Almost a Wrap

It's hard to believe that Christmas will be here in just 6 more days!

This year has by far been one of my favorites. We had a lot of ups and downs, but we learned a lot about ourselves and I think we've done a lot of growing.

I was just looking back on my recap post from last year to see what my hopes and dreams for 2015 were to see how life measured up to them.

The first one was to figure out my neck issues and a way to manage them better. While I still have issues going on, this is the first time since everything started that I finally feel like I'm moving in the right direction. I started pursuing myofascial release therapy in the middle of January and it has been such a huge help for me. Not only am I not in as much pain anymore, I have a lot more movement in my body. Unfortunately, since it took over 4 years to get to the point that it is right now, it's gonna take some time to reverse all of that. So while some might look at my doing this therapy for a year and still having issues as a bad sign, I see it as a good sign. This is the only thing that has caused any improvement. Every other treatment or therapy I have tried just masked it or helped with the pain only. Nothing ever helped me to be able to move better. Considering my condition has not worsened at all this year but instead has gotten better, I consider that a huge win! I look forward to the day when I feel "normal" again.

The second one was to be able to encourage women through Bible study or something like that. And I was able to do that! I actually had two different opportunities to do that this year and I'm excited for next year will bring! I would love to do a smaller women's retreat again next year, so that's something that I'm praying on to see if that can happen.

Some of the different possibilities that I was praying about didn't come to fruition this year, but there was good reason for them. After praying about each of them a lot, I realized that I really need to get my body issues more under control before I try and commit to something huge. I had to say no to more than one ministry this year because of that. And while it was really hard to do so, I know it was necessary. I'm hoping that next year will bring other opportunities that I will be able to say yes to. God has been teaching me a lot about balance this year. While I would love to be able to say yes to everything that comes my way, sometimes the answer has to be no. I can't be or do everything, and I have to be ok with that. I do know that I need to get involved more in serving at church in some capacity, so that is something I am praying on for next year as well.

I also mentioned being excited about the changes that were happening in our church. And many things did change! I know there are more things to come and I'm excited to see what happens next year!

As far as being excited for how God was going to mold Josh and I, that has been really exciting. Not only did Josh get a promotion at work, into a position that was created specifically with him in mind, he has been able to serve so much in the youth transition in our church right now by being the jr. high point guy. When we first started dating, we both felt like we were supposed to serve in full-time youth ministry as youth pastors. While that shifted and changed over the years, I know he has always had a passion for young people. So to see him serving in this capacity and teaching jr. highers each week has been so awesome for me. I am so proud of him and the man he is. He has grown so much this year in so many different areas and I feel so honored to be his wife and to be able to walk alongside him through this journey.
As for me, I've learned a lot this year about balance, as I mentioned before, as well as letting go of fear. One of the biggest things that has come up in my myofascial therapy has been some of my irrational fears. I don't even think I realized how crippling some of them were. I have been working very hard in the past six months to let go of some of those things. While I know it's going to take time, I'm confident that I will be able to move past some of them. I've also learned about myself that I get stressed out very easily in certain situations. While I need to learn to work through the stress in some situations, I've also learned that sometimes it's better to avoid certain triggers of stress as well. I need to continue to work on this, but I'm trying to learn how to better manage my stress. Fear and stress are, I think, two of the biggest emotional factors that contribute to my body issues. So I need to continue to work on moving past those things and learning to deal with them in a healthy manner so that I won't feel so tense all the time.

And now, a little recap of 2015 (so far):

We started the year off with a little New Year's Eve party at our house!

We also had a couple of fun times with family, including a sushi date, a hockey game, and we were able to spend a lot of time with Josh's family when everyone was here for his great-grandma's funeral.

One of my dear friends had her baby (!!!) and I had a couple of fun birthday celebrations.

February brought our Vegas trip to celebrate Josh and I turning 30, as well as our 7th anniversary and a trip to Disneyland to celebrate!

