A: Apartment
I love that we were able to take our apartment from this...
to this...
We now have a cozy little home that we love. It's tiny, and sometimes we wish there were a bit more space to spread out in, but we love that this is our first home. We adore our neighbors and feel so blessed to be here. It's not our dream home by any means, but it's clean, organized, and our little haven, which we are very thankful for!
I love that we were able to take our apartment from this...
to this...
We now have a cozy little home that we love. It's tiny, and sometimes we wish there were a bit more space to spread out in, but we love that this is our first home. We adore our neighbors and feel so blessed to be here. It's not our dream home by any means, but it's clean, organized, and our little haven, which we are very thankful for!B: Bridesmaids and Bridal Friends!
What made our wedding so special for us was all the help we were given by our friends (and family too, of course!) Our bridal party worked a lot for us--running errands, making bulletins, decorating, cleaning, helping my mom cook, and keeping the week SO much fun for me! My favorite memories of that week were just hanging out with my girls, getting projects done--I am SO blessed to have these people in my life and WE were so blessed by their presence during a huge week in our lives!
C: Classes, as in Dance Classes!
For Christmas last year Chuck gave me several weeks of beginning ballroom dance lessons so we could be ready for our wedding. I loved getting to go to Monday night classes together and we had a great time learning a few basic ballroom steps. We weren't professional, but we didn't look half bad at our reception!
D: Date Night
This is our "date night jar" which we created this summer to help us decide how to spend Friday nights together. On these pieces of paper are random ideas we came up with to spend time together--some are simple and some are more elaborate, but it has been very fun drawing cards and seeing what is on them! I love the time we are able to set aside to be intentional about spending an evening together with no distractions, it is one of my favorite parts of the week!
One of my favorite date nights was a romantic picnic on a bluff overlooking the ocean where we watched the sunset.
And this was an in-home night, where we worked on a wedding journal my sister made us.
E: Elephants!
We went on several outings this fall that involved animals--the LA Zoo, the San Diego Zoo, and the San Diego Wild Animal Park, all of which were very fun. The Elephants are my favorite animals to watch and seeing so many of them was so fun! I also love the Gorillas, but I already had a "G" :)
Us at the Wild Animal Park for my birthday
F: Finished!
That's right, I am finally DONE with my Masters of Divinity. It's been quite the 4+ years, and I have learned more than I ever imagined possible (and realized how little I know!). I'm not exactly sure yet what the future holds and how I will be using this degree but I have confidence that I will in some way! I am so thankful for my time here, for how God worked on my heart and stretched my mind in huge ways.
G: Grandparents
I realize that I am fairly unique among my friends, to make it to age 28 with 3 of my 4 grandparents alive and a large part of my life. I have been so blessed with grandparents who have always loved me and wanted to know who I am, and I can't begin to explain how thankful I am for the roles they have played in my life. This past June, I lost Gramma Nan, my mom's mom, and we have all felt her loss deeply. We are so thankful she is no longer suffering, but we miss her. In August the whole family gathered to scatter her ashes and have a memorial for her, and being reminded of the legacy she has left, both in our family and in her hometown, was incredibly inspirational and meaningful. My dad's parents are still doing pretty well and are in Colorado. They were able to be at our wedding in March and then we were able to see them again in June at my cousins' wedding. There's a chance we'll see them for Christmas, which would be wonderful! I am so thankful for the legacy that ALL my grandparents have given us!
Gramma Nan didn't want a traditional funeral, so we gathered on her favorite beach to have a BBQ, play games, kayak, and scatter her ashes. She would have loved the day!
Chuck standing with me as I said my goodbyes. We miss her, but we are also glad she is not suffering physical pain any longer.
