I began this blog to capture moments of my life. Two years later, I got married, and two years after that, I had my first child. Now this blog captures more than just my moments.
Before I start posting more about 2017, I wanted to take a moment to recap 2016. The first few months of 2016, were calm and quiet months for me. I simply enjoyed newly-wed life and appreciated not planning and preparing for a wedding. John had a full year from the start due to lots of work travel. Once the spring hit, life seemed to speed up for me a bit and became even more full for John.
In May, we signed a contract to build our first home.In June, we celebrated my birthday.In July, I concluded my time (nearly five years) at the U.S. Chamber (Institute for Organization Management program) and started a new job at the American Academy of Audiology. This picture was taken with my colleagues the last night of West Institute. After I returned from West Institute, I was back in the office at the U.S. Chamber for one day and then started my new job the next day.Also in July, we celebrated John’s birthday. Sadly, John’s birthday was spent in a car driving to Iowa for his grandfather’s funeral. Next year, we will have to celebrate with double the fun to make up for this year. This picture was taken right after his grandfather’s funeral. We stopped by his grandparents’ farm and the corn was lush and beautiful.In August, we had the opportunity to attend the Philadelphia LDS Temple Open House. We met up with John’s friend Dann and ate at an amazing restaurant afterwards.We took many trips out to our house to check on the progress.In October, we spent two weeks in Taiwan. John’s Uncle David lives there right now. It was a neat experience, and one I know we’ll always treasure.Another picture from our Taiwan trip, just for good measure 😉We celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary on October 24.More trips out to the house.In November, we went to Iowa twice. Once for John’s grandmother’s funeral, and the second time was for Thanksgiving. During the second trip John’s friend Dann came with us, and we spent two days in Nauvoo, Illinois, which is where this picture was taken. Dann had never been to Nauvoo, so it was fun to be there with him.On December 9, we closed on our home. This is a quick selfie we took after the home was officially ours. I had to run off to a work meeting right after. John stayed at the house and worked hard installing curtain rods and a ceiling fan in the great room.On December 16, we officially moved into our new house. We were supposed to move on Saturday, December 17, but a predicted ice storm made us change our plans. And thank goodness we changed our plans. The ice storm was no joke! Shortly after we moved in, the first few decorations were hung 🙂We capped off the year by celebrating Christmas. We celebrated with my family in Virginia. John’s family came out to West Virginia a few days later for a visit. We had a fun time with both of our families.
Each year, instead of setting formal New Year’s resolutions, I pick a scripture to make my focus and theme for the year. This year, I picked the scripture that says, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not,” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36). Truth be told, I don’t feel like I did the best job emulating this scripture. During the home building process, there were many times I let fear/anxiety creep into my mind. Even though I felt I could have better emulated this direction given by the Lord, I am certain I grew in ways (perhaps unrecognizable to me right now) as I sought to better trust in God. I am grateful for a Savior who can help me when I fall short of the person I want to be.
Well, that’s a wrap! I look forward to see what 2017 has in store.
