Simply Blessed: 2012

I could write a book on the ups and downs of 2012.

It was a rocky year for me and I had some of the hardest days of my life along with some of the best days of my life.

I learned how valuable life is and how I should treasure every moment as if it were my last.

I watched my mom battle cancer and lay unconscious in a hospital bed while I welcomed my husband home from deployment. I literally did both of those things on the same day.

Talk about one extreme to the other.

I said good-bye to my unconscious mother as my family and I drove away to our home in California.

I received upsetting phone calls about her health while I was setting up our new home and enjoying our life as a family after being apart for so long.

My mom eventually woke up and made a great recovery and Johnathon checked into his new job here in California.

After all of that emotional mess, life seemed to blossom into something fantastic.

We were together as a family and we all seemed to be thriving.

I began homeschooling Alyssa and Allison for their kindergarten year and they have since started reading, doing simple math and growing into beautiful little girls.

Madelynn is as ornery as ever and even gave herself her first hair cut.

She is almost as tall as her big sisters and weighs about a pound more than they do. She is our little snuggle bunny and our comic relief.

Johnathon advanced to E-6 this year after only 7 years in the Navy. It was a huge accomplishment and I am so proud of the man/father that he is and is becoming.

He is enjoying his new job while I am enjoying his new hours. :)

After weeks and weeks of begging from the girls, Johnathon and I decided to let the girls try out public school after Christmas break. They don't start for another week or so, but they are pretty excited to try something new.

When moving into our new home, my number one concern was if my neighbors would normal. I know it sounds weird and you must be thing "Of course they would be normal!", but let me assure you that not all of our past neighbors have been 'normal'. I guess I was just hoping for a family similar to ours.

Nothing could have prepared me for the wonderful family that moved in next door about a month after we did. They have two little girls and have brought so much fun and laughter into our lives.

Many conversations were had about if and when Johnathon and I would add to our family.

I've known for awhile that adoption was something that I wanted to experience and after talking it through with Johnathon, we decided that we would explore that route after the first of the year.

After looking over all of our options we decided that we wanted to foster a few children first.

We found the perfect local agency and made a few calls.

Sticking to our plan of starting this process after the first of the year, we signed up for the first orientation of 2013.

Our long term goal is to adopt one of these precious little babies, but to enjoy fostering, as well, before that baby comes along.

In order to accommodate our growing family, I am the proud new owner of a 2008 minivan.

That's not something that I ever thought I would be excited about, but I sure am.

2013 is sure to be a great year and I am ready for whatever comes our way.

My mom recently found out that she will need a third round of chemotherapy.

I am upset that I won't be there for her.

As far as resolutions go, I don't have any.

Of course there are the obvious...eat better, laugh more, enjoy the moment, make it count.

No goals, though, other than to be happy.

Johnathon and I recently wrote out our 5 year plan.

Talk about an eye opener.

I knew that the girls changed their outfits often, but I just couldn't figure out why I always had so much laundry to do.

Needless to say, we now have a family closet.

I took the girls' dressers out of their bedroom and purchased a few three-drawer units from Wal-Mart. The units are in my closet underneath all of their shirts/dresses.

You can now find every single article of their clothing in that one closet.

We've tried this method before, but it has never been needed this much.

I am very much looking forward to easy and efficient mornings before school.

Johnathon and I, while making our 5 year plan, came up with a slogan for 2013. I've seen other couples/family have words to describe how they want describe their lives over that year. Ours is kind of a play off of that. Our slogan is...

Invest in ourselves.