Only a week late... not too bad! I don't know about you but 2016 had some pretty crazy moments. Am I right? It was a little crazy watching through the eyes of social media and news outlets as our country went through shootings, riotings, the crazy election season and what appeared to be an overall loss of common sense and morals among our population. As Christians we know that society will continue this downward spiral of morality just as the bible warns. So when I take a step back I can say I'm not surprised, but my heart is always saddened by the hurt people cause and as parents it is a bit scary knowing we have the responsibility to raise Christians in this fallen world. So, so thankful that we have this Hope as an Anchor for our souls in times of uncertainty.

So what did 2016 look like for our family? It was kind of a big year - new house and getting pregnant! And I totally bailed on almost 3 months of blogging thanks to my body hating the first trimester of pregnancy. Its literally a battle to survive during that time, I can't concentrate on anything else. But anyways, enjoy the little recap of our year below. :)




Travels - We had a pretty quiet year as far as traveling goes. We did more little trips, nothing like the year before! This is what our summer looked like. We took our annual OBX trip in May where we announced my pregnancy. : ) Took a weekend trip to IKEA over Mark's birthday/Father's day. We had some family visit us at the beach this year which was fun! We went up for our (sort of) annual canoe trip in Charlottesville. And we did our annual Massanutten, Apple picking weekend.  

New Accomplishments - We sold our first house! The process of buying and selling was way more complicated than just buying as a young couple coming straight from our parents homes. But we did it! Mark finished all of the college courses he needed that his work was offering with a 4.0 :) We potty trained a 2 year old! *high fives*

Milestones Reached - We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Reaghan had her first sleepover away from mommy. She went to her first movie in the theater and took her first boat ride! Oh, and she had her first dental cleaning and switched to a big girl bed! I didn't realize what a big year it was for our girl. She grew up a lot! 

New House Updates - Well. We moved this year! We have a new house and yard to update now. : ) There are some things I miss about our old house - mostly the backyard because we had just finished making it so nice and now we are starting over a little with this one. (We need landscaping and deck repairs!) But also fun to take on new projects. I can't believe I've never done a new house tour. Maybe once I get the nursery done I'll snap some pictures before the baby is born.

New Things Tried - I did a Whole30 at the beginning of last year! It was challenging! I did VBS with Reaghan for the first time this year and taught her class! It was a lot of fun and I'm excited to do it again this summer!

Races Run - Shamrock 1/2 in March where I had a great PR! ODU 5k - where really, we walked as a family. Step up for the Up Center! Wicked 10k being 6 months pregnant. : ) 

New Scary Moments - Going to the ER from morning sickness causing dehydration... And, well, its more sad than scary, but when my sister suffered a miscarriage. And yes, more sadness when our Piper pup was diagnosed with Cancer. 

Prayers Answered - You know, prayers weren't answered the way I had hoped in 2016. The specific things that I had put down in a prayer journal as being "impossible but always possible" didn't come to fruition this year. I can say that it drove me back into a more consistent quiet time with the Lord and challenged my understanding of prayer and faith. It's an ongoing journey - learning how to pray and how to have faith and not just for receiving expected answers, but at the same time having great expectations of the things God will do. I am thankful for another year of health for my family. And for the answered prayer of selling our home and finding a new one that we love!


It is fun doing a little review of the year and taking a small walk down memory lane. Funny how you forget things so quickly and can easily lose perspective of how we change and grow unless you take time to stop and remember. 

I have a few goals for myself this year that I thought I'd end with so I can check back next year to see if I made any progress:

Physical: I've allowed myself to gain a little too much pregnancy weight this time around and after baby is born I would love to lose it all + the extra 15lbs that I've been carrying around for no reason after getting married. My goal is to run another full Marathon the fall of 2017!

Motherhood: I struggle with patience and I struggle with wanting perfection all of time time. Perfect obedience. Perfect routine. Perfect meals. Perfectly clean house. Etc etc. It tends to be a joy killer sometimes because I can't enjoy myself until everything is in pristine condition and by that time the precious moments with my sweet girl have usually slipped away. My mom had this poem that hung in our house that ended with "...I want to be a housewife, but first I'll be a mother." And thats sort of my mommy goal for this year. Focusing on mothering first. Focusing on that being my most important work.

Spiritual: Becoming more intentional in my prayer life and with memorizing scripture. As I mentioned above, prayer has been a roller coaster journey for me this year because of, what I've come to realize is, my immature understanding of it. I hope to improve that this year and grow closer to our Lord through it.