Hello! From the last month of this decade.
Whut?
At the beginning of this decade, we lived in North Carolina. I was 37. My kids were 9, 7, 4, and 2.
Not much has changed, right?
On second thought, it’s the decade that (in no particular order):
we moved twice: back to Illinois in 2010 and then to a new to us home in 2017.
for the first time in my life, I traveled internationally. I crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Italy in 2016, and to London in 2018 and 2019.
I started working online and have had the privilege of working for some incredible women: Myquillyn Smith, Tsh Oxenreider, Logan Wolfram, and Crystal Ellefsen.
I became a hope*writer (well, first a hope*ologist!)
I flew a helicopter!
life has been documented on Instagram since 2010. Here’s my first picture (remember when it was all about what filter you used?)
Greg surprised me, big time!
young women that I mentored when they were teenagers got married and now have kids of their own.
I lost my gallbladder.
I celebrated my 40th birthday for a week at the beach with lifelong friends.
Greg and I became marriage mentors.
The common denominator this past decade and it seems cliche to say but here it is: faith, family, and friends.
I am not the same because of what God has done in my life and I’m so thankful for the family and friends that have stood beside me.
I wonder what the next decade will bring? Don’t say grandkids!
I finally grabbed a copy of Sarah Bessey’s book, Miracles and Other Unreasonable Things from my local library. It is a beautiful memoir and I ignored my family for a few days while I read it.
After I finished Chapter 5, I was overwhelmed with emotion and left this comment on one of her Instagram photos:
It’s not very often that I am overcome with emotion so when it happens, I pay attention. I’m not sure if she’ll ever read it because it was on a post from a few years ago but I knew that I need to tell her and thank her for writing her story.
When we try to script our own resurrections, we miss the places where God wants to surprise us with a more full, more whole expression of healing than we could ever imagine. Sarah Bessey
I have since ordered my own copy!
November had a case of mistaken identity and thought she was February because we set FOUR weather records in 24 hours!
Kelsi + Caleb Fullmer started a Picnic Table Challenge and they made a compilation video for us. It’s four minutes that Greg wishes he could have back, but it made me giggle.
The album on repeat this month was Lady Antebellum’s latest, Ocean.
No Fun Jo Decaf coffee is my go-to right now as I’m doing what I can to keep my thyroid calm and one of those ways is to cut back on caffeine. Finding a chemical-free decaf was important and the Swiss Water Process by Jo is 100% chemical-free, it removes 99% of the caffeine, AND it tastes delicious!
What’s on your list for Read, Laugh, Listen + Can’t Live Without this month? Click the heart and let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to next month’s newsletter.
p.s. there are a few affiliate links in this post, you can find them listed here.