March was full of a lot of fun times with friends, including my first ever trip to Dutch Bros and my dear friend L.B.'s birthday.

In April, we went to visit Josh's oldest brother and his family for Easter, and I went to my church's women's retreat with a wonderful group of friends.

We also celebrated my sister's birthday and I had a couple of fun wine outings with friends.

May was packed to the brim with fun stuff! We went to a tea house with Josh's mom for Mother's Day, and celebrated my dad's birthday and my mom on Mother's Day.

We also took a trip to Disneyland and celebrated a couple of other birthdays (our friend V.M., L.B.'s daughter and my sister-in-law).

I also had a fun wine tasting day with my wine ladies, and Josh and I were able to see one of our favorite bands in concert for the 10th anniversary of our favorite album of theirs.

In June, we celebrated a couple of birthdays (my brother-in-law and my friend S.C.) and I had a couple of wine nights.

We also went to Disneyland again and got to have a special lunch at Club 33!

In July, we went on a cabin trip with some of our friends for the 4th of July, and my friend E.K. and her family were here visiting, so we got to spend a lot of time with them.

August brought a lot of fun times with friends, including going out dancing to celebrate the birthdays of two friends.

We also went to a taco fundraiser, and celebrated Josh's dad and our friend K.W.'s birthdays.

And there were a couple of wine outings as well.

September was another busy month. I had a craft night with some friends, and we attended a friend's wedding!

We also went to Disneyland again, and celebrated our niece's birthday.

October was also very busy! We went to Disneyland in celebration of our niece's birthday and our friends K.W. and S.W. came to the Halloween party with us!

We also went to a corn maze with some friends, and I did a wine stroll with some girlfriends.

There were also a couple of fun wine nights, and our friend S.W.'s annual Halloween party!

In November, I attended a friend's adoption shower and took a trip to Colorado to see my CO bestie and her family!

We also had our second annual Friendsgiving and went wine tasting for Josh's birthday.

We also got to spend a lot of time with family for Thanksgiving and decorated for Christmas!

And so far, December has brought some fun things...including another trip to Disneyland, a couple of Christmas parties, ice skating and Star Wars (more on all of that in a future post). I'm looking forward to the other fun things we have planned!

Stay tuned for more about 2015!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Josh and I took a little trip to our happy place this month to see it decorated for Christmas!

The photographer told me to show my muscles and told Josh to act like a princess

I have now only experienced Disneyland at Christmastime three times...and each time I fall in love a little bit more. I love Christmas as it is, so to see my happy place all decorated with lots of pretty lights and garlands and trees? It's the best!

 Main Street tree in Disneyland

Buena Vista Street tree in California Adventure

The day we got there happened to be one of the days they were doing the Candelight Processional. This is something I have wanted to experience for quite a few years now. My parents took a trip to Disneyland soon after my sister got married and they were able to see it. I didn't even know it existed before then. So when I found out after we planned our trip that we would be there during the Processional, I was super excited!

For those that have never heard of it, it's a beautiful performance. They have singers from local high schools and choirs, as well as cast members from Disneyland, that perform Christmas carols on the steps of the train station on Main Street. A guest celebrity narrator is also asked to read the Christmas story...from the Bible! It was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. I was tearing up quite a few times as I looked around at the thousands of people that were hearing the story of Jesus's birth in Disneyland. It was such an incredible performance and I'm so glad we were able to get a spot to view it! The narrator for our performance was Lana Parrilla from Once Upon a Time (Regina/The Evil Queen).

Earlier that day, Josh and I walked through the new Star Wars Launch Bay to see what they had in there. It was filled with lots of really cool movie props, character meet and greets (we got to meet Chewbacca, as the line happened to only be about 5 minutes when we walked by), and a gift shop with tons of really cool (but expensive) Star Wars stuff you could buy.

