2016 in Review

January started with the waters receding after major December floods in St. Louis.

Personally, January was marked by raging mercy and a promotion for Dan. That promotion set the tone for the year to come in more ways than one.

The highlight of February was the first weekend, when Katie and I went on our church's youth retreat called WinterBlast. It was a fun (tiring!) weekend.

My third Holy Yoga retreat started March off with a bang. I thoroughly enjoyed the photography sessions I had and the women (and one man!) who became more than clients to me: they are now my friends!

I also spent a glorious March day with my friend Cindy as we went on a photography hunt in a field of thousands of daffodils.

In March, the kids and I took a spring break road trip to my hometown Marietta, GA. It was my high school's 50th birthday party.

I also had a senior photo session with my niece Peyton.

April was a book launch team (Looking for Lovely), the annual International Pillow Fight Day, and an earthquake of a conference by author Dan Allender that Dan and I attended.

I also had 3 photo shoots in April, plus our own extended family photos in celebration of my mother-in-law's 70th birthday. (April also meant her big birthday party.)

May was a daytime Cardinals game with my friend, a visit to the Botanical Garden (and LOTS of beautiful photos for future devotions yet to be written), a senior portrait session, hail damage, a solo trip to Arlington Cemetery, a business trip with Dan to Las Vegas, the end of the school year, and a mother-daughter art retreat.

We started June with a trip to Asheville, NC on the way to my niece's high school graduation in Pinehurst, NC.

Almost as soon as we got home, Katie and I left for a five day church youth summer camp.

Right after that, Katie became a TEENAGER. Eeeek! That was followed by our church's baptism blowout party, and the start of a deep funk for me.

June further unraveled with me and the kids sick on the couch, followed by a mouse (or mice) invading our house. We clung desperately to happy by adventuring out to Knockerball as a family, just before our piano arrived.

This brings us to July and some summer adventures: fireworks on the 4th (this year at Innsbrook), our annual day at Six Flags, graduation parties, and camps. Dan's job had become even more high pressure with a larger time commitment. At the end of July, we traveled to Kansas City (on fumes) for the wedding of our friends Brad and Andy.

August started with one last summer adventure with friends to Anheuser Busch's Warm Springs Ranch.

The Olympics found us on the couch a lot, being inspired by the world's best athletes. School started back up, and I flew to New York City to help my sister move into her new home.

August ended with another trip: this time, Dan and I flew to North Carolina to celebrate my brother-in-law Wally's military retirement.

September marked the beginning of the Mizzou football season as Dan and I escaped on day trips to CoMo for the games.

September is also when I waved the white flag and started seeing a counselor again. Right after that, our friend Sean died and we're still struggling to grasp the loss.

In early October, Dan and I took another trip - this time to New York City to celebrate my sister's 50th birthday.

October included more photo sessions, fall break, more Mizzou games, camping, and having coffee with an author whose book deepened my faith and changed my perspective.

The end of October brought the 20th anniversary of my brother Jackson's death, and I marked the day by finally getting the tattoo I've been planning for years.

Jackson started wrestling at the end of October. We had another funeral to attend, another Mizzou game, and we sputtered into Halloween with hardly a fall decoration on display. (I felt drained, y'all.)

November's election just about did me in, as well as the rest of the country. Thankfully, I had some distractions to keep me moving: more photo sessions, lots of Katie event (a trip to MOYIG in Jefferson City...

...a smashed iTouch screen, science project, and Metro8 performance where she was selected first chair), a last Mizzou game, and a Blues game to celebrate Dan's sister's 40th birthday. Whew! We made it to Thanksgiving. Just barely.

Our family attended our first ever wrestling tournament at the start of December. Dan and I were in desperate need of connection with each other, so we had an adventure day with a St. Louis city scavenger hunt.

I made my last trip of the year, back to North Carolina to see our niece Hannah graduate from college.

Katie and I attended a Christmas concert, an ice storm hit St. Louis and wrecked lots of plans and property, and we finally had our siding repaired. (Remember that hail storm back in May? Yep. It took us THAT long to get the work done.)

Dan and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary with a lunch date and a visit to a new float spa in the area.

Christmas Eve services at church involved bell ringing, hearkening back to the 2010 services that will forever be our favorite.

And, there you have it: 2016 in a nutshell. I didn't describe the ick in extreme detail, because I do want to honor privacy. Plus, if I open that can of worms I'm not sure the lid will fit when it's time to shelve it. There are parts I want to forget, but I know forgetting only results in repeating the same patterns. So I'll remember 2016, but I'm hoping the good stuff outshines the pain that 2016 brought with it.

I'm praying 2017 brings rest and joy and hope to you and to my family, too.

Things I Love

Lately, I've come across some *great* ideas and I wanted to share them with you. So, here are two of them!

I found an AWESOME website called Block Posters where you can turn any photo into a full-size wall mural. I did it with a photo of Katie and Jackson (taken by my friend Tammy), and here's the result. This is a photo of my computer room with the mural above our wonderful LoveSac:

I think I'm going to reprint the photo a lot larger just to try it. I'm also thinking of printing one from our cruise or Jamaica, and putting it in our beach-themed bathroom. My neighbor Sheryl is also going to do a big one of Busch Stadium for her son's room. Maybe I'll get her to send me a photo once it's installed and I can share it with you.