H: Honeymoon
We kind of got 2 honeymoons which I loved! One was just 2 nights in a fabulous bed and breakfast about an hour outside of Minneapolis--we headed here the day after our wedding for two nights of rest and enjoying being married :) Then we got to go on our "real" honeymoon in June, 3 months after our wedding, after I had graduated and Chuck was done with his spring classes. It was a phenomenal week playing in the Central California coastal area--Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, San Francisco--it was amazing! We LOVED the days of relaxation, the beautiful scenery, hiking, reading, napping, exploring, and the INCREDIBLE food and wine we splurged on. I know it's not super traditional, but I'd advocate for going somewhere just for a couple nights after your wedding for a special getaway and then go on a real trip when you are rested enough to enjoy it!
(our fabulous room at the Minnesota Bed and Breakfast)
Chuck built me a fire each night which I discovered I LOVE falling asleep to!
Overlooking the Pacific on our drive north
San Francisco
a great restaurant our last night in Carmel
DELICIOUS food!
I: Introverted Time
I have learned that I am just as much of an introvert as I am an extrovert, and I have come to LOVE my days or evenings alone or only with Chuck. We love people, and spend a lot of time with people, but I love nights I can kick back in a pair of sweats, and read/write/watch The Office with my honey or bake (those are my 4 favorite ways of relaxing this year!) And I take off on the occasional day alone to the beach or to somewhere else just to get away for a bit which was been very re-energizing for me!
J: Jennifer (x2)
I have a lot of incredible friends in my life, and I am so thankful for all of them. I have two in particular I wanted to say a special thanks for this year, and they are Jennifer and Jennifer. (Or really, Jenn and Jenn!) Both have walked with me so incredibly faithfully for so long (Jenn Kendall since high school and Jenn Moore since we arrived at Fuller 4+ years ago). They were such a huge help at the wedding, were such an integral part of my processing as I adjusted to married life, and have loved me and celebrated with me this past year in ways I will probably never be able to repay. Both have entered into fairly serious relationships themselves this year, and to see them both SO happy in life is something I am SO thankful for because they deserve it! I love you both!
K: Kitchen Time
For anyone who has read my blog regularly this past year, you know I have fallen in love with cooking! I have a tiny kitchen but I am so thankful for the space and opportunity to play and experiment with recipes. I love getting to relax in the kitchen, and am so thankful I have a husband who enjoys eating most of what I put in front of him!
L: Lily Abigail
My precious baby niece whom you have all heard a lot about via facebook and the blog :) Meeting her last weekend was definitely one of the highlights of the year and I can't wait to see her at Christmas!
M: Mom
I have the world's greatest mom. Hands down. Dad got a shout out in my list two years ago, Megan was last year, and this year is definitely Mom's turn! She did SO SO SO much work for our wedding, we can never repay her for all the hours she put in! She did everything so cheerfully and graciously, and with excellence. Plus, she is on her way to winning Grandma of the year with her new role as Lily's Grandma--she just spent 3 full weeks with Megan helping out, cooking, organizing, staying up at night with Lily and going above and beyond! I know someday, she'll be just as amazing of a Grandma to our little one. I hope she knows how much we love her, not because of all she does but because of who she is, because she's our mom, and we think she's pretty much amazing.
N: Nieces and Nephew
With my wedding I got to inherit two amazing nieces and a pretty cool nephew! Helen, Jon and Diana are pretty fabulous and we're just bummed they live all the way in Japan right now! They were excellent wedding party members and we are looking forward to spending time with them over Christmas!
Diana and I playing with her Littlest Pet Shop toys last Christmas
Before our Walmart scavenger hunt we took them on last Christmas!
O: Officiating
My younger cousin Mikaela gave me an incredible opportunity back in June, for which I am very thankful. She asked me to officiate her wedding, which was my first time doing anything quite like this. I was nervous, but it was such an incredible experience, and helped me realize once again how much I love being in this kind of pastoral role with people at key moments in their life.
P: Preaching Groups
I think this is the only one I don't have a picture for :) I have had the opportunity this past year to serve as a Teaching Assistant for a couple different preaching professors, which means I oversee a small group of students who practice preaching for one another and then have a chance to give and receive feedback to one another. I help facilitate the groups and the conversations following the sermons, as well as providing feedback for each sermon in writing. It's a great job, I love the chance to hear so many different sermons and styles of preaching. I have to be honest, some are tougher to respond to for various reasons, but for the most part I really enjoy the chance to be working in this position.
