2013 - A *WONDERFUL* Year In Review

Brad and I got married in August of 2009, so this was our 5th Christmas together, and each year I strongly consider sending out Christmas cards.  I love seeing each of the cards we get, getting to watch friends and family grow over the years.  Well this is the last year I consider it, because next year we'll actually be sending one out...not to mention we'll be sending out a little announcement right after the first of the year!!  I always told myself that once we had kids of our own, we'd start sending out an annual Christmas card or letter, so you can be expecting that in 2014!

However, as I sat and thought today about the enormous amount of blessings we've had over the past year, I couldn't help but get out the computer and start typing away.  So I thought this year, we would share a digital Christmas card along with our "Year in Review."  Some might think that spending 36 (to-date) of the past 52 weeks sick would make for a pretty crummy year, but looking back, all I see is blessings, and I wanted to share some of those with you!!

We celebrated our first year as homeowners, Brad's promotion to Consultant and 3 years with CG, along with Brad's 25th and my 28th birthdays.  We made some difficult decisions, including a possible move to Florida, deciding to move forward with IVF as our shot for starting a family, and me leaving my position after almost 2 years with Yardi.  We faced some difficult lows and some incredible highs, but we knew that God was with us 100% of the time, and he was guiding each step that we took.  Here are some more of our favorite highlights from 2013:

We rang in the new year with great friends - We were so blessed to spend the past year with an amazing group of couples, walking through life together, growing through bible studies, praying and praising together, and there was definitely a lot of laughs and a lot of fun!  Our Small Group was definitely one of the biggest blessings of 2013!

We lived for the weekends - Brad started traveling weekly to Connecticut the Monday before Valentines day for a project with CG.  We certainly made the most of our weekends and squeezed in as  much fun as we could, which included "some" shopping (we quickly got over using "Retail Therapy" as a way to spend time together...), double dates with great friends, concerts (including the Kari Jobe/Chris Tomlin concert), movies, and some fun in the kitchen!  We absolutely love spending time together, no matter what we are doing, and 2013 was definitely a year for lots of time together.

 

We survived a scary car accident - Well, Carrie survived the wreck, and Brad survived having to hear about it from 1700 miles away.  Calling your husband to let him know you'd been side swiped on 635 and the person tried to flee the scene (so you chased them while on the phone with 911) was NOT a fun call to make.  In tears, I believe I started with, "I'm okay, but..."  That not so fun week ended up even LESS fun when I wound up with a pretty tough case of strep throat!

We watched Tate grow up...and found out he's going to be a big brother! Due to that ugly little wreck and bout with strep throat, we weren't able to take a trip to Conroe that we had planned...but we got some pretty awesome FaceTime anyways!  Throughout 2013, there were trips to Conroe and SS to spend time with Tate, as well as some time in Arlington, and there was plenty of FaceTime and video/picture messages from his momma and daddy to keep us up to date with our favorite little guy.  That is one smart, fun little boy, and Miss Olivia is blessed to have such a great big brother!!

We considered a BIG move - Most people don't know, but in February, I was contacted for an opportunity to interview with a company for a position in Florida.  Following the first (LENGTHY) phone interview, I was asked to participate in a panel interview for the second round.  As we prayed for days unsure of what we were supposed to do, we started to hear from God that we were exactly where we needed to be at the time.  (And thankfully so, seeing as I found out I was pregnant a few short months later!)

We supported our Rangers - I remember telling Brad, "I don't think I'll ever get used to just driving up the road to go see them play," after heading home from the game on Opening Weekend.  I LOVE my little sports loving husband, and I have so much fun cheering on the Rangers with him.

 

We also had lots of fun cheering on some of our other favorite teams throughout their seasons...

We drank Kangen water - We are certainly believers in what Kangen can do for some one, because I am proof!  After making the decision in January to purchase our own machine, I started seeing some pretty noticeable improvements in my health, and a few short months later...I was pregnant!

We also made a trip to Atlanta at the end of April to learn more about Enagic/Kangen Water, and we LOVED getting to spend time with so many others that had seen similar differences in their lives.  We wrapped up the weekend with a trip to the Coke Museum.

We got our miracle - After years of praying and hoping, sitting in doctor's offices and leaving with little hope, undergoing surgeries and trying various medications...we gave it all up.  So with prayer and an ovulation predictor, we finally got our 12% miracle!  By week 3 of pregnancy, I was nauseas to the point that I knew something was going on...but a negative pregnancy test (again...) shattered my hopes...only to take a positive one 5 days later (followed by another positive one...I had to be sure!)

I had so much fun calling to cancel the IVF appointment we had made only 3 short days before finding out, but that joy didn't compare to sharing the news with all of our family over Mother's Day Weekend!  It was definitely a Mother's Day to remember!

 

Along with getting our sweet miracle, we battled through Hyperemesis and we revealed the Gender.

We had no idea what was in store for us so soon after those two little positive tests...but what followed included a lot of time on our couch/in bed, along with some one on one time with a trash can that would end up being something that went almost everywhere with us for months.

 

By week 18, it was finally time to find out just what this little one was going to be...and we had so much fun finding out for ourselves and then sharing the news with our friends and family!

We welcomed Olivia - After finding out that my brother, Alan, and his wife, Candice, were expecting Baby #2 on March 16, we could not WAIT for that sweet little baby to get here!!  Miss Olivia Lynn made her arrival on October 14, 2013 at 6:55 pm, and she was absolutely perfect!  Tate quickly stepped in to his role of big brother and loved giving her "tisses" and holding her.  We are so excited to watch this little Princess grow up.

 

And We enjoyed time with family - We are so blessed with incredible families, and being with them certainly made for some memorable moments in 2013!

2013 was one heck of a ride, but I'm guessing we better just hold on for what's in store with 2014!