this week). 

Christmas morning we celebrated by hosting a brunch at our home and staying home all day (more pictures to come this week on this too).

It was a year of transition for our family....transition to new jobs, schedules and schools. Like most years, it was good, but certainly hard at times.  I am always thankful for growth, try to forget the bad and look forward to fresh starts.  So thankful His mercies are new every morning!

Friday Favorites

It's the last Friday of the year and here are some favorites from the last 2 weeks :).

ONE

I bought this wreath on clearance from Target the week before Christmas.  It is the perfect accent for our tile backsplash behind our cooktop.  I am happy I can keep it up even during winter after Christmas.

TWO

Last week, I took a day off work to see my greats.  My girls and I took CG to look at some Christmas decorations at a shopping center.  They were honestly not too impressive, but we still enjoyed having time with her.

This sweet girl only wanted her Aunt Marilyn to hold her.  I obliged lovingly.  My heart was full.

We joined up with her mom and big brother, uncle, and great grandparents for lunch.  Here are these two greats of mine.  Love both of them so!

THREE

This is how I felt about going to work, but I was able to have some down time since it is a slow time for corporate travel.  We have had so many snacks in our office, I have enjoyed those at my desk too.

FOUR

Speaking of movies, I have completed my Christmas movie watching list on Hallmark (with the exception of 1 that has not aired yet).

My favorites were Once Upon a Christmas Miracle (based on a true story) and Christmas at Pemberley Manor.

FIVE

3 days before Christmas, 1 day before guests arrived, we started a remodeling project.  Some of our lights have been out for a while, so my husband spent his Saturday installing new lights for us.

SIX

We saw this beautiful sunset on Christmas Eve.  I will leave you with this beautiful, unedited photo of the sky, such a beautiful piece of God's creation.  

Coming next week is a year in review and Christmas recaps. 

 Have a good weekend!