Tuesday, October 1

Catching Up

It's been a while. And that's an understatement. Let me catch you up on a few of the details I have not blogged about in the past year or so (although, many of you know about much of what I'm about to write).

Major Events:
December 24, 2011: Began dating Timothy (who had actually put on his Christmas wish list "A girlfriend")!

Christmas Eve, 2011
New Year's Eve Weekend 2011: Took a trip with two of my brothers and my sister-in-law to West Virginia for my first ever experience snowboarding! After several hours of much progress, I proceeded to take a nasty fall and seriously injured my right elbow. (Almost 2 years later, it's still not quite healed, although it's much better)



March 2012: Went backpacking for 5 days, 4 nights in the Grand Canyon! That was seriously one of the most intense, exhilarating, amazing, and wearisome things I have ever done in my life. Definitely an experience that brought me closer to God and made me realize just how small one can feel. In addition to the trip being amazing, it was done with people who are very dear to my heart- some of my favorites :)


Yuma Point

Grand Canyon View
Colorado River












April 2012: Went rock climbing for the first time ever. It was... alright. Ok, so it was better than I expected. I've never had any desire to rock climb, and quite honestly, it frightens me. A lot. But I almost even enjoyed myself when I was doing it.












August 2012: Vacationed with some of Timothy's family in the Outerbanks, NC. Super fun! We went to Jockey's Ridge State Park and played on the dunes, hung out at the beach, ate amazing food, and just enjoyed good times with wonderful people.





September 2012: Timothy's newest niece was born! Sweet little Meraiah Valerie :)



November 2012: Best birthday present ever-- Timothy proposed to me! We went hiking on Benton Mountain, had a picnic, watched the sunset, and he asked me to be his wife! After I said yes, we sat in a hammock under trees with Christmas lights in them on top of the mountain.

View from Benton Mountain
Sunset on a very happy Sabbath birthday
Engagement ring that Timothy made










March 2013: One of the sweetest and dearest people I've known was laid to rest. This world lost a ray of God's sunshine, but she is not lost forever. I can't wait to see her again when Jesus comes to wake her from her peaceful, pain-free rest.


May 2013: Timothy graduated with his BSN! And on May 26, 2013 I married my best friend! We also re-realized how incredibly blessed we are with our incredible families and friends. We couldn't have asked for better ones to celebrate our marriage with us.







Summer 2013: We attended what seemed like a myriad of weddings-- and each one was uniquely characteristic of the couples getting married. I love how weddings are a kind of snapshot of people's personalities and characters. Also, went to some states I'd never seen before! It was my first time visiting Washington state, Oregon, and Louisiana.

Allie & Jonathon's Wedding (July 2013)
First time on Mt. Rainier, WA

Multnomah Falls, OR
Multnomah Falls

















Ricky & Larissa's Wedding (August 2013)
Friends!
Kaeli & Nathan's Wedding (September 2013)

My favorite set of twins :)
August 2013: Timothy's family had a reunion and we went camping in Hungry Mother State Park! I've always wanted to go there, and I loved it! We also visited Mount Rogers and saw the wild horses (Adorable! And fat!), and we biked down the Virginia Creeper Trail with Timothy's entire immediate family! That was probably the highlight of the trip for me, and I hope to do it again sometime soon.

I wanted to take this one home!


So, those were the highlights. This morning as I was laying on the couch having my devotional time, I was thanking God for so many blessings and wondering how it is that I so often wish and dream of things past or future. I love reminiscing about the past, and I believe it is important for our growth to remember the blessings, and the hurts, of the past. I also believe that it is a good thing to plan and dream for the future. But right now, this day, I am asking God to help me learn to soak up all the goodness of the present moment because there is so much of it. I am incredibly blessed in so many ways, and once again I am praying for God to help me see and love and live in the present-- to appreciate and enjoy every bit of it to the fullest of my ability.