My other great discovery was while we were in Vegas. Beth and I went to a mall and I found this cool nail art stamp set at a kiosk. I love to decorate my nails and toenails. (Just ask the tweens on my street! I'm the coolest grown up they know. Yeah, right!) This Konad Nail Art system has little silver discs that are engraved with designs. You swipe colored polish over the design, use a little squeegee to remove the excess, then push a rubber stamp over the design and the paint is stuck to the stamp. And then you apply it to your nails with the stamp pad. It's so fun!

I'm hoping to regularly post about "Things I Love" on my blog, so keep checking back to see what I uncover. And if you have any cool things you love, leave me a comment and let me know about it!

We're Back!

We had a great time in Vegas. There is no way I could blog about every detail, but I'll tell you a little bit. As my friend Joe says, "If you can tell people what you did while you were there, you wasted your trip." So I'll keep a few secrets to myself. A lady never kisses and tells, right? Ha!

Here's the basic gist: Eating. Drinking. Sigma Derby (LOTS). Walking. Shopping. Margaritaville. Piano bar. Walking. Pool. Napping. Champagne. Bellagio. Toby Keith. Shopping. Walking. Nail art. Walking. M&Ms. Dresses. Fountains. Kiosk workers hawking everything. Mizuno's Japanese Steakhouse. Chocolate every day. Karaoke, good (Sean) and bad (mine). Second City. Jubilee. Hummingbirds outside the Bellagio. Freemont Street. And lots more drinking.

Oh, did I forget to mention walking? On Tuesday afternoon, we gave up on walking (buzzkill) and decided to taxi the rest of our trip. Tuesday night's taxi driver thought I was crazy when I said we wanted to go from MGM to the Tropicana across the street.

Highlights: I think one of our best nights was Monday when our friend Stacy took us to the Paris buffet. Our awesome waiter taught us how to crack crab legs the easy way ("Melvin style"). And the best part was the creme brulee. To die for! I thought I was in heaven. Mmmmm. Afterwards Stacy drove us to Freemont Street, then took us to see Jubilee. It was lots of fun!

We had a little stowaway on our trip. We took Katie's Curious George stuffed animal with us, and had fun taking his photo at some of the sights. When we got home, we developed the pictures and put them in an album and gave it to Katie. One of the photos shows George with a large pink gorilla. I told Katie that while we were gone, George went on a trip to see his mommy. She was so excited!

On Tuesday night we walked through the Bellagio lobby and conservatory, and I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the flowers (the glass ones on the ceiling in the lobby and the real ones in the garden)... and just the joy of being on vacation. I took one last look at it while we were leaving, to lock away in my memories so I can draw on it later. (Thanks for the tip, Danielle!) Then we walked outside and caught the fountain show, and the moment couldn't be more perfect. Beth and I stood there with the wind blowing our hair, watching the fountains dance to "God Bless the USA," and I knew (without a doubt) that God has blessed me. I am a lucky girl!

We got back late Wednesday night, while the kids were still at Grandma and Poppy's. They took the kids to Parents Day Out on Thursday, so Dan and I had one last day to decompress (read: recover) and do laundry and unpack. Then we picked the kids up Thursday afternoon, and my heart just about exploded with the joy I had in seeing them. Absence makes the heart grow fonder! Jackson saw me and his face broke out in a huge smile. I picked him up and he hugged me for at least five minutes straight. He kept pulling back to look at me in wonder, smile again, then hug me again. His little feet kept kicking, which is what he does when he's really happy. Oh, my heart was overflowing! Then I got to hug Katie, and my sweet girl squeezed me back so tight. It felt so wonderful.

It's good to be back home, refreshed and ready to be a mommy again. I loved being "just" a wife and a friend for a few days, though. Not that I ever stop being those things, right? But it's nice to concentrate on just one or two things at a time.

It's alright, I'm going to Vegas!

Bad news: Jackson has an ear infection. He also upchucked his entire breakfast (and a full sippy cup, ibuprofen and antibiotics) just as he swallowed the last bite of yogurt. Of course.

Good news: It gave me an excuse to mop the floor and hose down the booster seat and wash the rugs. And, even better, Jackson liked the warm, clean rugs so much that he laid right down on them when they came out of the dryer. (See the cute photo?)

Bad news: Big thunderstorms rolled through today, scaring Katie and making her clingy.

Good news: "Out came the sun and dried up all the rain." So Mommy and her babies can take a walk again! (Okay, sorry. Bad rhyme.) But the afternoon has turned out gorgeous.

Bad news: Sick baby, rain and crabbiness kept us at home all morning.

Good news: It gave me time to pack. Because, guess what?! I'm going to Vegas!

That's been my mantra today. Baby puke? It's alright, I'm going to Vegas! Had to do three loads of laundry to clean up from puke? It's alright, I'm going to Vegas! Had to mop the floor? It's alright, I'm going to Vegas! And on and on and on...

In just 24 hours, we'll be loading the kids up headed for Grandma and Poppy's house. And it's all gravy from there!