2013 In Review.

The last couple of years I have done a retrospective post on the year. Where I've been, what I've done, how I've grown. It's healthy for me to look back and see everything that God's done in the last year. So here is my year… via Instagram.

The truth about Instagram is that you only show the stuff you want people to see. Most people see this picture and see a beautiful place where I went on a K-Life retreat…. What you don't see is that I cried almost the whole weekend because I broke up with my boyfriend the week before. This impacted my year more than I'd like to admit. But it's done… and I learned a lot.

Speaking of K-Life… I spent a lot of time with these lovely ladies. Now they are all off to college. Craziness...

In March, I went and visited my brother Joel in Austin. I love Joel and I love Austin. I need to plan another one of these trips soon.

This is my friend Dee Dee. I spent a lot of time with her in 2013. God used her in my life and mine in hers. It was a good year with Deeds.

In June, I went to Seattle with my family. It was one of the most beautiful places I've been...

Both of my beautiful roommates Kathryn and Paige got engaged over the summer which meant our time together had to end. I moved out of the K-Life house in September...

…and in to a house with two other girls, Audra and Maggie. I moved to good ol' Independence, Missouri. Never thought I would move there, but it was one of the best moves I've ever made.

 In October, I went with my parents to visit my brother Kyle in New York City. It was an incredible trip.

The rest of my fall was pretty consumed with church stuff, namely, Affordable Christmas which you have heard me talk about a lot. It was a pretty cool experience to be so involved in so many cool things. It really is an honor to serve such a special church.

Those are the big things of my year. Here are some little things...

I crafted a lot.

I baked a lot.

I sang a lot.

I family-ed a lot. (It's now a verb. This is my cousin Cole. He's a stud.)

I friend-ed a lot.

I had a good year.

Last week my family went to dinner and my dad asked questions like he's so prone to asking (and I love that he does) that make us think about the year. He asked, "What was the highlight of 2013?" or something like that. I mentioned some of the trips that I had been on and said, "The truth is, I feel like this year has been full of waiting... and nothing actually happening." I've been waiting to hear on a promotion from work that I applied for back in May. (They still haven't told me yes or no.) I am waiting to find a good guy that I can call my husband someday. I am waiting for something big to happen in my life.

But looking back on this year a lot of big things did happen. I saw a lot. I did a lot. I learned a lot. I don't want to look back over 2014 and feel like it's another year of waiting for things to happen. I want to be doing, going, being, experiencing it all. And I want to be aware of it... Here's to a new year and a new beginning...