Q: Quirky Kids
I'm currently volunteering in a way I never really expected to--I am working with the high school youth, and I'm really enjoying it! Chuck and I are volunteers with the youth at our church and we've both enjoyed the chance to get to know these amazing students and share a piece of their journey with them. Plus, it's just fun to laugh, and they make us laugh a lot! Working with them gave us the chance to participate in a week long house boating trip with them in August which was very fun, a highlight for both of us this summer!
R: Reunion
In July I had the chance to head back to Granite Bay for the first time in almost 3 years to spend time with 3 of my good friends from high school. I wasn't able to make our 10 year high school reunion this summer, but I was able to make our own little reunion which was awesome. It was great to reconnect after so long, fun to see how we had each grown and changed and how we had stayed the same in some ways! I love these ladies, and it was a fun weekend of cooking a delicious meal, hanging out by the pool, and hiking in Tahoe one day.
S: Speaking my mind
I had the chance back in the spring to work as a hospital chaplain, which I'll write more about later, but one of the biggest things I learned as a chaplain was how to speak my mind, to say what I need in a situation. Being able to name my needs was such a huge transformative experience for me, and has carried over into other parts of my life as well. I'm working on breaking my tendencies to be passive aggressive, instead trying to say what I think aloud. I'm amazed at how much more effective this is! Speaking my mind and standing up for myself has been a lesson I'm learning that I am very thankful for!
and when I asked my husband for a suggestion of something I'm thankful for that begins with the letter "S" he had another suggestion. I'll let you figure out what that is...I told him I'd mention it on here just for him--but yes, honey, I am thankful for your suggestion too :)
T: Traveling Companions
We are now going on 2 1/2 years of meeting together as a small group and I am so thankful for these beautiful women in my life! I adore Saturday mornings, when we gather for breakfast, sharing, supporting one another, and sometimes a little bible study. These ladies have walked with me through a lot and I love them dearly! (We're missing Megan in this picture but otherwise we're all here!)
U: Until Forever
I have to be honest, it took me a bit to get used to being married! But I love it! I love knowing that I have someone with me in the good times and on the days when it feels like life is falling apart. I love that I have a partner in life, and that he is a pretty incredible one at that!
V: Veggies!
I adore my local produce store (Lake Produce) where I get a ton of veggies for us at ridiculously low prices. I've had fun playing with different recipes and coming up with creative ways to get my husband to enjoy his veggies too. I feel very blessed to be living in a place with year round produce!
W: Will I?
This phrase is one that has stayed with me as I reflect on what it was like to be a chaplain this year. There's a song from the musical "Rent" called "Will I?" and it's very simple, with just 4 lines. But they are 4 lines that are very poignant to me when I think about what people in hospitals wrestle with daily, and what I got to help people process through as a chaplain. I learned a ton from the patients I encountered, some who I wrote about here on the blog earlier. (or on my old blog actually). The lesbian couple who just wanted to know that as a Christian I could accept them. The nun who wished she still had the ability to walk well. The people I met changed me in many ways, and I will be forever grateful for this life changing experience.
Will I loose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow,
from this nightmare?
X: Xaris
The more years I do this the more difficult coming up with a "X" is! Xaris is a real word--it's just Greek. For grace. I am thankful for the grace my friends show me all the time, the grace my husband shares with me daily, and the grace God demonstrates to me through so many different ways!
Y: Youth Staff
What made our wedding so special for us was all the help we were given by our friends (and family too, of course!) Our bridal party worked a lot for us--running errands, making bulletins, decorating, cleaning, helping my mom cook, and keeping the week SO much fun for me! My favorite memories of that week were just hanging out with my girls, getting projects done--I am SO blessed to have these people in my life and WE were so blessed by their presence during a huge week in our lives!
C: Classes, as in Dance Classes!
