Each year, I spend considerable time reflecting on the past twelve months. I ponder and write about the highs and lows. I think about where we were able to celebrate; what our wins were and I also consider low points and where I would like to see things change in the coming year. For the past five or six years I have done a reflection based on these 20 questions. The idea is to reflect before you resolve.

I am kind of tired of those questions. I love traditions and doing things again and again; making deep ruts of memories and predictability. However, and not ironically, the biggest takeaway for me from 2014 is that things change. I can embrace these changes. I can welcome them even. It’s great to form habits and follow ritualistic practices. It’s also great to break form and do things how ever the heck you need or want to do them. In that spirit, I  have thought about just sharing a chronological list of the Top12 Month-by-Month highlights for our family. God has been faithful and blessed us with a wonderful year despite the loss of one grandparent and a huge move and transition from Texas to Georgia.

January:

I hosted a Lego-themed camp in our home for a group of home schooled friends that included our three children.

February:

It wasn’t even on our “dream sheet,” but we received orders to Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA. We could not have been happier.

March: 

Ryan and I graduated from FPU and during that time, sold our nearly brand new van (and all of its big payments) and went back to driving an older SUV. “Living like no one else, so later we can live and give like no one else.”

April:

I flew the friendly skies ALL BY SELF and took a trip to Tennessee for a weekend of celebrating my Dad’s 60th birthday. (Below, pictured with Grandmother only a few months after my Granddad passed away.)

May:

Our time in El Paso wound down and we had many sad goodbyes and send-offs. It was such a time of mixed emotions: happy to be leaving and yet, also sad to be closing this chapter of military ministry.

June:

We spent a wonderful week at Pine Cove Family Camp.

July:

We received all of our worldly goods and settled into our new house in Georgia.

August: 

For the first time in we couldn’t remember when, Ryan and I were able to take an anniversary weekend get-away. And. it. was. wonderful.

September:

Our three children began their new home school cooperative.

October:

We spent a glorious week in Hilton Head. Other notable highlights in October were me working the October SAT and scoring essay responses from that. I was only contracted for one month and did not get picked back up for additional months due to my inability to score more than 30 hours in one week. Also, we bought new Tempurpedic mattresses. We hadn’t had new mattresses since we bought them the year we married. The new ones? Life changers.

          November: 

Ryan spoke at his seminary alma mater as their chapel speaker during Chaplain’s Week. It was an honor for him to be asked and in my humble (wifely) opinion, he knocked it out of the park. Home run, grand slam. Proud of my man!

December:

And we rounded out the year with my family (siblings, parents, nieces and nephew) coming to our house to celebrate Christmas a few days before the actual holiday.

All in all, this has been a wonderful year. Twenty-thirteen handed our family many challenges and this past year has been a nice reprieve from that chaos of a deployment and reintegration. I’m thankful for God’s tender mercies this year and for his provision for us in making a new start in Georgia.

I’m looking forward to what 2015 has in store.