1. Our girls. We have absolutely LOVED them. They bring us a ton of joy. We have learned a lot through caring for them. It was hard losing Rose (death undetermined), some of Blanche's baby chicks (animal attack) and Estelle (the road). We grieved for them and it taught us that their life is so precious to us. We have tender hearts for our animals. We have loved them all we could while they were ours. They make us smile!
2. We paid off the BMW (EARLY!!!!)...aka....the 330 and added Fancy to our family! And we also have racked up 249,000 miles on the Camster! We are thankful for our vehicles. We enjoy them all for different reasons...the Camster because Josh loves knowing he can get 35+ mpg in her and it's like a challenge of ours to see how long she will keep going! I'm confident we can reach 500,000! Fancy because we love the space, the heated seats (ME!!!) and it is VERY comfortable for me. (Since back surgery...sitting for long periods in the 330 and the Camster aren't as comfortable anymore). Josh loves that he'll never have to buy an oil filter for Fancy ( a deal he negotiated when we purchased. We got 30!) She has been worth every penny. The 330 we bought the year we got married. She was the first car I got to pick the color (always wanted a silver car!) and Josh had been looking for months for THIS car. It has a great story...we bought it on Ebay...from a military guy who re-enlisted. He bought it while he was in Germany and it was shipped to the US by boat. It took 40 days. He had it for about two months before he was re-enlisted. It is amazing to drive this car on a beautiful day. But we are blessed and thankful that we have reliable transportation.
3. Church. God led us to the very church where my dad grew up, my parents were married and where we attended when I was little. It is right in our community and many of the congregation are people that I knew growing up. It's a church that preaches the Gospel in the fullest. We have had opportunities to serve, hold and be held accountable and have grown in our spiritual walks immensely since we began attending. We have become members here and are so thankful for the leadership and community that we get to be apart of. We are thankful God led us to such an awesome place to serve and worship him.
4. Speaking of community, we have loved being involved with the Woodstock Community Center (my old elementary school). We have been involved in flea markets, concession stands, potlucks, the Hee Haw show, Valentine & Christmas Extravaganza's, organizing an Easter egg hunt and more. It's been awesome. It'll be great to see how the center is used in the future!
5. We celebrated our 5th anniversary of wedded bliss! It has been an amazing 5 years. Time flies when you are having fun! I've got the best Lovey. He's got the best Wifey. :) To celebrate, Josh surprised me by booking our same room at the Doolin House where we had our rehearsal dinner, I got ready and we spent our first night. We did all our traditional things and had a fantastic time. Love celebrating our marriage and being Oldie-weds!
6. We trained for and completed a 5K. Josh likes running but I never really had. He was an awesome partner and coach. It was a great accomplishment and it WILL NOT be our last! (Hold me accountable people!) :)
7. Taking a vacation to the Bahamas! We cruised with the Davis family and had a wonderful time. Love new experiences, seeing places we've never seen, trying new foods and experiencing other cultures. A wonderful wonderful time!!!! And of course, love great photo ops like this! He is after all....the King of the World!!! :)
8. Planning. We planned a lot this year. Worked on our budget, planned ways we can reduce our carbon foot print, reduce energy and waste, etc. We get a lot of joy from planning. :)
9. Having our first Thanksgiving ever at our house. A learning experience. We planned a lot. We loved it. We loved having our home filled with family, good conversation and laughter. Nothing beats family.....and good food!
10. Having our first Christmas tree in our little farmhouse. Our first real Christmas at the mini farm. It was awesome. We are looking forward to many many more holidays here.
11. Lastly, a good one to wrap up the list....we have enjoyed living in our home the most. It is not the biggest, most luxurious home that you will find in all of Woodstock. It's a small little place that is filled with character, memories, warmth and love. we have loved sitting outside and watching our girls. We love looking out the window and seeing deer playing in the field. We love seeing it covered in snow and love seeing the trees in full bloom. We have loved dinners outside, bonfires, crafts, movies, baking and breezes coming in the windows. We have loved the wind chimes, and hearing crickets, frogs and whatever other creatures that are SO loud on summer nights. We love seeing so many stars. We love waving repeatedly at people driving by. We just love being here. This is where we are supposed to be. I could add so many pictures to this one. But I don't think I'm even gonna. It's just that awesome. We are excited for our life here. We are excited about the future. 2011 was good to us.
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