2012 Recap & 2013 Goals

2012 was a good year, a full year. It was also a challenging year, full of much waiting, much praying, and in God's perfect timing, much answered prayer. I am thankful to have completed 2012, and I am thankful for all the growth and lessons learned. I am thankful for having experienced God's love and faithfulness.

I thank God for what He helped us accomplish this year:

Husband and I moved to the US. With God’s grace, he was able to adjust (and I was able to readjust) to life here.

After much prayer and seeking, husband found a ministry position here. (more to come on that soon)

And I found a full-time job which I enjoy.

Co-workers became good friends.

I started to volunteer as a Spanish interpreter at a local obesity clinic.

Husband has become a self-taught photographer, and we started a photography business.

Family got 2 lab puppies, Lily and Sadie.

Starting in Fall, had a weekly craft night with friends.

Celebrated 3 years of marriage on Dec 27th.

Found an apartment and started moving into our own new little home.

(Side note: We have been praying and looking for our own apartment for a while now and we finally found something. We actually signed the lease today! We are really excited to have our own little home and I am so thankful to God for His provision.)

I am also very thankful for the new beginning we have on January 1st. A fresh start, a chance to re-prioritize and start again.

This year, I am going to share my goals. I was inspired by Nancy Ray and Lara's blog posts. I feel a little vulnerable posting this, but I think it will help to keep me accountable. I hope you will join me.

My 2013 goals focus around these three things:

1. Be present. Stay in the moment. Remember and focus on God's love and presence that is always with me, neither lingering in the past or being anxious about the future. In the words of Jim Elliot, "Wherever you are, be all there".

2. Simplify. Set healthy and appropriate boundaries in my life. Create a welcoming home that is decorated simply and with color. Declutter my thoughts, work space, and my home.

3. Choose healthy. Cook and try new healthy recipes. Limit dessert to once a week. Add more yoga and cardio.

These goals are all kind of abstract, and hard to achieve. So I am going to start with a few small, measurable January goals.

I am not going to do any of this perfectly, but as this blogger says "I will hold myself to a standard of grace, not perfection."

Here's to a new clean slate, and a new year. May you accomplish your goals this year, and may you experience God's love like never before!

Hope

This year, the Christmas season has been different for me, but in a good way. I haven't been as excited about the decorations and busyness, but I have been clinging to the Hope that we have in Jesus- why we truly celebrate. In my surroundings, seeing so many hurting, has put things in a different perspective.  I am honestly still trying to comprehend what happened last Friday in Connecticut. Amidst it all, I have been reminded how awesome it is that God sent his only Son. And that He gives us hope. And that he loves us unconditionally. Recently, I saw the video below. It came at a perfect time and I know God used it to speak truth in my life. (This video is done by Rob Bell- not sure I agree with all of his theology, but this video is very Biblically based). Watch it here.

I hope that you (and I) can take some time as we approach Christmas Day to reflect on God's Son, and His love. And the hope we have in Him.

Smoky Mountain Girls Weekend

Just as the leaves were starting to change, Kathryn and I made a trip up to the Smoky Mountains to visit Leigh Ann. We had an adventurous trip up the mountain. We learned 2 profound life lesson:

1) When driving in the mountains, neither a GPS nor smart phone can be trusted.

2) When driving in the mountains at night, it is DARK.

But thankfully we made it there safe and sound (only took 3 hours longer than expected).

Leigh Ann taught us what to do in case we were approached by a black bear (raise your arms to appear as big as possible). Looks like Kathryn has this down.

We walked around the farm area.

  Saw some cute animals.

And enjoyed the beautiful Fall weather.

We stopped to take pictures of these mushrooms. I'm not sure I got quite the artistic picture I was trying for, but I did give several people a laugh as they drove by to see me on the ground taking the pics, not unlike a beached whale. hahaha!

We drove up on the parkway to enjoy some beautiful views.

 And with the help of a fellow tourist, got a picture with the background.

Later we were caught off guard by a rather rude woman. Apparently, not everyone has a positive, polite attitude when on vacation. Next time, however, we will be more prepared. :)

And we saw elk! I don't think I've ever seen elk in real life before and they were bigger than I expected. Especially Mr. Masculine Elk below, showing off his antlers.

And there was a baby and Mama. Reminded me of baby llamas.

We then saw a lovely park ranger feeding the chickens on the farm with the help of a young tourist.

Another important part of the weekend was CATAN. I was hesitant to believe that it would be as awesome as Kathryn said it was. But it was very fun. Just the right proportion of luck and strategy to make it interesting. Leigh Ann and I had to learn quickly to keep up with Kathryn.

Yay for girls' weekends :)