I'm pretty sure I say this every year, but 2014 flew by so fast! I can hardly believe that I am already writing my Year in Review post...
Most of January was packed with things to do to get ready for our church launch. I realized I had not read as many books as I had wanted to in 2013, so I set a goal to read more in 2014 {which I did! Post to follow soon...} I had my check-up with my GI and got the green light to only have yearly check-ups moving forward- a huge step! We set up our home coffee bar, and got to relive David and Laura's wedding when their wedding photos came in.
In February, we officially launched Redeemer Church! We started hosting public services at First Presbyterian Church on Saturday nights, and we also launched our Redeemer Kids ministry and Missional Community groups. February was also birthday month! I celebrated #29 with family, friends, Panera, cheesecake, and the Sprinkles ATM. I also started my {30 Before 30} bucket list. A bit ambitious, but fun nonetheless :)
I was off to a good start with my reading goal by March, having already finished 3 books. We also got to be a part of Adrian and Sami's wedding, with Mike officiating, and me stepping in as videographer. The hard part about March was that I was sick for most of it, and we had to move out of our house due to a spewing poop hole in our backyard. That was ALL kinds of fun.
In April, I finished the 1000 gifts Joy Dare, and I am so glad I spent 12 months counting everyday blessings. I had a scare with an elevation in my liver enzymes, but thankfully everything turned out ok. We got to have dinner with my dad and brother when my dad came into town for a work conference, and then got to see he and my mom later in the month. We had several tornado watches/warnings, which made for one unhappy Sasha pup! Work for me started to get super busy, and it kind of stayed that way for the rest of the year. Mike picked up some part time work at Chick Fil A, but was still in full-time pastor-mode at Redeemer. We celebrated Good Friday with Mike's parents, but then celebrated Easter Saturday with a cookout at Redeemer.
I started working away at my {30 Before 30} list in May by learning how to fold a fitted sheet {finally!}, starting a little yoga routine, and going to Canton Trade Days with Laura. I celebrated acknowledged World IBD day and went on a hunt for B-12 since there was a nationwide shortage. Ben and Lindsay introduced us to the game Tetris Link, so we may or may not have played A LOT of that in May. Mike moved from part-time work at Chick Fil A to full-time work as a Marketing Lead Coordinator, so things got really busy.
In June, we had a sleepover with Mike's family to celebrate his mom's birthday. We were also in full VBS prep-mode, so most of June was kind of a blur of island adventure curriculum and crafts. We still managed to find some time to celebrate Sasha's 7th birthday, enjoy a pedicure with Laura {me, not Mike haha}, and see a Rangers game from my company's seats!
In July, we threw a baby shower for a couple gals in our church, and we also celebrated our niece's 1st birthday! I was excited to make her 1 year stats poster, and I got the bug/itch/desire to start an Etsy shop...We went to the Rough Riders game with our Redeemer family, and we got to visit Mike's family farm with his parents and grandma. We also celebrated our 3rd {!} anniversary with a fun weekend getaway to Fredericksburg.
My baby brother graduated with his Masters degree in August. We were so proud of him and more than excited to celebrate with him! There were a lot of random events in August: National Dog Day, the McCullough's 40th anniversary celebration at Main Event, my employee appreciation event at work, and seeing a Les Mis play with my hubby. My parents also sold my childhood home, and I got to spend a girls weekend with my mom.
In September, I continued working away at my {30 Before 30} list by finishing/ordering our 3rd year photo book and getting a McKinney library card. We both got a little crafty, with me excited about my new sewing machine, and Mike finishing a song lyric painting for his office. McKinney was voted the #1 best place to live in America {woohoo!}, we celebrated another niece's birthday with a pajama breakfast brunch, and we also discovered Reese's dark chocolate peanut butter cups. September is also when I learned the evilness of doxycycline, and when we made the sad decision/announcement that we were closing Redeemer Church :(
We spent most of October closing down the church. While it was certainly difficult and sad, we were blessed by the outpouring of love and support, and we know that the Lord used our time at Redeemer for His purposes. There was a lost of talk about the Ebola virus, I got to introduce the state fair to my mom, and I realized I only had a few more months left to finish my {30 Before 30} list! I marked off making more cards for people, reading a book in one day {thanks to federal jury duty}, and celebrating my 10 year friendiversary with Laura.
November kind of came and went, and I'm not really sure how it went by so fast; I hardly blogged at all. The executive assistants were highlighted in our company's newsletter, and we spent Thanksgiving in Crested Butte with sweet friends.
For the 2nd year in a row, I blogged for Crohn's Awareness Week in December. I also may or may not have spammed my blog with {30 Before 30} list items :) From making homemade bread and learning to sew, to working on my calligraphy and discovering I don't care about plants, I was in a mad dash to finish as many as I could! We enjoyed several Christmas activities, from ICE! at the Gaylord Texan and Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God tour, to bowling and shuffleboard with family. My parents came into town, and we got to spend good time with them.
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I have to say that I'm not really sorry to see 2014 go. The Lord was our comfort and strength, but we had a rough year; it was just hard in so many ways. I'm more than ready for a new year, and a fresh beginning. 2014 will certainly go down in the books as a testing year, or a year we walked in the valley. I am so thankful that His mercies are new every morning, and that His faithfulness will always endure.
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