I am SO EXCITED to rehash and share these with you and hope you glean, steal, and adopt some of these highlights as your own!
Favorite memories of the
Early 2018 we got the keys to our new house and have taken the last year to make it our home. We have had the opportunity to meet a handful of our neighbors, including one neighbor with three boys of their own. We put up a nice fence so our boys can safely place and my momma and late-stepfather blessed us with an awesome playground which we got on a stellar discount! This is the one we have.
Big Strong Man and I, as well a a friend or two, put the entire play set together which saved us about $700, but cost us a month of play. At least now we have it and plan for the boys to have it for many, MANY years to come! How very #ChipandJoanna of us, right?
This year Zeplin started guitar lessons and is now teaching me! We are learning Dueling Banjos, Jingle Bells, and Wonderwall. Yes, please!
Demitri graduated from Kindergarten and is now riding a school bus to a big kid school! He also lost his first two teeth.He is long and skinny and just about the most interesting kiddo you can imagine!
We shared a lot of wonderful events this summer including three separate visits from out-of-state friends which each felt equally life-giving and enjoyable.
We did a week-long camp with friends. Three families from NC, a total of 14 friends, came up and spent seven rain-filled days with us. Everything was soggy on the outside, but the laughter shared and the memories made were priceless.
During this week we traveled all around Gettysburg, visited Washing DC and the Museum of the Bible, and Zeplin learned how to ride a two-wheel bike!
Toni and Chris fed us all really well, strung together the most incredible camping station known to man, and then promptly blew a tire on the way home. ..I guess they should have stayed a little longer.
One of my besties, Marcie, and her family came to visit this summer and stayed long enough for the children to swim in a hotel pool...when we were not even staying at a hotel... and she and I got to go on a 3-mile walk and talk about all. the. things. We hiked the battlefield, the men went metal detecting, and we hated the moment they had to leave.
Then Travita, my other bestie. She and her family of six came for a few days and it was exactly like that time her entire family slept over at our place because they had no heat. We put a handful of mattress together, forming one super-mattress, and prayed over all the kiddos before putting them to bed.
During this time, Travita's husband and Big Strong Man were able to talk about some serious life and marriage stuff and they introduced us to the Bible app. which is a series of devotions she and I have been working through together.
There was also a pretty big wedding, when my father and step-mother said their "I dos" after 20+ years of being together. It was the best wedding. So. Much. Fun.
Propel's Women's Conference came to Pennsylvania and included Bethel's Jen Johnson in the lineup. I volunteered and worked the Bethel booth! The conference was amazing!
Now it is at the very end of the year and Thatcher loves to sing, "Feliz Navidad" and randomly say, "hallelijah"!
My brother and his wifey came for their first-ever visit to our place and our sister-in-love (from another brother) is preggers!
Also, this summer I learned that lilacs are the sweetest smelling among the most beautiful flowers in the world and they are my absolute favorite!
*****
Favorites List
Let's talk books...
I read a lot of books this year and a few are honorable mentions:
The Prince Warrior Series written by Priscilla Shirer. Zeplin and I read all four together and were so engaged!
I highly recommend this to any young adult, teen, or mature child.
Love Warrior, written by Glennon Doyle (Melton). This one should be lead with the precautionary, curse words, sexual senerios, and drug usage, but Glennon's ability to share so candidly and expressively is remarkable. I could not put this book down. It was a stay-up-late and a rise-early-to-read book.
Girl, Wash Your Face, written by (Ms) Rachel Hollis. First off, Rachel is totes married, but her sites can be found at msrachelhollis, so, there's that. I first hear of Rachel when she was interviewed by Jen Hatmaker on Jen's podcast: For the Love. I remember thinking, sure, I might pick her book up, but no earth-moving demand. Then Rachel's documentary, Made For More, came to a local theater and I went to see it with a friend and we were enamoured. I mean, girl has got so much going on!
So I read the book, I watched the heck out of all-things Rachel on YouTube, I subscribed to her podcasts (RISE, and RISE Together).
Pretty much, I drank the Rachel-shaped Kool-Aid.
Yes, I enjoyed the book, and I really enjoy her, but I have had some time to walk away from her beaming light and reevaluate some of the feelers I have for her and her product and I have some definite feelings on them...but that is for another day.
Girl, Wash Your Face, good read.
All Rise For the Honorable Perry T. Cook, written by Leslie Conner. This was way out of my normal, Christian-women's/ memoir/Joanna Gaines style of reading interest. It was recommended to me by a librarian and, without my understanding what was happening, she kind of just grabbed it off the shelf and added it to my list. So I took it. And I was so very glad.
Leslie also wrote a book titled, Waiting for Normal, which I picked-up on a whim last year and really enjoyed. These books are emotional and precious. A nice break from the non-fiction I mostly read. Great for youth through adult.
