2012 In Review

Whew. 

It felt really good to take a blog break. Now, I must say: I enjoy writing. I mean really enjoy it. But. It has been a tough few weeks, filled with moments of joy and happiness, sure, but also filled with an underlying feeling of sadness because of the losses I've endured. I remain hopeful that 2013 will be filled with blessings, happiness, and joy. To be fair, the overwhelming majority of 2012 was a joyous and happy year for my family and me. It's just that the last month was punctuated with grief, and I am ready to find more joy, and less grief, again.

That being said, I am actively choosing to take the pressure off of myself to publish several times a week. I have decided to keep my personal and family resolutions to myself, but I can say that there will be less scheduled posting and more posting when I have the urge or desire to write. Writing is therapy for me. It is a way for me to express how I feel, to document snippets of my life.  Yes, I absolutely love writing. But. I absolutely do not love the pressure I put on myself to publish a certain number of times per week. So, while there may be fewer posts, all of it will continue to be from the heart. And all of it will happen once I feel that my time has first been directed toward my hub, children, family, and home.

Okay. That's out of the way. 

Moving on. 

I thought I'd start 2013 by reviewing some of my favorite snippets of my life from 2012. So, here I go:

January

Without a doubt, the highlight of my entire year: The birth of our precious Raleigh Jane. I just don't know what we ever did without her. 

February 

We took Banks to the circus for the first time. This is something I will never forget. It allowed him some special one-on-one time with Momma and Daddy and he was in awe all day-from the "train ride" (i.e., Marta) to get there to the the souvenirs and show itself, it was awesome. 

March

We continued to adjust to being a family of four, absolutely loving every chaotic, exhausting, fun-loving minute! 

April

We took advantage of what Atlanta had to offer, including Easter celebrations, a local fair, and the golf course, of course.

May

My hub and I traveled to Texas to attend the wedding of one of my best friends and then closed out the month at the beach with my hub's side of the family. Fun! 

June

We jumped into summer with both feet, celebrating Father's Day with a special father-son helicopter ride, checking off items from our Summer Bucket List (puddle jumping!), and ending the month by going back to the beach with some of our favorite people in the whole world-the Peeles!

 

July

We continued our quest for summer fun, including celebrating the 4th, doing lots of swimming, having a Mama Date to take Banks to see his first movie, taking Raleigh to her first Braves game, having our first annual Christmas in July with my side of the family, and putting our house on the market!

August

We celebrated our beloved Pop's 60th with a surprise party, continued to watch our little lady grow before our eyes, saw the brother and sister bond continue to strengthen, and said good-bye to some good friends in Atlanta as we prepared to move. Oh, and my baby sister got engaged! Woot!!

September

Another momentous month for us! Not only did we move to our new home in Fort Mill, but I left my job as a pediatric neuropsychologist and started my new job as a stay-at-home momma. Oh, and we also celebrated my sweet boy's 3rd birthday. Busy, busy, busy! 

October

October was full of adjustment and fun as we got to know our new neighborhood, enjoyed some Tiger football, and celebrated Halloween!

November 

We spent the month "doing nice things for people" and also soaking up lots of family time, including meeting the newest member of our extended family (my new nephew!) and donating meals for 80 families in the Aiken, South Carolina, area. We also celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of our family, which was a blast!

December

Despite some heartache, we still had a beautiful month as a family and were able to see many of our extended family members for some pre-Christmas celebrating while also spending Christmas Eve and Day alone, just our little family of four, which was very special. We also had a good time celebrating a certain someone's (cough, cough) big 3-2. We ended 2012 with three of our favorite people (again), the Peele family.

 

All in all, I'd say it was one for the books! 

Here's to a joyous and blessed 2013!