For Christmas last year Chuck gave me several weeks of beginning ballroom dance lessons so we could be ready for our wedding. I loved getting to go to Monday night classes together and we had a great time learning a few basic ballroom steps. We weren't professional, but we didn't look half bad at our reception!
D: Date Night
This is our "date night jar" which we created this summer to help us decide how to spend Friday nights together. On these pieces of paper are random ideas we came up with to spend time together--some are simple and some are more elaborate, but it has been very fun drawing cards and seeing what is on them! I love the time we are able to set aside to be intentional about spending an evening together with no distractions, it is one of my favorite parts of the week!
One of my favorite date nights was a romantic picnic on a bluff overlooking the ocean where we watched the sunset.
And this was an in-home night, where we worked on a wedding journal my sister made us.
E: Elephants!
We went on several outings this fall that involved animals--the LA Zoo, the San Diego Zoo, and the San Diego Wild Animal Park, all of which were very fun. The Elephants are my favorite animals to watch and seeing so many of them was so fun! I also love the Gorillas, but I already had a "G" :)
Us at the Wild Animal Park for my birthday
F: Finished!
That's right, I am finally DONE with my Masters of Divinity. It's been quite the 4+ years, and I have learned more than I ever imagined possible (and realized how little I know!). I'm not exactly sure yet what the future holds and how I will be using this degree but I have confidence that I will in some way! I am so thankful for my time here, for how God worked on my heart and stretched my mind in huge ways.
G: Grandparents
I realize that I am fairly unique among my friends, to make it to age 28 with 3 of my 4 grandparents alive and a large part of my life. I have been so blessed with grandparents who have always loved me and wanted to know who I am, and I can't begin to explain how thankful I am for the roles they have played in my life. This past June, I lost Gramma Nan, my mom's mom, and we have all felt her loss deeply. We are so thankful she is no longer suffering, but we miss her. In August the whole family gathered to scatter her ashes and have a memorial for her, and being reminded of the legacy she has left, both in our family and in her hometown, was incredibly inspirational and meaningful. My dad's parents are still doing pretty well and are in Colorado. They were able to be at our wedding in March and then we were able to see them again in June at my cousins' wedding. There's a chance we'll see them for Christmas, which would be wonderful! I am so thankful for the legacy that ALL my grandparents have given us!
Gramma Nan didn't want a traditional funeral, so we gathered on her favorite beach to have a BBQ, play games, kayak, and scatter her ashes. She would have loved the day!
Chuck standing with me as I said my goodbyes. We miss her, but we are also glad she is not suffering physical pain any longer.
H: Honeymoon
We kind of got 2 honeymoons which I loved! One was just 2 nights in a fabulous bed and breakfast about an hour outside of Minneapolis--we headed here the day after our wedding for two nights of rest and enjoying being married :) Then we got to go on our "real" honeymoon in June, 3 months after our wedding, after I had graduated and Chuck was done with his spring classes. It was a phenomenal week playing in the Central California coastal area--Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, San Francisco--it was amazing! We LOVED the days of relaxation, the beautiful scenery, hiking, reading, napping, exploring, and the INCREDIBLE food and wine we splurged on. I know it's not super traditional, but I'd advocate for going somewhere just for a couple nights after your wedding for a special getaway and then go on a real trip when you are rested enough to enjoy it!
(our fabulous room at the Minnesota Bed and Breakfast)
Chuck built me a fire each night which I discovered I LOVE falling asleep to!
Overlooking the Pacific on our drive north
San Francisco
a great restaurant our last night in Carmel
DELICIOUS food!
I: Introverted Time
I have learned that I am just as much of an introvert as I am an extrovert, and I have come to LOVE my days or evenings alone or only with Chuck. We love people, and spend a lot of time with people, but I love nights I can kick back in a pair of sweats, and read/write/watch The Office with my honey or bake (those are my 4 favorite ways of relaxing this year!) And I take off on the occasional day alone to the beach or to somewhere else just to get away for a bit which was been very re-energizing for me!
