2012. a look back.

I already wrote a "goodbye, 2012" blogpost. 

But then I decided I wanted everything that happened in 2012 in one place. With some pictures. 

So that's what I did.

//

January: 

The first of many snowy nights in Virginia. Brian spent his nights and days out in the field doing training, while I spent my days holding, playing with, and feeding babies as I nannied for 7 month old triplets. I also got to start a bible study with some of the other wives that ended up being such a blessing to my heart. I miss those ladies! We spent a night with our dear friends, Luke and Kate, in a swanky hotel in DC just for fun.

February:

I spent many of my nights watching Brian do work, write orders, study, etc. We traveled to North Carolina to send Brian's older brother Kirk off to Afghanistan. I made a trip home to Charlotte while Brian was in the field again. And we got to spend our first married Valentine's day together! We really enjoyed our cozy little apartment and loved having people over to feed them dinner. 

March:

I started a blog! New Years Resolution only 3 months late. I wasn't that great about writing posts, but I'm working on it! We found out Brian received ground supply as his job and it took us a while to come around to the idea of it. My love turned 23 and we celebrated with some sweet friends. One of my best friends, Megan, came to visit me and I got to show her our life in Quantico. I spent lots of my nights with Kate, Angela, and Lauren while our boys were out in the field. 

April: 

We found out we were moving to Japan! And we were so excited. I had four of my favorite little ladies and their awesome mama come visit me while Brian was again out in the field. We had the best long weekend together exploring around DC. We spent lots of our weekends with Luke and Kate. And Brian and Luke always fell asleep. And we went to a NeedtoBreathe concert. 

May:

I celebrated my 23 birthday with sweet girl friends since Brian was gone that night. Brian graduated from The Basic School! Both sets of our parents and Brian's brother, Evan, came to his graduation. My cousin Adam, and his girlfriend, Liz, came to visit us and we showed them around DC.  We made a trip to Brian's alma mater, VMI, for an engagement party. Then we got to take a quick getaway to celebrate one year of marriage. The best year of our lives. 

June:

We spent a lot of June on the road traveling to and fro. Trying to see as many family and friends as possible. Just taking every opportunity to spend quality time with the people we love. We loved being together, as we spent much of the past 6 months apart. We went to my cousin's wedding and then spent a week at home in Charlotte. We said bye to friends in Virginia and packed up our stuff to send to Japan (which, still hasn't made it to us!). Brian headed to North Carolina for training and I headed to Mississippi be in a wedding of my oldest, sweetest childhood friend, Bethany. And we got to spend a week at the beach with Brian's family. It was so relaxing and fun. 

July:

I was in a wedding of one of my besties from high school and college, Carly. It was so fun to be back in Chapel Hill celebrating two wonderful people. We moved into a hotel in Jacksonville, NC and lived in close quarters. It was fun sometimes and not fun other times. We spent a lot of weekends at the beach either with my wonderful parents or in Beaufort, NC with Sarah and Bedford and all their fun friends. Our great friend Nathan came with us on many of our beach adventures, though we were missing his wife Ellie, who was deployed. We also developed a great friendship with new friends, Jesse and Katy. 

August:

I took a fun trip to Denver and Boulder to visit friends and go to Brian's cousins wedding. It was such a fun trip, but I was bummed to have to leave Brian back home. Back in Jacksonville, I spent my mornings working out at Curves and Brian got to come home for lunch everyday. I made a trip to the beach to spend a girl's weekend with my mama, and then another to spend a weekend with my nana and my aunt and uncle. 

September:

Kirk came home from Afghanistan! We got to go welcome him home in Fayetteville and we were so so thankful for his safe return. We spent labor day weekend at home in Charlotte and cherished more family time. Brian graduated from Ground Supply Officers Course! He worked so hard and I was so proud of him. We headed back home to Charlotte to spend the last few weeks with family before our big move. We had multiple going away parties, got to spend time with all our siblings, and felt so loved by the people around us. 

October:

My two best friends came and spent my last day in Charlotte with me. October 3rd, we left for Japan! Tearful airport goodbyes with our parents, but were so excited for the road ahead. We spent a night and day in Seattle and had the best time thanks to Brian's sis, Erin, who has the inside scoop on Seattle life. We flew through Iwakuni and Yakota, and then finally arrived on Okinawa on October 5th. We went to the Naha Tug of War and were baptized by fire into the Okinawa culture. We were totally delirious because of the time difference and had no idea what was going on, but it was fun. We bought a car and started exploring as soon as possible. We got moved into our home and lived a floor away from our friends, Nick and Sarah. We visited the aquarium and spent our weekends just driving around/learning to drive on the left side of the road. And we ate enough sushi to kill a small human. 

