I really always enjoy looking back over the previous year and seeing all that has happened in just one year. I always feel so incredibly grateful for the life I have.
I am so proud of James and how amazing he is. I truly appreciate how hard he works for our family, how incredibly smart he is, and what an amazing dad he is. I am so grateful that my girls have such a great Dad who takes such great care of them and puts so much time into teaching them, playing with them, and loving them. I am so grateful James puts up with me and loves me despite and in spite all of my quirks and flaws. He truly is my very best friend, my rock, and my world.
I love seeing how much Lauren and Katelyn have learned and achieved over this past year. Most of this learning isn’t represented on a report card but rather in life lessons. I have really enjoyed watching them learn how to deal with moving, how to deal with an entirely different and new school, how to make new friends, and learning new talents like tap and jazz dance.
I have enjoyed my new job and making new friends as well as enjoying time spent with old friends. I have enjoyed conquering new goals this past year and am looking forward to another year of stretching myself and trying new things.
Speaking of trying new things, I am so excited for our upcoming trip to Jerusalem. But even more exciting to me will be our stop-over in Petra, Jordan. I am excited to see the famous mountain carvings and in doing so, we will get to stay in a Bedouin Camp. That is certainly a very new and exciting thing to me.
When I look back over the last 10 or so years of traveling I have been able to do some really amazing things like: walk the path to the Acropolis in Athens that Paul, Socrates, Aristotle, and Pythagoras have walked; I’ve seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy (and been in the church next door where Galileo realized the Earth was in motion); I’ve seen the Eiffel Tower sparkling at midnight and seen Da Vinci’s the Mona Lisa (and the works of many famous artists) while in Paris; I’ve seen the tomb where Christ’s body was wrapped and laid to rest for 3 days before rising from the dead while I was in Jerusalem; I’ve stood in the Blue Mosque where Constantine worshiped when I was in Istanbul; I’ve stood on the Great Wall of China in Beijing; and I’ve done some really fun stuff like parasailing in the Cayman Islands; gone snorkeling in Hawaii; played with Sting Rays, swam with sharks, and hula danced with the locals in Tahiti; I’ve taken a dune buggy through the banana groves in Jamaica; and floated in the Dead Sea—–and as amazing as all of these things are—my greatest accomplishments in life are the 3 people who I experience life with every.single.day. The happiest moments of my life are the times when the 4 of us are sitting around the dinner table talking, or sitting down watching a movie while all snuggled up together. I feel the most complete joy when I see my daughters talking and laughing together as sisters, and more importantly to me, as friends. I feel completely fulfilled when James looks at me with complete love ands says, “I love you.” These are the times that I would never trade. And lucky me, I have experienced these most truly wonderful times several times a week. I am so incredibly grateful for my wonderful life. I really don’t take it for granted because each day is filled with moments, and it’s those moments that truly matter most and make up my incredibly wonderful life. I hope you have a wonderful life, filled with all those moments that truly make you happy too. Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!
Just a few of my favorite memories from this past year:
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