J: Jennifer (x2)
I have a lot of incredible friends in my life, and I am so thankful for all of them. I have two in particular I wanted to say a special thanks for this year, and they are Jennifer and Jennifer. (Or really, Jenn and Jenn!) Both have walked with me so incredibly faithfully for so long (Jenn Kendall since high school and Jenn Moore since we arrived at Fuller 4+ years ago). They were such a huge help at the wedding, were such an integral part of my processing as I adjusted to married life, and have loved me and celebrated with me this past year in ways I will probably never be able to repay. Both have entered into fairly serious relationships themselves this year, and to see them both SO happy in life is something I am SO thankful for because they deserve it! I love you both!
K: Kitchen Time
For anyone who has read my blog regularly this past year, you know I have fallen in love with cooking! I have a tiny kitchen but I am so thankful for the space and opportunity to play and experiment with recipes. I love getting to relax in the kitchen, and am so thankful I have a husband who enjoys eating most of what I put in front of him!
L: Lily Abigail
My precious baby niece whom you have all heard a lot about via facebook and the blog :) Meeting her last weekend was definitely one of the highlights of the year and I can't wait to see her at Christmas!
M: Mom
I have the world's greatest mom. Hands down. Dad got a shout out in my list two years ago, Megan was last year, and this year is definitely Mom's turn! She did SO SO SO much work for our wedding, we can never repay her for all the hours she put in! She did everything so cheerfully and graciously, and with excellence. Plus, she is on her way to winning Grandma of the year with her new role as Lily's Grandma--she just spent 3 full weeks with Megan helping out, cooking, organizing, staying up at night with Lily and going above and beyond! I know someday, she'll be just as amazing of a Grandma to our little one. I hope she knows how much we love her, not because of all she does but because of who she is, because she's our mom, and we think she's pretty much amazing.
N: Nieces and Nephew
With my wedding I got to inherit two amazing nieces and a pretty cool nephew! Helen, Jon and Diana are pretty fabulous and we're just bummed they live all the way in Japan right now! They were excellent wedding party members and we are looking forward to spending time with them over Christmas!
Diana and I playing with her Littlest Pet Shop toys last Christmas
Before our Walmart scavenger hunt we took them on last Christmas!
O: Officiating
My younger cousin Mikaela gave me an incredible opportunity back in June, for which I am very thankful. She asked me to officiate her wedding, which was my first time doing anything quite like this. I was nervous, but it was such an incredible experience, and helped me realize once again how much I love being in this kind of pastoral role with people at key moments in their life.
P: Preaching Groups
I think this is the only one I don't have a picture for :) I have had the opportunity this past year to serve as a Teaching Assistant for a couple different preaching professors, which means I oversee a small group of students who practice preaching for one another and then have a chance to give and receive feedback to one another. I help facilitate the groups and the conversations following the sermons, as well as providing feedback for each sermon in writing. It's a great job, I love the chance to hear so many different sermons and styles of preaching. I have to be honest, some are tougher to respond to for various reasons, but for the most part I really enjoy the chance to be working in this position.
Q: Quirky Kids
I'm currently volunteering in a way I never really expected to--I am working with the high school youth, and I'm really enjoying it! Chuck and I are volunteers with the youth at our church and we've both enjoyed the chance to get to know these amazing students and share a piece of their journey with them. Plus, it's just fun to laugh, and they make us laugh a lot! Working with them gave us the chance to participate in a week long house boating trip with them in August which was very fun, a highlight for both of us this summer!
R: Reunion
In July I had the chance to head back to Granite Bay for the first time in almost 3 years to spend time with 3 of my good friends from high school. I wasn't able to make our 10 year high school reunion this summer, but I was able to make our own little reunion which was awesome. It was great to reconnect after so long, fun to see how we had each grown and changed and how we had stayed the same in some ways! I love these ladies, and it was a fun weekend of cooking a delicious meal, hanging out by the pool, and hiking in Tahoe one day.