The Middle Place, written by Kelly Corrigan. Yes, Kelly, Yes! To date I have read but this and Glitter and Glue, and I think you are a fine-as-fleek writer. <- I just made that up. Does that make any sense? Point made? I love your writing, humor, and the way you express and paint a senerio so vividly. I love your father, whom I have never met, but I love like a dear friend. I love your willingness to write the things we all think but are too timid to share. I will read everything you write, Kelly. So please keep them coming!
Everybody Always, written by *my favorite* Bob Goff. Love. Just like Kelly's father, Bob is someone who seems so much larger-than-life to me that I am enamored with their characters, their hearts, and I just adore them so much. Bob's previous book, Love Does, is ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF ALL TIME. EVER. Everybody Always is written much the same way, elaborating on Bob's "Love Does" mission.
Favorite Podcasts:
I am new to this game, 2018-new.
Maybe 2017, when did the For the Love podcast begin??
My favorite is hands-down, Annie F. Downs', That Sounds Fun podcast. I pretty much love all-things Annie. I am currently reading through her devotional, 100 Days to Brave, and this year I read both Looking for Lovely, and Perfectly Unique. Looking forward, I have my eyes set on Remember God, so, Annie, I so <3 you!
I also enjoy the RISE and RISE Together podcasts, both of Rachel Hollis, the latter, co-hosted with her husband, Dave. I am thankful for their vulnerability and the way they love one another- it so encourages me!
Music:
Um, my girl *Steffany Gretzinger* released her sophomore, solo album this year!!!
You know I love it and wrote an entire post on it, here.
Steffany's album, Blackout, holds so many near-and-dear songs, plus, it was so much fun seeing this side of Steffany. In contrast to The Undoing, which is sweet and precious all around, this newer album has some of the best grit mixed-up in it.
Rend Collectives, Campfire Christmas, volumne 1. I know this is a "Christmas album" but it is SO GOOD. I am addicted. My sons all sing along. We love the quirky instruments, and the random "go!" in the midst of a classic, Christmas song.
Vloggers:
OK, this is also a new world to me, but I have found, especially when I am washing a sink full of dishes, that this is a great 15-30 minutes of learning, entertainment, and all that jazz!
Coming into the year, I was still obsessively watching all this Sezzy on the Sarah's Day channel. Although I keep in touch with what's going on in her life, I am not so obsessed as I once was and actually prefer to watch some really good vlogs on time management, getting up early, setting goals, and how to be a better version of myself. Plus decor! But I will give Sezzy honorable mention-status!
Some current favorites include:
Tracey Hensel. Tracy is so much fun because I find her inspirational, motivational, and I totally want to be her when I grow up. Her channel is based upon living with intention, so you will find posts about how to set a budget, make a goal that is doable, and apply fake eyelashes. She is a one-stop-shop kind of vlogger.
Rach Talk. This is another Rachel Hollis feature. (The only name to be featured in 3/4 categories thus-far!) These are videos from before she hit her Girl, Wash Your Face stride and took off like a rocket ship. She is so fun and quirky and these are pretty much nonsense, but when you are sitting on the potty with nothing to do and have five minutes, you will watch one to "check it out" and end-up staying up all night watching Every. Single. Rach Talk. Video. ...Ever.
Amy Landino. Amy is a favorite of mine to watch to get practical advice and a little kick in the rear. She is SO MOTIVATED and I wish I could siphon some of her energy, and ability! I watched one of her videos, how to wake up at 5 am, and I was hooked by her personality. She reminded the viewer to subscribe and then she sat there, sipping her coffee, waiting. I thought she was the coolest!
More honorable mention: Jordan Paige at FunCheapOrFree. Also, But First, Coffee, and Muchelleb.
<- the latter whose RESET program we will be imitating/recreating/ beginninging January first!
Television:
This year I was really excited about The Crown. Although I caught onto this trend late in the game, I embraced the advantage of being about to binge watch the entire season one while doing housework, sorting papers for school, and fixing my hair. Clair Foy is an absolute gem and the entire cast is really well done.
Big Strong Man and I equally enjoyed A-Typical. A show about a family, including a son living on the autism spectrum. The show is done really well, expressing understanding, sympathy, embracing, and questionings, all within the context of a "typical" family with an "A-typical" child.
And I am always excited for Fuller House. I am a sucker, although, admittedly, they aren't that good. But the cast...! I just love them all so much!
Did I forget anything?
How about some stuff I wish I could forget?
Chopping my really long hair off!!!
So impulsive, so very, very wrong.
Dumping a massive pile of mulch in our driveway with the expectation that we would get it into our yard and under our play set before now...it's been months!
It's still sitting there.
Big Strong Man and I had a lot of disagreements this year, and this led us to continue counseling. I don't think of the counseling as negative, but the disagreements, arguing, being generally pissed with one another, that I could have lived without.
And the fact that our son's beds are still unmade! They have been sleeping on mattresses for 12 months...oh my. (Fact: the wood is in our basement NOW and B.S.M. and I are headed downstairs to work... soon.)
And this will wrap-up 2018! Join me later TODAY for Day 1 of the RESET program or jump ahead and take a look for yourself on Muchelleb's site (link above).
All the very best in 2019 and always!!!
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