I've picked a favorite photo for each month...in some cases, a couple of photos--it was hard!...to chronicle 2018. I take a lot of pictures, 5780 this year, and I had fun this morning looking back through an entire years worth!
January: A picture of my handsome Pacino. My OG. The dude who has been around for 6 years. This was taken while painting my basement, which took all of winter break and then some. I questioned whether I should finish the basement right away after buying my place, but I am so thankful I made it a priority to be finished. I never imagined filling it with a kid so soon, but it all worked out perfectly.
February gets two pictures: a picture of our fake tattoos from our Galentine's Day is the first. I am so thankful for these women from Central City in my life, even though I only see them once a month or so instead of daily. They have had my back and kept me grounded through a thousand things.
The second picture is during an impromptu shopping day in Ankeny with my family. We went to Five Guys for lunch, and then I think we went back after shopping to get ice cream! Looking back, this was a perfect prelude to our summer trip! Also, it must have been game day, because we're all in our Cyclones gear. These are my favorite people.
Spring Break in March led me to Chicago. I don't really love Chicago, but I needed to get out of town and my friends Dustin and Megan were going to IKEA, so I invited myself along. I had intentions of spending my whole paycheck at IKEA, but I ended up with only a handful of things. I don't usually love Chicago, but it was sunny and clear and perfect for walking around Navy Pier. Our hotel was walking distance, so we got in a lot of steps and spent a lot of time staring at Lake Michigan. This was one of 3 visits to Lake Michigan for me in 2018.
April was just a terrible month. It started okay, and I was supposed to get my first foster care placement, and it all kind of went downhill from there. I wrote about it on this other post, and I don't really want to write about it again. But, the picture comes from a book that I read during that season called Begin Again by Leanna Tankersley. It is all about how when things derail, go an unexpected direction, or don't meet our expectations, we always begin again. I wrote that on my wrist many days during this season as a reminder that I had the opportunity to begin again each day, even each hour or moment if I needed to.
May...another visit to Lake Michigan. I made an impromptu visit up to Milwaukee to visit my friend Amy and get away for awhile. It was much needed. I got some rest, explored new places, had no agenda, and just had fun. There's something about being around the water that just heals the soul, and this trip did that for me.
This brings us to June. In June I knocked a major thing off of my bucket list: visiting the Grand Canyon. We hiked the Bright Angel Trail a mile and a half down into the canyon. It was amazing. You just can't even picture how big it is unless you visit, and even then, it's hard to grasp just how big it is when you're at the top. It's crazy. During that trip we also went to Sedona and hiked to Devil's Bridge. It was a little terrifying, no doubt, but so worth it. Sedona was probably the second coolest place I've ever been, behind Victoria Falls in Africa. The Grand Canyon was cool, too, but I really loved Sedona and would like to go back. We also made the trek up to Horseshoe Bend. It was cool, and the drive to get there was long but scenic. Overall, I loved Arizona. I pretty much started tracking flight prices back to Arizona the day I got back to Cedar Rapids.
July gets 6 pictures, because, let's face it, my whole life changed in July. It started off by taking a family girls trip to Texas and Oklahoma. We went to Dallas to the JFK museum, and to Southfork where the show Dallas was filmed. Then we went to Waco and to Magnolia Market and saw everything Chip & Joanna Gaines had to offer. The food at Magnolia Table was some of the best breakfast food ever. Then we went north into Oklahoma, albeit with a "short" detour, and made it to Pawhuska to visit Pioneer Woman's ranch and shop. I am obsessed with Ree Drummond and getting to see the Lodge where her show is filmed was super cool. This trip was just my favorite, with my favorite people. We've never done anything like it before, and may never get the opportunity again, but I'm so glad everyone finally said yes to going.
The second picture is at Nerd Camp. This was my first year attending. Nerd Camp is a conference for teachers and there are several authors that speak, as well. It is in a small town in Michigan called Parma. This year, the keynote speaker was Dav Pilkey. He is the creator of Captain Underpants, Dog Man, and Ricky Ricotta book series, but I had no idea how he would change my life that day. His keynote was about how he had ADHD as a kid and wasn't always a great student but how he had one college professor who encouraged him and changed his story. Well, right before Dav got up to speak, I got an email about a 9 year old boy who needed a home. All it said was that he potentially had ADHD (a complete misdiagnoses), that he was a friendly and likeable kid (entirely true) and that he was moving out of his foster placement because of some issues with him and another family member (none of which was his fault, it turns out.) He would need a home by the end of the week. I listened to Dav for about an hour, then wrote back and said yes, I could take him by Friday.
