I wish I could adequately tell you how busy I have been and how fast the past year seemed to fly by for us. It has been just over a year since my last post (which is embarrassing) so my plan is to give you a year in review with my favorite picture from each month from September 2015 to August 2016. Then, it is my goal to update my blog monthly, which is more realistic than my previous weekly updates. Anyway, here we go!
September, 2015:
Jim's parents made their first trip to Wrangell! It is always exciting to have visitors, but especially first time visitors that are seeing our home for the first time. We love showing Wrangell off.
October, 2015:
I got my first view of the Northern Lights, which I think is on everyone's "bucket list". They do not disappoint and are definitely one of the best things about the darker days in Wrangell.
November, 2015:
I made my first trip "down south" to North Carolina since our move. It was awesome to see family and friends that I had been missing for 11 months. I spent two weeks trying to visit and fit everyone in and realized just how great it is to have people who love you all across the country. Distance did not change a thing!
December, 2015:
I returned to Wrangell for the holidays. We spent our first Thanksgiving and Christmas in our new house. We (and when I say we, I mean Jim) chopped down our Christmas tree, which added the perfect touch to our cabin decor.
January, 2016:
I spent January learning to quilt, thanks to my friend Mindy. It's dark, rainy/snowy, and cold out so I loved getting crafty with our wood stove burning and coffee brewing.
February, 2016:
We always did our best to attend home basketball games at Wrangell High School, but we would have never missed the Homecoming game when Kevin was crowned Homecoming King of Wrangell High School, 2016. It was so fun to watch him accept his crown to the sound of the Imperial March playing by the background by the high school band. Go, little bro! I love this town!
March, 2016:
I could not pick just one picture for March - sorry, not sorry. Jim and I traveled to North Carolina and Virginia together to be showered with love and gifts from family and friends at two different showers on Easter weekend. I also met my best friends first born, Geoffrey (love at first sight does exist) and found out my little sister and her husband are expecting their first sweet baby girl (love at first thought exists too)!
April, 2016:
I spent a weekend in April bettering my self as a Speech-Language Pathologist by attending a Vital Stim course in Seattle. This is a modality which uses neuromuscular electric stimulation to strengthen and re-education swallowing muscles to do their thing! I can't describe how weird this felt...
May, 2016:
The salmon derby opens in Wrangell during the month of May and this past derby I caught my first King Salmon! You can bet I took my fish proudly to the scales to enter it in for the derby and swear the scales were broken. I am still proud of my (barely legal size) 10.5 lb fish.
June, 2016:
We celebrated Jim's 30th birthday and my mom's 60th birthday (but don't tell her I told you) during the month of June. With the help of many others, I successfully pulled off a surprise cookout party. Jim also experienced his first commercial crabbing season opening the day after his birthday. I am always proud of him and his enthusiasm towards learning new things.
July, 2016:
July was spent in last minute preparation for the wedding and embracing the last few "legally single" date nights, fishing trips, and adventures we could. Every piece of our wedding fell into place beautifully and I am so thankful for all the support and help we received.
August, 2016:
We had the best day EVER on August 6, 2016! We said our "I do's" at 11 that Saturday morning and spent the afternoon eating yummy food and cake (thanks Tammy and Sherri) and celebrating with our friends and family. We were blessed with the best weather you could imagine and safe travel for all of our out of town guests. We are so lucky!
So now here we are in September, 2016, still loving everything about this beautiful life and learning more and more as we go. Beatrice the beagle is still doing well and will be gaining a friend this month - another beagle named Tobias/"Toby". I can't wait to meet him in just a few weeks!
Stay tuned for next month's update which is sure to include an unhealthy amount of beagle pictures. :)
My monthly "God thing":
A lot of sad news has come across our media in the past year. The more I hear and see, the more I would like to disconnect from all the propaganda. Then I was reminded by this song (link below) this morning that we should continue to do what we are all called to do as Christians and continue to Love. I purposefully capitalize Love to give specificity to the word and not use it loosely. When I say Love, I mean to Love as we are commanded, as Christ has loved us. His Love is unconditional and the realist thing out there.
