hello 2013

Thirteen has been my favorite number preeettyyyy much forever, so I'm excited for this year. I have high expectations!

This is the first year in a while that there hasn't been some big, looming event waiting to be accomplished in the coming months. Moving to Texas, graduate school, the wedding, graduation, etc...it's been a busy couple of years around here! This is the first year in my immediate memory that life has felt "normal", and I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of excited about it.

My goals feel more personal this year, and I'm feeling challenged to find rest in the calm moments and beauty in the ordinary actions of daily life.

I hope to be more outwardly focused this year. I want to be deliberate about making space in my life for friends and family. I am inherently introverted, and naturally tend to draw inward into my own little bubble. I feel challenged to move beyond that and truly experience living in community here in Waco. I want to extend and accept invitations this year. I want to fill this house with people and be comfortable in the messiness that is a life well lived.

photo credit

I want to take more pictures. For something that I get so much enjoyment from, I am truly terrible at remembering to take pictures. And I always kick myself afterward! Always. I'm feeling challenged this year to record, record, record. I want to remember those sweet, ordinary moments that made up our newlywed years. In this same spirit, I hope to make photo books of our first two years of marriage. Come July, somebody check up on this! Hold me accountable!

I want to decorate this big, empty house of ours. I am a woman on a mission. My goal is to decorate slowly and look for pieces that fit our home, style, and pocketbook--this has been so hard! I literally want to snatch up every thing I see.

I want to write again. There was a time in my life when I might have said I was talented in this regard.... Writing used to be such an integral part of my daily life, and I truly cherish the records I've kept. While I am all for personal growth and finding new forms of self expression and enjoyment in life, I'm not ready to let go of this just yet. I feel challenged to be more deliberate in taking time out of my day to devote to the pen (and the keyboard).

I want to make healthy, active living a priority. Health is important to me. God willing, I want to live a long, active life, and be healthy enough to enjoy every last bit of it. I'm challenged this year to cook more, to eat clean foods, and to move every single day.

In reflection, nearly all of my goals for 2013 can be summed up by saying that I plan to devote  significant time and energy to developing the fruit of the spirit I just can't seem to get a handle on--> self control.  Refusing my whims and temporary wants--pushing forward and keeping my eyes focused on the horizon.

So! Here's hoping 2013 is full of words, pictures, friendly faces, little adventures, and completed rooms!

Cheers to that.

goodbye 2012 [part 2]

Some of my favorite pictures taken with the "real" camera this past year. In no apparent order (because I can't figure out how to move the stinkin' pictures)...

goodbye 2012 [instagram edition]

I was not a good blogger in 2012. Meh.

So many great things happened--big things! I graduated, Tanner got hired on at Baylor, we took trips and visited friends and family, we survived one whole year of marriage(!), we plugged in with a church family we love, we moved...! It's been a full, full year. We're blessed, and I am humbled and so very grateful for God's goodness and faithfulness in our lives.

In the spirit of reflecting, here are some of my most favorite captured moments from this year compliments of the ole' cell phone...which captures way more than my camera these days.

 

1.nye on the mountain 2.scenic drive to work 3.rainy study day with griffin 4.replacing the floors 5.our first renaissance festival 6.silk tie easter eggs 7.celebrating cinco with some special kiddos 8.trip to the world hunger farm 9.graduation with some of my favorite people 10.adopted into the texas family 11.fort worth stockyards 12.sailboats and summer 13.beach trip with alabama's finest 14.my furry loves 15.west fest karaoke 16.alabama season opener 17.sunset appreciation 18.celebrating 1 year 19.naptime 20.welcoming colder weather 21.a favorite hat 22.concert with dear friends 23.couch hogs 24.stella 25.halloween block party 26.road trip shenanigans 27.thanksgiving at the ranch 28.moving out 29.moving in 30.relaxing in a new space 31.homemade potpourri 32.christmas

So many wonderful moments...and this doesn't even scratch the surface! I am so very grateful for my camera phone. That sucker changes everything. 

Tomorrow I'll post pictures taken with the "real" camera!

You were one for the books, 2012!