The next picture is yet another picture of Lake Michigan. I obviously had a lot of preparing to do, but we had planned on stopping at Indiana Dunes State Park to hike the day after Nerd Camp. I decided that a day of hiking wasn't going to hurt anything, and I'm so glad we kept that day. We watched the sunset over Lake Michigan and then hiked the Dunes Challenge the following day. We hung out on the beach and went into the water in our hiking clothes and splashed around like little kids. It was amazingly relaxing.
The next picture is the first picture I ever took of Spike. He looks so tiny there compared to now. This was the second day he was with me and we went to a park to listen to live music and play cards. Of course he's eating an ice cream sandwich! Ha!
The next picture is of my friends Amy & Elena. We have been vacationing together every year since we had enough money to take vacations. Last summer we went to Boston, and we decided in 2018 they would come to Iowa, anticipating that I would have a foster placement. I'm so thankful that they came. It eased the transition because we spent several days traveling around to different places in Iowa. It was the perfect timing for a staycation.
Lastly, my Granny's 75th birthday. There aren't words to describe how thankful I am to have spent 32 years with her on this Earth. I always knew it, but I believe it more now that I'm bringing 2 children to her house. She has a coffee mug that says "where everyone has a seat at the table" and I'm pretty sure nothing sums her up better. She makes everyone feel welcome, included, and cared about and always has. That's probably why everyone has always and continues to gather in her kitchen. I can't imagine my life without her.
These two are from August. First up, how I spent a day each week--in the back of a kayak being pulled by my little guy. Slow days at the lake are how summer should be spent. We saw fish, eagles, and lily pads up close.
The second picture is at the Sugarland state fair concert. I was so excited about this, and I got to hang out with some old friends during the show. I love Sugarland, and them putting out new music and touring together again made my year so much better. Being 3rd row at the concert was worth every penny.
September was busy with getting back to school and finding our daily routine. This picture was taken the last weekend of September. Spike's sister spent the weekend with us, and that's the weekend I knew she'd end up living with us. We had such a fun weekend doing all the things families do in the fall. I emailed her caseworker and asked to get her moved in when her school quarter ended.
October always ends up being one of the busiest months of the year, and this year was no different. We celebrated my Gramps' birthday along with Spike's half birthday--which was totally in the wrong month! Anyway, Spike got to celebrate by going to see his favorite band, the Newsboys, in concert. I wasn't going to get tickets, because, let's be real, the budget is tight, but he'd been talking non-stop about concerts after I didn't take him to Sugarland, so when I thought it was his half-birthday, I caved and bought the tickets. I didn't regret it. He was so surprised, and we sang and had a blast the whole night!
This was also the year that I realized that even though I've spent most of my life trying to be just like my Granny, I'm also very similar to my Gramps. We both get riled up more about Iowa State athletics more than anyone else I know, we prefer to eat brown bananas, we're both a bit stubborn, and like to take the back roads and see the adventures. I'm so thankful for him as well. The guys in our family probably don't get enough credit...the women just kinda take over, ha!
Two from November, as well: our hike at Palisade's Kepler the day before we turned the clocks back, and our snowball fight! I love getting outside and am so thankful that I've got kids who do, as well. Nothing is better than a little fresh air. The kids were shocked when I snuck outside and nailed 'em with some snowballs!
Lastly, December, Christmas. This year was full of more Christmas than I've had as an adult. I guess having kids does that to you. We all declared it to be the best Christmas ever. We did all the things, visited all the trees, looked at lights, went to Christmas festivals, and family celebrations. We also did an Advent calendar and reading every day so that we could stay focused on what Christmas is really about. It was a perfect holiday season, and we were sad to take our tree and decorations down today. I am especially thankful to friends, family, and anonymous people who gave us presents, gift cards, and money. We were blessed far more than we could've imagined, and we're ridiculously thankful for it.
The final picture from this year is actually from July, but I thought it summed up the year just perfectly. A rainbow. It symbolized God's power, his covenant with his people, and his faithfulness and mercy. Through all the good and bad of this year, God has proved himself faithful to me. What more could I ask for?