November:

We found a church that we love here and immediately got plugged into a community group. We continued to meet new friends through church and where we live. We developed a fast and awesome friendship with another couple in our building, Joel and Jenni. Brian's job was busy busy, but he always had the best perspective. He works with great people, so we are thankful for that. We got to go to 2 Marine Corps birthday balls which was a great way to get to know the people Brian works with. We did lots more exploring of the island and had our first Japanese karaoke experience. We spent Thanksgiving surrounded by friends, new and old, and were thankful for being on this beautiful island. 

December:

We started making our house feel like a home, even though we have yet to receive our shipment. We bought a couch, a TV, and a few other pieces of furniture. We spent our weekends cozied up by the Christmas tree watching movies and being lazy. Brian's work days are long and we love love love spending our weekends together. We skyped and facetimed with family back home a lot and we're so thankful for technology. We had 12 Marines over for breakfast on Christmas morning and loved having a dining table full of friends. We took a drive out to Cape Zanpa on Christmas day just for fun. We brought in the new year playing monopoly with friends and are so happy to be here in Japan. 

//

And congrats for making it to the end. We can now officially put 2012 to rest. 

Happy New Year, dear friends!

the getaway.

In honor of our first year of marriage and due to a lot of generosity from some special people in our lives, we got to take a quick beach trip over our anniversary to celebrate. 

It was so sweet to get away, lay on a beach, eat good food, and be with my man. 

We spent a lot of time reflecting on how undeniably blessed we have been throughout this past year. 

Just a few things from our long, long list that we made..

A free to us wedding. That was perfect. And such a celebration.

A free place to stay for the first 6 months of being married. 

Getting to spend the first 6 months of marriage around our families, whom we adore. 

Perfect jobs that were provided for us during our time in Charlotte.

The overwhelming generosity we have experienced from so many people that love us well. 

Immediate genuine community upon moving up to Virginia.

A job that Brian truly feels called to. A place where we can use our marriage for ministry. 

This time was such a breath of fresh air, and such a reminder of the promise that our Lord truly desires good for those who serve Him and are called according to His purposes. Have we been perfect this year in serving Him? No. Has He been perfect in fulfilling His promises? Yes.
That is the God we serve, people. Grace. Mercy. Abounding love. Never ending. Amen. 

Never ending coffee and the most delish breakfast at the quaint little Bed & Breakfast we stayed at. 

Homemade pasta salad and halfsies on a $5 footlong. Just keeping it real and in the budget.

Solo shots. That's how we do when we are on our anniversary trip and don't feel like talking to people.

We were so thankful for this time together, even though it was a quick trip. I never, ever regret taking time to get out of the everyday routine and get intentional with my better half.  It makes me better, it makes him better, it makes our marriage better. 

weekend.

This weekend was a good one. 

One thing we LOVE about living near DC is that people love to come visit and stay with us. And really, there is nothing we love more than hosting people in our home. 

On this particular weekend we had my cousin Adam and his sweet girlfriend Liz stay with us. We had a ton of fun and laughed harder than I've laughed in a long time. 

We also took a roadtrip to Brian's Alma Mater, the Virginia Military Institute, for an engagement party of some good friends of ours. It was a beautiful day to roadtrip, and there was nothing but rolling mountains and fields for days on either side of us. Backroads, windows down, music loud: the best kind of drive.

It was so sweet to be back at this place that holds so many memories, good and bad, for Brian and I.

Like driving that 3 1/2 hour drive more times than I can count throughout college.

Like dreading Sunday afternoons when we would have to part ways for the next 2 weeks, 2 months, however long it might be. 

Like making trips to the next town over so Brian could take off his uniform and hold my hand. 

And mostly Lexington Coffee Shop, where I simultaneously fell in love with my husband and with coffee. 

(this totally looks like a recruitment ad.. Brian calls this "the power stance")

We loved getting to be in Lexington to celebrate our sweet friends that are getting married. We are big fans of marriage over here.

23.

22 was a big year for me y'all. Well, more specifically May 2011 was a big month for me. In one month I turned 22, graduated college, and married the love of my life. Pretty much every big milestone within 2 weeks. So 23 has a lot to live up to. But, considering we will be moving across the world to start a new life together-- I think 23 will do just fine for itself.

I really love birthdays, like a lot. I love celebrating people, being with the ones I love most, and mostly I just love eating cake. I didn't have huge expectations for this birthday considering Brian had an overnight and couldn't come home that night, and many of my friends are packing up to move away. But y'all, my husband and my friends are awesome. They went all out and made me feel so special, loved, and honored. I am really blessed.