S: Speaking my mind
I had the chance back in the spring to work as a hospital chaplain, which I'll write more about later, but one of the biggest things I learned as a chaplain was how to speak my mind, to say what I need in a situation. Being able to name my needs was such a huge transformative experience for me, and has carried over into other parts of my life as well. I'm working on breaking my tendencies to be passive aggressive, instead trying to say what I think aloud. I'm amazed at how much more effective this is! Speaking my mind and standing up for myself has been a lesson I'm learning that I am very thankful for!
and when I asked my husband for a suggestion of something I'm thankful for that begins with the letter "S" he had another suggestion. I'll let you figure out what that is...I told him I'd mention it on here just for him--but yes, honey, I am thankful for your suggestion too :)
T: Traveling Companions
We are now going on 2 1/2 years of meeting together as a small group and I am so thankful for these beautiful women in my life! I adore Saturday mornings, when we gather for breakfast, sharing, supporting one another, and sometimes a little bible study. These ladies have walked with me through a lot and I love them dearly! (We're missing Megan in this picture but otherwise we're all here!)
U: Until Forever
I have to be honest, it took me a bit to get used to being married! But I love it! I love knowing that I have someone with me in the good times and on the days when it feels like life is falling apart. I love that I have a partner in life, and that he is a pretty incredible one at that!
V: Veggies!
I adore my local produce store (Lake Produce) where I get a ton of veggies for us at ridiculously low prices. I've had fun playing with different recipes and coming up with creative ways to get my husband to enjoy his veggies too. I feel very blessed to be living in a place with year round produce!
W: Will I?
This phrase is one that has stayed with me as I reflect on what it was like to be a chaplain this year. There's a song from the musical "Rent" called "Will I?" and it's very simple, with just 4 lines. But they are 4 lines that are very poignant to me when I think about what people in hospitals wrestle with daily, and what I got to help people process through as a chaplain. I learned a ton from the patients I encountered, some who I wrote about here on the blog earlier. (or on my old blog actually). The lesbian couple who just wanted to know that as a Christian I could accept them. The nun who wished she still had the ability to walk well. The people I met changed me in many ways, and I will be forever grateful for this life changing experience.
Will I loose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow,
from this nightmare?
X: Xaris
The more years I do this the more difficult coming up with a "X" is! Xaris is a real word--it's just Greek. For grace. I am thankful for the grace my friends show me all the time, the grace my husband shares with me daily, and the grace God demonstrates to me through so many different ways!
Y: Youth Staff
Our fellow youth volunteers have become great friends of ours this year, and we are so thankful for the ways they have helped us laugh, enjoy ministry, and taught us more about working together in a team. We are part of a pretty tight-knit team, and it's been a blast!
Z: Zusak, Markus
Every year I save one letter for something literature-related, and this year, my very favorite book of the year was conveniently written by a man whose last name started with "Z." Markus Zusak's novel, The Book Thief was hands down, the best book I've read in ages. Unbelievable story of a thirteen year old German girl living in Nazi Germany. It is a beautiful, haunting, tragic, and mesmerizing story told through the eyes of the character "Death" who arrives throughout the story collecting the souls of the fallen. If anyone needs a book for Christmas break, this should top your list!
Z: Zusak, Markus
Every year I save one letter for something literature-related, and this year, my very favorite book of the year was conveniently written by a man whose last name started with "Z." Markus Zusak's novel, The Book Thief was hands down, the best book I've read in ages. Unbelievable story of a thirteen year old German girl living in Nazi Germany. It is a beautiful, haunting, tragic, and mesmerizing story told through the eyes of the character "Death" who arrives throughout the story collecting the souls of the fallen. If anyone needs a book for Christmas break, this should top your list!
great list!!!! and thanks for the shout out--i'm so thankful for you my dear friend!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove it! And you're right this is the most fun post of the year - such a fun way to get creative with letters :)
ReplyDeleteYou have finally convinced me to restart my blog. Just waiting for google to give me the clearance on allowing more pictures - should be soon though.
This is always one of my favorite blogs of the year. It is like a trip down memory lane, and the pictures really add to it. I love how you count your blessings every day.
ReplyDelete