The following day, we got a text in the morning that our friend S.W. was going to come join us for the day! He is an amazing photographer and happened to be in the area for a photo shoot, so he decided to come and hang out in Disneyland with us! We had a really fun day and were able to experience a lot of cool stuff, including the recently updated Star Tours and Hyperspace Mountain (a Star Wars overlay on the current Space Mountain).

The only group picture we got with S.W.

Star Wars Cantina in the Star Wars Launch Bay

The next day, we had a couple of things on our list that were very important that we do. One was to see the Aladdin Musical one last time, as they are replacing it next year with a Frozen show (don't even get me started on my feelings on that one). It's a show I've probably seen four or five times now, but it never gets old. The Genie is always hilarious, and his jokes often have to do with current events (like Justin Bieber crying at the VMAs and references to Shake It Off from Taylor Swift). I'm so glad we were able to see it again.

We also made reservations at the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, as it is closing for good for the new Star Wars Land they are building in Disneyland. Josh and I had never eaten there before, so we wanted to try it out before it was too late. And man, was it good! It's an unlimited buffet of chicken, ribs and sausage, as well as coleslaw, corn on the cob, baked beans and biscuits. We also had to order dessert, even though we barely put a dent in it. It was delicious! If you are planning a trip to Disneyland before January 11th, I highly recommend eating there!

Josh also really wanted to see the bartenders in the Carthay Circle Lounge make the ice spheres that they put in some of their drinks, as they have this fancy way of doing it, but he wasn't able to see it. He did order a drink, which came with an ice sphere, but it ended up being diamond shaped for the Diamond Celebration. It was still cool, but I suppose we will have to try and see the ice spheres another time.

We also made a point this trip to go on the train one more time, as it will be closed for over a year during the Star Wars Land construction, and we rode on Soarin' over California one last time, as it will become Soarin' over the World (or whatever they end up calling it) next year. That has been one of our absolute favorites and I really hope they add some good smells into the new version.

We were also able to see the Good Dinosaur preview, and decided on one of our nights there to see the movie in the theater in Downtown Disney. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It made me cry quite a few times, and it is a really powerful story. Josh and I both really enjoyed it.

I was also able to get some more pressed coins to add to my collection. I discovered earlier this year that they put out new machines for the 60th, so I've been trying to collect at least one coin from each of those machines. I think I am only missing one or two currently, as I forgot to stop by a couple of them on this trip. Pressed pennies used to be one of my favorite souvenirs as a kid and I've recently re-discovered my love for them. Besides, they are much cheaper than most souvenirs you will find at Disneyland.

We also found the Little Man of Disneyland's house! If you've never heard of him before, there is an old book called The Little Man of Disneyland about Patrick Begorra, a leprechaun who took up residence in a tree in a secret location in Disneyland, after finding out that Disneyland was going to be built where his current home in an orange tree was located. The imagineers of Disneyland recently "added" Patrick's house on a tree in Adventureland. If you ever want to try and find it, I suggest hanging around Indiana Jones.

We didn't go on every ride on this trip, but we did everything we really wanted to do. And since we got to do a lot of extra stuff as well, I'd say this was a very successful Christmastime Disneyland trip!

Until next time!

Twenty Fifteen Part 11

It's so hard to believe that we are less than a month from Christmas!

This month was such a good one, filled with lots of love from friends and family. It's really ranking up there with some of my best memories of this year (so far).

We started off the month with a fun dinner out with some friends. We discovered a recently opened restaurant/wine bar and wanted to try it out. The food was delicious! We had a great time with our friends.

The next day, L.B. and I went to an adoption shower for our friend C.M. She and her husband are in the process of taking in foster children that they hope to adopt. It was so nice to see them and to celebrate this new journey they're taking.

Later the following week, I headed to Colorado to spend time with our friends there! You can read more about that trip here.

A few days after I got back, we had our second annual Friendsgiving with some of our friends. We had a great night spent around a table with incredible food in front of us. I'm so thankful for the friends that we have and the ways they've continued to touch our lives this past year.

