Our 2014 Year In Review

What a crazy year it has been! We have had lots of ups and downs. But I will forever be grateful for the year our family grew by 3! So, here is our year in review...

January

We celebrated Kelly's 25th birthday with his favorite cake: strawberry! 

We had several days of snow in January. Even though I loathe driving in the snow, it's always so magical when a blanket of white covers our little corner of the world.

February

Zailey and I took advantage of a warm day in February and walked the path at the lake.

Kelly surprised me on Valentine's day with some red roses.

We had more snow. And we took the dogs sledding!

We were told to try out the all you can eat catfish at the Trail's End BBQ in Owasso. It was delicious!

As were were enjoying our meal, the entire staff started closing doors and window blinds. We were starting to wonder if they were closing when we realized Garth had entered the building. No, I did not get his autograph. I thought long and hard about it, but I didn't want to disturb him. He had on a baseball hat and seemed to greatly appreciate the lengths the entire staff went through to make sure he had a nice, quiet dinner. Kelly took a stalker photo. So, we sent it to my aunt and uncle who adore Garth and Trisha. 

March

In March, I turned 25 and cried. I'm only 5 years from 30. It just makes me sad. We had a nice bbq with our church family (not to celebrate birthday--just to spend quality time together). Kelly and Luke grilled up some delicious food!

Some of my best friends are little guys. And some of the best conversations of my life begin with a green mustache :)

April

In April, we purchased our first home after a year of trying to buy a house. When God made our little home, I know he meant it for us. Because the moment I sent Kelly the listing (which was listed too high for our budget) he said, "I've already called the Realtor. We're going to look at it tonight!" Finally, on April 9th, we moved in! 

May

I planted flowers. Oh, did I plant flowers. And they were BEAUTIFUL

And we adopted our sweet Malamute, Abner Dean Chance. Yes, he has two middle names because Kelly and I couldn't agree on one!

June

Our family grew by 2 when my brother married his wife. I now have a step-niece! Zach flew to San Francisco to wed his bride. Please excuse the airport picture. He refuses to smile like a normal human being in photos with me because...well, he's my younger brother. That's what they do. 

 But seriously, my sister-in-law looks like she's just stepped out of a magazine. All. The. Time. I don't know how she does it.

Kelly and I celebrated 3 blissful years of marriage! I can't remember how we celebrated, but we are headed to Branson in 2015 to celebrate our 4th anniversary. 

July

Our family grew again! My brother-in-law married his bride at Kelly's aunt and uncle's house. It was a HOT day and I think I was sweating profusely the entire time and looked disgusting. But the bride looked GORGEOUS! I guess the groom did, too ;)

I got into a car accident a few days before the wedding. An elderly lady had a heart attack and came head-on into my lane. I was miserable afterwards. My body ached. My car had $9,000 in damage. And I was car-less. It was a rough period for me while we fought the insurance company and I said goodbye to the first car my hubby bought me. RIP Lincoln, RIP.

August

We spent every waking moment at the lake, fishing. Well, Kelly fished. I read. I sunbathed. I closed my eyes and relaxed in the Oklahoma heat as the water lapped against the shoreline. It was a glorious time!

September

Finally, after being without a vehicle for over two months, Kelly and I bought the Explorer!

I went on a Ladies' Retreat with my church ladies! It was my first retreat and we had a BLAST. I'm already looking forward to our trip in 2015!

Let me just take a moment to say how wonderful my husband is. For two years in a row, he has been totally fine with me vacationing without him. So, I took a week and went to Colorado to spend lots of time with my sweet family. Honestly, I live for the one week a year I spend with the people who have watched me grow from a young child into a woman. 

I don't think I will make it to Colorado in 2015. We have two trips planned. One to Branson and one to Nebraska to visit my grandfather's birthplace. We are also hoping to head to California in the fall, but we have to see how Kelly's work schedule goes. He has been so busy this year! But we are grateful for every blessing that has come out of his hard work!

Until our next vacation, I will stare longingly at my Colorado trip pictures.

October

October in Oklahoma means one thing for me: HOLIDAYS. We started our October off with a trip to Shepherd's Cross with our Church's homeschool group. 

I really love the time I get to spend with our church kids and their lovely moms. I am very blessed when it comes to the ladies I am surrounded by. They are all funny, smart, sweet and love Jesus. I look forward to the day that my kids are playing alongside theirs. 

November

November was filled with LOTS of family time. We played tennis, disc golf and celebrated Thanksgiving.

December

We started December off right with a trip to the Owasso Christmas Tree Farm to pick up this beauty!

December was filled with lots of fun! First, my brother and I headed on a long trek to California to pick up my sister-in-law's things out of storage. We stopped to see my dad and grandparents along the way. You can read about our adventure here. 

Then, we headed to Silver Dollar City for a family vacation. You can read all about it here. 

We made it to our local Christmas parade for some fun! It was the first year I have actually gone to it. I'm looking forward to making it a regular December event.

And then my cat of 9 years, Oliver James (yes, I give ALL my animals middle names) passed away. It was a very, very sad day.

FINALLY, we somehow made it to Christmas. But my mother-in-law got sick so we did Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner at our house. I'm so grateful that God has blessed us with a home large enough to hold everyone. Overall, it was a wonderful Christmas!

I'm very grateful for such a wonderful year, though it had it's rough moments. I'm looking forward to another great year with my family and friends. We have lots of fun things planned and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!