Looking Back

Looking back on 2014, it was a pretty great year. Today, Jason and I are going to sit down and make our goals out for the year. The preacher last Sunday in Church talked about the biblical ways to set goals or New Year's resolutions if you will. I most likely will be sharing those as well, because when you write them down and other people know about them, you are more likely that you will keep them.

But first I want to take a look back at 2014.

1)  A year a go today, I remember waking up, walking into my kitchen and thinking what a  mess. I had thrown a NYE party and I can't remember how long it took me to clean that mess up.
2) February brought the rodeo to town and Marcus and Christy (my two best friends, more about them later) came to town and a group of 6 of us plus 2 kiddos went to the rodeo together. Rodeo season always brings a lot of late nights and fun times!! February also took me to Las Vegas for a newspaper Mega-Conference. My first time in Vegas and I loved it - didn't gamble a bit, but I did see Celine Dion and I may or may not have shed a tear during "My Heart Will Go On"
3) March was one of my hardest months of the year and hardest months since I have been in San Angelo. I'm not quite sure why but I was just in a funk all month.
4) April brought a big birthday surprise for one of my friends and it brought Jason into my life. We had our first four dates and then he was out of town for 2 weeks, which seemed like the longest two weeks of my life. It took me a while to warm up to him. I knew I liked him, I knew he had husband potential, but I had been living a pretty care-free life and didn't really want another serious relationship, ever. So it took me several months before I decided that I would give him a shot at being my husband someday :) Now don't get me wrong, I completely adored him and the man that he was, but I was also a little leery.
5) May brought Mother's Day and my brother and sister-in-law came to San Angelo to surprise Mom. I think it had been 7-8 years since she had seen my brother on Mother's Day. May also brought a trip to Seattle and Oregon with Jason. Most everyone thought he was taking me off and I would never be seen again - we had only been dating a month. But he didn't. May also took me to Amarillo for work and a mentorship program I was in last year (2014). I was deathly ill and thought I was going to die in Amarillo, TX in a hotel room. That's all, there. I also graduated from Leadership San Angelo
6) June brought a trip to Naples, FL for work. It was hot, sticky and muggy - that about sums up June
7) July brought 4th of July - we spent the evening out on the lake with one of my co-workers. July was also Jason's birthday month! But he isn't big on birthday's like I am so not much to report there.
8) August - I sold my house, the first house I ever owned. I didn't have too many good memories there and it was definitely the close of a chapter. It also took me to Knoxville, TN for a MONSTER (career site) training. It brought a month of birthday presents for me. One a week leading up until my birthday day. I forgot my best friend's (Christy) birthday on August 20 and it wasn't until the 21 I remembered - I was devastated. I will not let anything be such a huge part of my life this year that I forget the important people in my life. We spent mine and daddy's birthday weekend in Fredericksburg with my parents. We also celebrated mom's birthday there too - it is in September
9) September brought my first Air Force Ball - we got all dolled up and had a great time!
10) October brought a trip to Virginia for another work conference and a few days of vacation. After three days at the beautiful Boar's Head Inn, we spent one night in the Shenandoah National Forest.  Jason had never quite done camping like that. We ate at a delicious restaurant, had a bottle of wine and pumpkin beer to go. We also did some hiking. Who knew camping could be so fancy - Jason certainly didn't. We spent the next day hiking and then some shopping and dinner at a fancy but weird Mediterranean restaurant. The next day we spent at Busch Gardens - a beautiful theme park. October was also the month Jason proposed - October 18. Followed by me saying are you serious, yes and can we go get some ice cream now.
11) November we spent Thanksgiving - my most favorite holiday - with my parents
12) December we attended many Christmas parties and events, spent our first Christmas together, spent time with my family, drank a lot of wine and I got a new car - an Audi - so now we are a little happy Audi-driving family. We also went to Fredericksburg for 4 days for a retreat with my coworkers. One of my mentors and all around best people I know, retired from the Standard-Times which had a significant impact on all of us that he coached and taught over the last 4 years. December is also when my two best friends, who I happened to introduce, got engaged!

What I didn't mention in here were are monthly dates at Whataburger on the 8th of every month, the numerous hours we spent volunteering in the community, our Friday night dates at our favorite spot in town, Tuesday night dates at the movie theatre, joining an engaged/married group at or Church and completing multiple series on Netflix, trips to San Antonio to see friends and shop. And much more.

I don't know what 2015 will bring, 2 weddings (ours and Christy and Marcus') for sure, a lot of wine drinking as usual, and an end to our 8th of every month trip to Whataburger. Other than that, there are a lot of unknowns. Whatever may come though, I know that our goal is to keep our focus on God and listen to his whispers.