2014 In Review

Today is my 15th wedding anniversary, which seems like a really big deal – not in a “have a party” or “buy an expensive present” sort of way, but in a “wow, we’re really adults” kind of way. Fifteen years! That’s pretty much official, right?

As 2014 came to a close, I’d been planning to take a little time to skim back through the memories I collected through the year. But time got away from me and I was feeling like that ship had sailed – that is, until I arrived at today and felt very contemplative and introspective. So I figured now is as good a time as any!

Here are some of my favorite memories from the past year, annotations given clockwise from top left:

2014_1

 family photos || they really CAN play together nicely || halloween || family reunion at Dad’s retirement || making snow out of frozen water during the polar vortex

2014_2

 the best way to show fingernail polish || a nephew! || fearless || soothing a baby in the middle of (many) nights || my favorite picture of my mom and sisters

2014_3

 love the light || jude’s first birthday || gabe on his favorite naples beach || mother’s day

2014_4

 isla’s a dentist || the breathtaking sunset in naples || cousins pushing cousins in wagons || christmas morning prayer || starting to play with essential oils || visiting the beginning of route 1 in key west || pretty eyes

2014_5

 checking the sunset || smiles got less rare toward the end of the year || bentley has the best smiles! || my family at christmas || she’s elsa, running up the north mountain with her superhero cape

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 a regular summer day || ballet || more at the beach || i got her out of bed to play in the first snowfall || a wild thing cake for my 1-year-old wil thing || babies bathing in sinks

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 this picture really caught me – i looked happy here and like i was enjoying my baby, which was such a relief since he’d been so colicky and i was anxious and very stressed || she loves to paint || one of my favorites from christmas morning || trying to get in a few more pictures – what better place than dinner in front of the christmas tree? didn’t expect him to start crying… || where’d she go? || more from mother’s day

Overall, 2014 was…hard.  Not hard as in losing a loved one hard or anything awful happening – just hard.  It was work, and it took more strength and endurance than I expected.  Tahd traveled a lot at the beginning of the year, Jude cried a lot, Gabe transition from 1 sibling to 2 was tricky, and I hardly slept.  Going from 1 to 2 was relatively easy, and I guess I expected that although going to 3 wouldn’t be a walk in the park, the challenges faced would be commensurate with the challenges we faced when Isla was born.  I was wrong.  It wasn’t commensurate.  It was exponential.

Good things happened, too.  I finally became an auntie.  We had amazing time with extended family as we celebrated my dad’s retirement from pastoral ministry.  We took a wonderful trip to Florida for a few weeks in the summer.  I got to attend the Influence Conference again.  Those are just a few of the major highlights.  Really, the year was full of regular life, everyday happinesses.  Sometimes these got overshadowed when I was feeling the weight of our struggles, but when I could slow down and take a deep breath, they were always right there, close to the surface, waiting to be noticed.  Those were the things I captured most on Instagram:

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I always hate to leave a year behind, but I’m excited to see what this next year brings.  I want to delight in the little and big, the regular, the humorous, the profound, the new, the normal, and everything in between.

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Comments

  1. Love all the pics and your narration! A great way to close se out a year!

  2. Love all the pictures and narration – a great way to closed out a year and welcome the new year!!

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