reflecting on 2013

A few days later than planned, but I'm reflecting on 2013:

January: I did a science experiment and made a volcano for these cuties.

February: I turned a quarter-of-a-century old. And I had a quarter-life crisis, which consisted of running a redlight, spending $100 on completely random stuff at Walmart, and eating a half gallon of icecream from the carton by myself. It was perfect.

March: I ran my first and only 5K, and I got the privilege of meeting Emily Elizabeth Moore just hours after she made her debut into the world.

April: I flew to Texas to celebrate the marriage of sweet friends, and reconnected after two years with the guy I'm gonna marry.

 

Also, I visited my family in Haiti. My heart was so incredibly full.

May: I got to go to my baby sister's 100 Club Banquet, and I met Sam in Knoxville to be his date at a wedding. [This was before we were dating, and I remember being so nervous not knowing what to expect or what to do].

June: I spent Father's Day and a couple other weekends on the river with my fam. I will desperately miss that this summer.

And I flew back to Texas to visit Sam and be the nurse at Junior High Camp. And just before I flew back to Tennessee, Sam asked me to be his girlfriend. <3

July: We made our annual Florida vacation [which I will also miss desperately this summer]. And my baby brother got married! And Sam came to Lawrenceburg for the first time and met my family.

August: I got to see Kessy stateside for a few days! And I went to a Titans game with part of the fam.

September: I flew back to Texas for a weekend and got a job and an apartment. Then Sam flew to Tennessee and drove me back to live just down the street from him. Crazy and bold, I know. But we both knew it was right.

October: Sam became the Junior High Minster, I started my new job as an oncology nurse, we carved pumpkins, supported friends who ran a 5K in the pouring rain, and took our junior high students to serve at a neighborhood in south Dallas. Busy month!

November: Sam turned a quarter-of-a-century old! And we drove to Houston to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of his family.

December: We flew home to Tennessee for a surprise 50th birthday party for my Mom, had a Christmas date night complete with selfies with Delilah, I dyed some of my hair pink, and, oh yea, WE GOT ENGAGED!

January 2013 I would have never ever predicted that this is where my life would be in January 2014. God has huge and crazy and awesome plans for your life too, you just have to let go and trust that He knows best. We all know that life is forever changing, good and bad. Take heart today, He has a plan. And He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Look back and take a minute to reflect on 2013, and then let it go and look forward to whats next.

heres to 2014, friends!

pre-christmas craziness!

The craziness of the holidays has taken over life and my blogging keeps getting pushed further and further on the furthest back burner that I have. and I have a lot of burners in my life. The struggle, I tell ya. Anyway.. we've had a lot going on! And it's been awesome. Let me tell you about it.

Sam turned 25! This is his birthday selfie with Delilah, who he loves. And looks strangely similar to in this picture.

We saw Catching Fire in theaters with our friends. And then me and some of my girls went to District 12.

Sam and I went to Houston for the Thanksgiving holiday and were able to spend time with some of his family. It was my first time meeting his mom and grandmother, and any family of his for that matter. I feel like it went well? And I feel like I'd know by now if it didn't. So, check that off the list.

Yes, we stopped at 7 am on the side of the road in Houston to take this selfie with an American flag covered trailer. So what?

 

Sam and I [and several of our friends/Sam's coworkers] served at a mother-daughter Christmas event for our students. So much pink! and sparkles! and glitter!

The day after that we had our end-of-the-year Wednesday night Chaos in the Junior High ministry. Christmas theme! My fav!

 This is one of my fav JH girls :)

 

After all of this was over, we made a surprise trip to Tennessee for my Mama's 50th Birthday Surprise Party! My siblings and all of our significant others put it together, with the help of some extended family. It took a lot of scheming and a little trickery, but we were able to throw the party at our house on a Friday night, get over 20 people there, have all the vehicles hidden, and totally surprise Mom with a celebration just for her, complete with me and Sam flying in from Texas and my Sis and Hunter driving in from Johnson City.

On the plane bound for Tennessee :)

It was supposed to be a two day trip, but because of the icepocolypse that happened in Dallas that particular weekend, no airlines were able to land flights as scheduled. So, we ended up spending an extra three days in Lawrenceburg with the fam. The flight cancellations and rescheduling and car rental extension and all was stressful, but overall it was a perfect weekend full of laughing and game playing and memory making. Love him.

After finally making it back to Texas, we got all dressed up in our finest and went to the Gift of Christmas presentation at Prestonwood, which was mind-blowing, of course.

 

In other news, I got my chemo certification and can now administer chemo at the hospital, which I'm pretty excited about. And Sam finished his fall semester of school! It's definitely time for a break... Hebrew was almost the death of him :) Also, I taught Sam how to do a headstand a couple days ago, which was a hilarious and extremely fun 15 minutes in my living room with pillows under our heads upside down against the wall.

 

And finally, my favorite Sam quote as of late:

Me: [after Sam said something slightly inappro]: "That was over the line."

Sam: "YOU'RE over the line."

Me: "Yea, I am."

Sam: "Yea you are, that's where I found you. I saw you standing over the line and I thought to myself 'There she is, over the line. She's the one.'"

 

He's the cutest. And I know you get it, but he's my fav. Every minute we spend together is sweet, even the not-so-fun ones.

 

Through all of this madness and fun, we are thanking God daily for each other and for the life He has designed just for us, and we are preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We spent several hours in the car on the way home from Houston listening to Christmas music and just being still and quiet, letting the wonder of the fact that God became man and came to earth in the form of a baby to save us sink in, again. It is worth stopping and being still for people, I promise.

 

Tis the season :) I'll keep you updated on what the holiday holds for us here in Texas and everywhere else! Love from Plano!