Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 Year in Review

eoy2014
See 2013 here

What did you do in 2014 that you’d never done before?
I traveled to Arizona and California! We saw the Grand Canyon and lots of sights in San Diego! I became a stay-at-home Mom and I love it!  I also recently served as a Bridesmaid in my little brothers wedding!

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions? Will you make more in 2015?
I didn't make any, I usually make some version of a goal list on my birthday which is just 4 days after new years.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Last year (2013) was the year of the babies! I have lots of pregnant friends and acquaintances but no births that I can think of.

Did anyone close to you die?
We lost my Great Aunt Betty. She was my Grandfathers oldest sister, the Matriarch of my Dad's family.
A couple of weeks ago we also had to put down our dog Clyde. He was John's dog for several years before we got married, so he's been a part of my life as long as John has. A true fur baby. We will miss him very much.



What countries did you visit?
I did not leave the country (but we're planning a cruise for 2016!), but I visited New Mexico, Arizona and California. I know some people that consider Cali a foreign country, does that count? ;) 

What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?
To be debt free (again)!

What date from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory?
July 25, my brother Joshua's graduation from Marine Basic Training
November 12 - It's a secret... more on that later! ;)
December 27, my brother Jacob's wedding

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Having kept my daughter alive to see her first birthday? ;) Really I'm very proud of the various transitions I've gone through this year. At the very beginning of January I left my "professional" "big girl" job and took a part time less prominent role at another company (aka less days, hours and most importantly less stress!). Then after being with that company for 6 months I was laid-off which transitioned me beautifully to being a stay-at-home mom! I was also much better at trusting that God is in control and that He has a plan for my life! After losing my job with no notice, I was very calm and sure that God had a plan, we just had to wait. Sure enough Husband got a job promotion about a month later!

What was your biggest failure?
We went back into debt. Part of it was my job transitions, the change in money flow was a big part of that. Also the fact that from Cora's birth and subsequent NICU stay, we pay quite a hefty sum of medical debt each month that eats up pretty much all of our income that isn't assigned to other bills, so some months things like our gas or grocery bills simply had to be charged on credit. :(

Did you suffer illness or injury?
I can't think of any illness outside the usually sniffles and sneezes of allergy season (Praise the Lord!)!

What was the best thing you bought?
We didn't do much buying this year. Thinking back, I can only even recall two or three simple clothes shopping trips. I purchased jeans in a size I haven't been in since college! I would also consider our trip to California as a pretty big purchase, it was so worth it to see all of our Cali family and to watch Joshua graduate from MCRD! (it also took a year of saving to afford the trip!)

Whose behavior merited celebration?
I'm incredibly proud of Joshua and his service in the Marines. I'm constantly amazed and in awe of John as I watch him be a great father to Coralie! 

Where did most of your money go?
Medical debt, baby stuff, road trip to California. 

What did you get really excited about?
Stephanie (my sister-in-love) joining our family! It was fun celebrating all the associated wedding events and parties.
I really enjoyed celebrating Coralie's first birthday party!
Seeing Joshua in person after not seeing him for 13 long, hard weeks! 

What song will always remind you of 2014?
??? I can't even think of a song that came out this year. I'll look forward to reading everyone else's answer on this though!

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder?
I'd like to think I'm happier! I fall even more in love with my little family every day! 

Thinner or fatter?
About the same, maybe a little thinner. 

Richer or poorer?
Poorer for sure, but richer in blessings!

What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I had been more intentional with seeing friends. I keep coming back to this year after year. I love my family, but it's hard to see friends sometimes and then when stuff is scheduled with friends sometimes family issues jump up and muddy that up.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Eating out! We didn't do a lot of this, but boy it is my least favorite way to spend money and it adds up quickly! 

How will you be spending Christmas?
Preparing for Jacob's wedding... just kidding... but really I'm sure there will be a fair amount of wedding that falls over into Christmas. My dad is hosting Christmas this year which really means I'm hosting at his house.

Did you fall in love in 2014?
One new love in particular, part of my secret that you'll have to wait for. I also grew deeper in love with Heavenly Father, my husband and my precious daughter!

How many one-night stands?
I looked back to last year to see how I answered it then (no, no adultery here...)
So to quote last year, the same answer applies this year "bahaha... no"

Who were your best friends?
Lauren, Tiffany, Kimmi, Kim and Angela

What thing did you do that was meaningful to others?
I honestly hope that I do many things throughout the year that are meaningful to others, we pass along hand-me-down clothes to several families as a pass-it-forward gesture because we received so many hand-me-downs for Cora. I serve at church with my time and talents. My dear friend Kimmi got married this past April, I hosted many events for her and her now husband, I hope that they blessed them in many ways.  

