2013 Recap

January
-We moved into our current apartment. (Our 4th apartment in less than 2 years of marriage!) Now we are happy to announce we will not be moving again in the foreseeable future
-We sold my husband's old car and were able to purchase our tickets to go to Europe to visit family and friends
-I took this precious picture with my sweet little nephews, who are now so big

February
-I put together a fun at-home celebration for Valentine's Day with my husband

March
-We celebrated 2 years of marriage
-I celebrated my 26th birthday, and woke up to these fun gifts from my husband

-We went on our big trip to Finland and Poland to visit family and friends. It was such an amazing time of fun, fellowship, and discovery

Skiing in Finland

with my husband's family in Poland

April
-I found out that my inability to become pregnant or maintain a pregnancy was linked to low progesterone levels. I was SO happy I finally just went to the doctor and was able to correct this imbalance through medication

May
-I made a commitment to getting rid of excess in my life, and succeeded in donating hundreds of items and simplifying my home (not that I'm finished yet!)
-We began receiving produce from a local farm (CSA) and continued to receive this fresh food through November
-We helped our twin nephews celebrate their 1st birthday

-We went to visit my brother and his wife in Nashville, TN for Memorial Day weekend

June
-Balancing my hormones seemed to do the trick, because we found out we were pregnant

July
-We miscarried the baby at the end of July shortly after no heartbeat was detected by ultrasound
-Corner of Joy celebrated its 2nd anniversary!
-After falling in love with their products, I began selling Norwex products
-My husband and I went to my parents' house in Buffalo NY for a weekend of refueling after our miscarriage

Sunset in Buffalo with my husband

August
-My husband and I took our nephews on my side to a tall ships show in Chicago

-We celebrated a fun, relaxing "family weekend" with my side of the family

Talking and singing around the campfire

-On a spur of the moment decision, my husband and I decided to take a trip, just the two of us, to the Carolinas for Labor Day weekend.

 -We sold one of our cars to free up cash and leased a new car instead. It allowed us to pay down our debt quite a bit and not have to worry about car repairs

September
-At the end of September we found out we were expecting again

October
-We got to see our baby for the first time and saw a heartbeat! This was our first sign that this baby might go the distance, which was a big relief after 2 miscarriage. I also began to feel lots of nausea

-We celebrated my husband's birthday with a trip to visit his best friend in Montana

Us in front of a natural hot spring we hiked to in Montana

November
-My poor husband worked a ton in November, but we were able to take one weekend to visit with his family before going to my family for Thanksgiving, where I was able to officially share the news of our baby!
-Through much prayer, we met and decided to work with a local midwifery place to birth our first baby, who we are planning to have at home.

December
-My husband and I spent a weekend babysitting our twin nephews while their parents went away for their anniversary. It was such a fun weekend and gave us a glimpse at our future as parents.

My sporty husband taught the boys how to catch while we were there

-My nausea ended and I began to show a tiny baby bump

-Christmas cookie day 2014 with my mom!.... AND somehow I have no photos of it! But we baked about 7 different kinds of cookies (all double batches) in 7 hours
-Christmas with my family happened in the middle of the month, and as usual contained plenty of silly gifts

-Christmas with my husband's family was a wonderful and busy time, with lots of laughter and fun

And of course a crazy amount of gifts

 -December 28th I felt the baby for the first time. No "butterfly wings" from this little one! I got a "thump", and those sweet little thumps haven't stopped since.




 Overall it was an amazing year, full of lots of ups and downs and inbetweens. As I sit here typing this, I can feel our little one kicking and moving around, and I feel so incredibly blessed. It's so amazing to think that 2014 might be even better than 2013 was!


What does 2014 have in store for us? Lots and lots that we don't know about yet, but some that we are hoping and planning on:
Our 3rd wedding anniversary (March), the arrival of our little one (June), Baby showers (March), Getting out of debt (We hoping for late Summer or early Fall), A trip to Brazil with baby in tow (late Fall), visits from friends and family to see our new little one, and LOTS more.

I can't wait to share it all with you :)