J proposed to me ten years ago today and of all our years together, 2015 was certainly one of the most eventful.
It was a year full of surprises and adventure, starting with an unexpected trip to Ireland over Saint Patrick’s Day.
Of all the places that we’ve traveled together Ireland was our absolute favorite (despite that tiny kerfluffle about how we accidentally flew into the wrong airport and ended up on the wrong side of the country.) We were so thankful for the opportunity to connect as a couple in such a beautiful place after the craziness of the past few years. I even drove on the other side of the road, which was probably my bravest moment of the year. Letting me was probably J’s 😉
Scarlette turned five years old this year and I feel so incredibly lucky to have the privilege of being her mom, of getting to be witness to the miracle of her life after such a breath-holding start to it.
My days are filled with joy because of the wild exuberance with which she lives her life and I am so full of gratitude for it. We delivered our gifts to each of the families in our local NICU on Christmas this year (thanks to your generous donations ♥) and every year that we visit I am reminded of just how far we have come together.
This year I went on a girl’s trip to Chattanooga, which has one of my favorite coffee/gelato shops in the world. We switched Scarlette into a big girl room. Then we re-did our entire master bedroom. Scarlette continued to say a lot of hilarious things.
But when I think of 2015, mostly I’ll remember it as the year that I saw one of my biggest dreams come to fruition as I released my first book, Anchored, with an amazing team at B&H Publishing.
Anchored’s publication brought so many wonderful opportunities and amazing memories to my year. We celebrated it’s release (and best seller status thanks to all of you championing the book!) with a party/book signing at our local bookstore and it meant so much to me to get to mark that occasion with friends and family and blog readers. I was able to record the audiobook version with Scarlette and it is really special to me that her sweet little voice is in the book.
It also brought many opportunities to travel and I am so thankful for each opportunity I had to share the message of the book with women across the country . I had the honor of reading an excerpt of Anchored in the Atlanta Listen To Your Mother show and I loved getting to be a part of the MOPS conference this year since our local MOPS group is an organization close to my heart AND I got to meet one of my favorite authors, Jen Hatmaker, while I was there which totally made my day.
I’m so incredibly proud of the book and honored each time someone shares a sweet message of how it has touched their lives. I sincerely hope that you’ll add it to your reading list for 2016 or share it with a friend who might need a little encouragement and laughter this coming year.
But do you want to know a little secret about my book?
I’m pretty sure it’s what knocked me up.
BUT SERIOUSLY.
2015 was also the year of SURPRISE WE’RE HAVING A BABY! And even though we were preventing pregnancy, I’m pretty sure that my whirlwind schedule + lack of sleep + (ahem) celebrating around the time of the book’s release contributed to the two pink lines on a pregnancy test we saw in early August of this year.
Of all the things that happened in 2015, finding out we are expecting a new addition to our family was by far the biggest surprise of all! We’re so excited about this new adventure. Scarlette has never been more excited about anything in her whole life than she is about the prospect of being a big sister ♥
And that’s about where the 2015 recap ends, because I spent the next five months dealing with all kinds of pregnancy complications that left me completely out of commission. I’m not really sure of what happened between September and December on account of how I was mostly kept sedated that whole time.
Here’s hoping 2016 brings a calmer, healthier pregnancy and a full-term baby our way!
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement, I am so grateful for you and the part you have played in making 2015 such a beautiful year for our family.
Happy New Year!