What were your favorite TV shows?
Well, we haven't had TV service since May so I haven't watched much network television. I have watched lots of Netflix and Amazon Prime though. Some of the shows I've binge watched through our streaming services - 19 Kids and Counting, The Unit, Lie To Me, Covert Affairs, The Good Wife, Blacklist, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, Call the Midwife, and Greys Anatomy. I've been hit or miss on trying to keep up with streaming some of my favorite network television shows by streaming after they're released, Greys Anatomy, Scandal, The Good Wife, Nashville, How to Get Away with Murder. I'm several episodes behind on all of these though.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Hate is such a strong word, but yes, I strongly dislike a new couple of people. It's okay though, I don't have to deal with them often and I don't give them much thought.

What was the best book you read in 2014?
I have read woefully little this year. In April I went on a reading binge of sorts and read the rest of the Princess Diaries series that I hadn't read when I was a teenager. I kind of can't believe that those are the only books I've read this year, but I just double checked my Kindle and that's all I've read this year. I'll have to make that a point to do better in the future. 

What was your greatest musical discovery?
I think I've listened to less new music than I've read this year if that tells you anything...

What did you want and get?
To stay home with my daughter! It didn't come about as I would have liked, but God had a plan all along!

What did you want but did not get?
I can't think of anything... really I'm very happy and content with our life. I attempted to pull myself together to go back to graduate school but that didn't go as planned. It's still in the plans but won't be coming together in time for the spring semester either. I wish we had pulled it together to get moved into our "new" house sooner, but that was far more complicated than we envisioned. Really, all in all, none of those things are of much lasting consequence and nothing that can't be done in the future. 

What were your favorite films this year?
White House Down. If you've seen this movie (or even if you haven't...) you're probably thinking she liked that movie? because it's pretty awful. It was the funniest thing I've seen in forever! I've watched it three times this year and I laugh every time! I went to see a couple of movies in theaters, but nothing was so memorable or amazing that I can recall the specific movie right now, so that in and of itself really tells ya what you need to know about my movie watching this year. 

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 25 this past year. I honestly don't recall doing anything in particular. If I remember right, I think my Dad and brother Joshua joined John and I at On The Boarder for dinner. John got me flowers and dressed Coralie up in a cute homemade Birthday onesie.
 (The birthday onesie on the left, flowers on the right)



What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I think I would be much more at ease about having become a stay-at-home mom if we had made the transition more gracefully without having gone back into debt. But, while renting the house we were living beyond our means once we added more than our car payment per month in medical bills to our financial plate...so really debt would have probably been a reality regardless of my working position (by me not working we were able to negotiate lower payments over more time). The stinking debt is really the only thing I look back over this year with remorse about.

What kept you sane?
God. Seriously, without Him I wouldn't have managed this year. Loosing my job, family stuff, renovating and moving into the old house, general parenting challenges. I relied on Him more than I have in a long time and I'm really wishing I had been better at this in the past, because I could have really used that extra dose of faith in years past!

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I kind of have a new obsession with the Duggar family (19 kids and Counting).

What political issue stirred you the most?
Well I'm very excited that the Republicans took majority in the November elections! If you didn't know, the majority with which they took the House and Senate is historic!
I don't really like how Obama handled the Immigration Executive Order, but there was precedent for him having signed it into law like that as it had been done before (by Republicans), I just think this is far more reaching. He also signed some environmental actions I'm less than pleased about.
I guess my biggest grievance is the military spending cuts. Overall though, it hasn't been a political year I look back on and just fume over an issue.

Who do you miss?
I miss my friends. Ironic considering I certainly had friends to list as my closest friends etc but we didn't see our friends nearly as much as we did last year or the years before. Having a kiddo really does limit our free time (but I'll still take the kiddo any day!).
I also really miss Joshua being home! I never knew how much I appreciated having him around all the time until he was off doing the Marine thing. 

Who are the best new persons you met this year?
My new friend Angela has been a blessing! We met through blogging and she lives close enough that we're able to have play date walks at the park and we go to MOMs group at church together! My MOMs group has also been a great blessing! It's so nice to have these Godly women to connect with on a regular basis that are in similar walks of life!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014.
Trust God. No matter what. He's got this! 

Quote that sums up the year:
See above, really it should be my theme for 2014!

1 comment:

  1. GREAT REVIEW!!!! Thanks for joining the link up and I hope you'll come back from "Finish This" every Wednesday. I completely understand your celebrations for reaching one year of parenthood. At Kamden's first birthday party (Dec 19), it was more of a high-five for Husband and I making it one year as parents and keeping him alive and well. LOL

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