I woke up to the sweetest card from Brian with a gift card to treat myself to some glorious iced Starbees. My friend Kate brought me lunch and took my to my favorite coffee shop to get my favorite iced latte (see a trend here? The way to my heart, people..). I had a relaxing afternoon watching Netflix and eating strawberries with whipped cream.  Then dinner with some of my fave ladies followed by cake and fun times back at another friends house. The night ended with a good ole slumber party since all of our husbands were gone for the night and everyone knows I hate sleeping alone :)

I love these ladies A LOT. 

They even made me my FAVE, funfetti!

I got to celebrate with my man the day after my birthday when I ate my weight in sushi in honor of our big Japanese move coming up. I felt good about that. 

Thank you for all the phone calls, texts, cards, FB messages, tweets, instagrams, dutch ovens (thanks ERIN!), etc. etc. You guys rule and I'm just so blessed that I get to live the life I live. 

Here's to 23! Yee-haw!

the ultimate girls weekend

The weeks are LONG when Brian is gone. Yes, I probably have mentioned that before. See, I just hate being by myself. I hate quiet houses. I hate cooking for one. I just prefer to be with people. So, I dread the weeks that he is gone. But, not this one! I had been looking forward to this field week for a couple months because 5, yes 5, of my favorite people in the world were coming to visit me.

You guys know how small my apartment is (although, we prefer to use the word cozy) and so some might think, "Wow, why would she ever want to have 5 extra people in that small amount of square footage?" Well, let me tell you, if I had to pick 5 people to be squished into a 1 bedroom apartment with, I would choose Kelly and her girls.

A little back story on my friendship with Kelly: I was an awkward high school teenager when I started going to Elevation. I met Kelly and was immediately attracted to her personality (does that sound creepy? It's not.). She was cute, fun, personable, wise, and had three little girls with another on the way. So obviously, being the awkward teen that I was, I decide to buy her love with a gift for the new baby. I stalked her at church, handed her a gift, and ran away. She tells me now that she honestly didn't even know my name when I gave her the gift. But hey, it worked! Kelly became a wonderful friend and mentor to me throughout high school, college, and into my married life. I spent many Saturday nights on her couch eating sour patch kids, laughing my head off, and picking her brain on life, marriage, and friendships. Kelly was this crazy busy pastor's wife, (cool) homeschool mom, small group leader, etc. but she took time out of her life to know me and ask me questions and show me Jesus. Larry and Kelly were a huge part of our wedding prep as they led us through marriage counseling and Larry preformed our ceremony. These people hold a special place deep, deep in our hearts and will always be like family to Brian and I.

Anyways, with both of our husbands out of town, Kelly and I decided that an adventure was in store. So we hopped on the Metro to DC with no real idea of where we were going and set out to make some memories. And that is exactly what we did. I loved every second of it and yes, I cried when they left.

6 girls in a one bedroom, I love it! I love the craziness, the chaos, & the loudness.

All four girls curled up in my bed.

Such city girls.

Kelly: thank you so much for packing up four kids and driving six hours to come see me. It means more than I can say. Thank you for how you and Larry have invested in Brian and I and how you continually bless us over and over again. Your life, your marriage, your relationships-- they minister to me and push me towards Jesus. I am beyond thankful for your friendship in my life.

the week in pictures

Birthdays, picnics, spontaneous dinner making with friends, sunsets, and lots of time with Brian home; it was a great week. Not all of our weeks are this fun and full, so you know, I gotta document it while I can.

This guy turned 23! We celebrated with tacos, banana pudding (because those two go together right?), and a few close friends.

Brian's fire team (unit of 5 Marines) came over for dinner and it was so nice outside (80s in March!!) we ended up eating outside. Love these guys.

Brian's TBS roomates. We have really grown to love these guys and will miss them a ton when we leave VA.

Our new favorite place in Quantico, Lake Lunga. Two nights in a row last week we packed up dinner and took it out here to watch the sunset.

We brought these two along with us the second night at the lake. Luke and Kate, our best friends here. We can't really think about leaving them in a couple months without getting a little teary eyed. The Lord answered our prayer for community here in Virginia tenfold when He gave us this friendship.

Love this man.

Nathan and Ellie came too! Nathan also received Ground Supply as his job, so we are excited to be near these two and get to know them better.

Handsome boys.

Friday night came around and about 6:00 I realized I had nothing to make for dinner. About that time I got a text from my sweet friend Zipporah that said, "We've got chicken. Wanna combine forces?" The night ended with curry chicken and rice, sweet potato fries, salad, chips and salsa, and a lot of laughing.

Our biggest prayer in moving here to Virginia was to find good community and lasting friendships. We are continually blown away and amazed at the relationships God has given us in the short 5 months we have been here. We are trying really hard to enjoy these friendships for the next 1 1/2 months we are here and are praying hard that we run into them again down the road.