2014- A Year in Review!

Friday, January 16


With being in South America, I kind of feel like I missed the changing of the new year! So, in light of that, now 2 weeks later, I wanted to do a quick recap post of the brilliant year we had in 2014. It was a very different year for us…a transition year of sorts, but I'm no less grateful for it. It was  a beautiful, life changing, as well as growing and challenging year for us. Here's some of the highlights:

January & February

January started off being "wonder-filled" as Kevin and I started new things. I went back to school to get my MFT, and watched as God bathed us in so many blessings regarding this new chapter. You can read about it here.  February I wrote about "Love in the Light"… a little ode to Valentines day, but a tribute to allowing your relationships to thrive by choosing transparency and honesty, despite our human nature to keep things in the dark. You can read it here. 

March
March was a bit of a watershed month for me….for starters, I turned 30! I wrote all about the things I learned in my 20's (You can read that reflection here.  )…trust me, I learned a lot of things the hard way haha! To commemorate my birthday, my friend Chelsea and I hosted an EPIC Downton Abbey party…ohhh it was so fun! We learned the Charleston, did some 1920's trivia, drank cocktails called "The Lady Mary" and danced the night away! You can see all the pictures here. 

April
April was a delightful month! Kevin surprised me with a birthday trip to Seattle, where we toured the city and got to stay with dear friends! You can see more photos here! I also wrote about 5 things you can do in the next hour to fight human trafficking (here), and the things I've been learning lately (here). 

May

May was just plain FUN! Our life group went on a retreat to Mexico (pictures here), and took turns sharing our dreams (my dreams here)! I went on a spa retreat weekend in Santa Barbara with my mom, sisters, aunts and cousin, and then left for Turkey & Greece! 

June
June brought some incredible "highs" and mined the depths of the "lows". The highs included our trip to Turkey and Greece! It was unbelievable! You can see an overview here. When we got back from our trip, Kevin suffered a full-blown heart attack, and was rushed into surgery. Those were some of the scariest moments of my life. To read more about Kevin's heart attack and healing, click here. 

July
July provided the rest I needed after a crazy summer session at school, compounded by Kevin's heart attack. My family spent a refreshing week in Yosemite at a reunion with all of our family from Sweden! Talk about lots of laughter!! We had a Swedish/American auction, sang Americana songs, and hiked the gorgeous Yosemite valley! You can see pictures here. 

August
Half the month of August I was recovering from surgery, so I wrote a lot of travel related posts! You can read about "What to Wear when you Travel" as well as "How to Culturally Enhance your Travel"! I also shared some of my favorite foreign films and TV shows here. 

September
September was a surprising month for me! For starters, my brother happened to call me up and ask if I wanted to drive 12 hours into the middle of Mexico with him and my sisters the following week. The purpose of the trip was to volunteer with some doctors to do a hike in through the mountains to work with a very remote people group called the Tarahumara. I said YES! It was literally a life-changing, crazy colorful experience! You can see the pictures and read the story here.  I also was introduced to an incredible organization doing amazing work in Northern Pakistan…called Shining Light International! SLI reaches out to some of the most remote people with education and life skills trainings! What I love about them is that they have a desire to educate women, in a country that has the 2nd highest rate of women out of schools! You can read more about them here! 

October
October ushered in some new adventures! Kevin and I took off to explore the hills of Malibu on a camping trip (here), and I started sharing my yard sale finds here! I also shared how to "Thrive in the Waiting Season" which is where I feel like we are at! Lastly, I spent some time sharing about how every year Kevin and I pray for something specific in our marriage! This year, God answered so beautifully (here). 

November
November was all about Autumn!! I marveled at the beautiful Fall leaves of Northern California here, and showed some pictures from our Thanksgiving cruise in both Catalina Island and Ensenada! I capped off the month by sharing a vulnerable post on judging others {here} as well as our SE Asia travel itinerary through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam here! 

December
December was the first bit of winter we'd gotten all year! I shared our room decorated in all it's Christmas glory {here} and the stories behind each of my room decor pieces here! I also showcased the cozy atmosphere we celebrated Christmas in this year at my parents house {here

Well, cheers to a great year! I'm looking forward now to 2015, and am praying into all that God has in store for us. I'm so grateful we can entrust God with our lives…He knows what's going to happen, and therefore He knows what is best!! My word for 2015 is "RELY"…it comes from the verse in 1 John 4:16 that says, "And so we know and rely on the LOVE God has for us"!! Isn't that glorious, that we can rely on Jesus because His love for us is SO strong! Amen and Amen!! 

Happy Weekend lovelies!! 

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