Sunday, January 3, 2016

2015 adventures(year in review)

Whew. What a year. In some ways I'm glad it's over, and in others, I just wish time would slow down. An eventful and prosperous year 2015 was. Full of many, many joys, sorrows, and situations which stretched and grew me. I am thankful for 2015. God's faithfulness was proven many times over this year. I traveled a lot. Went to all parts of this lovely country. I doubt I'll be doing that much traveling this year! I put together some photos of all my adventures from my year, some you may have seen, others may be new to the blog.

Started off the year right by spending the first week in Siesta Key FL with a great group of ladies
It was a good way to beat those winter blues
And then invite a friend came around a few weeks later, and I got to keep some of my favorite people
 And then Holly somehow roped me into going to the Phoenix invite with her in February
I didn't complain too much since it was still winter back home
Enter this guy, who changed our family dynamics this year (p.s. we like him a lot)
Erika's last invite a friend in Oakville

Lazy summer afternoons with Sophie

Married Erika off in May and now she's officially a resident of Oregon
Spent Memorial Day in the Windy City with my Kristin and Holly
 Countless showers for the future Mrs. Pfaffmann
Bought a new bike this summer, and put quite a few miles on it 
 And the much anticipated weekend in July came and went in a flurry
But it was definitely the biggest highlight of the year
And two weeks after the wedding, our family took a weekend getaway to Galena, IL.
The young group took a trip to the Creation Museum in KY in August
Bike rides with Kristin
Hosted several young group events, one being a shrimp boil
And then the duo was at it again in September-headed to CT this time
 A small evening trip to NYC before the weekend activities
Reunited with Tressa in CT
The more I travel, the more I appreciate home. September evenings found me in the combine with Dad
 Sunday afternoon hike with the young group in October.

 And then Columbus Day weekend took me to Oregon
 To visit Erika and the beach

And Tressa-I think we hit a record of seeing each other 4 times this year!
 But you just can't beat those Illinois sunsets
Summer evening fishing-this wasn't Holly's biggest catch of the year though…
…This was. One November Saturday morning, Caleb Moser was a name I had never even heard of before, but now I hear about him all the time…:)
And December brought fun winter activities with Holly and Wendi, such as an outdoor ice skating rink
And Holly and I went to the Nutcracker ballet for the second time
Christmas party with the Princeville girls-Gingerbread house contest 

And of course there were many Christmases to attend, and all sorts of Christmas activities I did not document. As I look back through all these pictures, I realized a majority of all my adventures were spent with Holly. So, I guess things are going to be a little different this year. Probably not quite as exciting, as she was the one always up for adventure and pulling me out of my comfort zone, but it will be good for me, and I pray someone else will come along who's personality is similar to her's to bring me out of my little comfort zone:) Looking through all these pictures make me realize how truly blest I am and how I am not the same person I was at the beginning of 2015, which makes me thankful God is still working in my life. If I had to sum up this past year in one word it would be unexpected. I had lots of changes, and none of them I was expecting at all. Between Rhea getting married, starting a new job, and Holly getting engaged, I would have never planned on any of those things happening in 2015, but I sure am glad that they did, because God was able to work so much in my heart that wouldn't have been possible without all those situations. Here's to more adventures in 2016…