All the ladies at Friendsgiving

The following morning, I had breakfast with some girlfriends before heading to the theater to see Mockingjay Part 2. If you haven't seen it yet, bring lots of tissues. It was so good and such a great end to this amazing series. I highly recommend the books if you haven't read those either.

 Our whole group ready to see Mockingjay!

Later that day, we did Thanksgiving with my family. Since my sister and her husband were out of town for the holiday, we decided to spend it all together ahead of time. We had such a great day reflecting on our lives, as well as celebrating my mom and Josh's birthdays a little early.

The following day, we headed out to do some wine tasting after church with some friends to celebrate Josh's birthday. We went to one winery we'd never been to before, as well as a couple of our favorites, so that was a lot of fun. It was a really great day that ended with a pizza night at our place. It was really nice to celebrate my hubby with some of the people we love.

All the ladies

And all the guys

The evening before Thanksgiving, we went out to dinner for Josh's birthday with a couple of friends and then watched A Muppet Christmas Carol! It's one of our favorite Christmas movies and it's become a tradition for us to watch it each year with K.W. and S.W.

On Thanksgiving, Josh and I watched the parade and dog show in the morning. It's become a tradition for us to watch together, if we are able to. After that, we headed to Josh's parents house to spend time with his family. It was great to spend time with all three of our nieces and our nephew. Later that evening, we watched Home Alone, which is a Thanksgiving tradition for me. I remember it playing on TV every Thanksgiving when I was younger, so now I have to watch it every year on Thanksgiving.

Some cute pics my husband took of the kiddos

The following day was Josh's and my mom's birthdays! Josh and I went out later in the afternoon to see if there were any good Black Friday deals and we ended up getting almost all of our Christmas shopping done! We also stopped by a local winery and did a little wine tasting. We know some of the family that owns the winery, so we got to do a cheers with a couple of friends for Josh's birthday. Later that evening, we went out to dinner with our families to celebrate Josh's birthday. While we didn't get to go to the restaurant Josh initially wanted to go to, because they were really busy, we got to go to one of our favorite BBQ places instead and had a really great time. After that, we took our niece and Josh's oldest brother to see Mockingjay.
Also, my bestie had her new baby on Josh's and my mom's birthday!

The following day, we decorated our house for Christmas! I love getting the tree up as soon as Thanksgiving is over so we have the maximum amount of time with the house decorated. After we finished with that, we went to a Star Wars movie night with some friends. We got started late and were only able to watch the first movie (Episode 4), but it was still a really fun night.

We finished off November watching A Charlie Brown Christmas.


Some other highlights from this month:
I started reading through Harry Potter again! I was missing the series and decided I needed to re-visit it.

They started selling Rainbow Chip cake and frosting again! It's true what they say, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. It's seriously so yummy!

I got to enjoy some of my favorite Christmas candy, white chocolate peppermint M&Ms, and I had my first red cup of the season: a chai latte with eggnog added in. If you've never had either of those, I highly recommend them!

We also had other hang outs with family and friends, and we excitedly watched some of our favorite shows (The Walking Dead, anyone?).


Things God has been teaching me this month:

I think one of the biggest things this month for me has been trying to live with a mindset of thankfulness. I was thinking earlier this week about how thankful I am for the friends I have in my life that are like family. I have some incredible people that I can depend on no matter what. I also have an amazing family and am so thankful for their constant support and love. I'm thankful for my husband and his job and how hard he works to provide for us. But most of all, I'm thankful for my Savior and the fact that He loves me in spite of me. Our pastor was talking about how hard it is for us sometimes to grasp that we don't have to do works or good deeds or be a "good person" to be saved. We think we need to earn it, and all we have to do is accept Him. I'm so thankful that He loves me and wants a relationship with me, even when I'm a mess and keep making mistakes.
Being thankful shouldn't just be a Thanksgiving thing, it should be a day-to-day thing.

Well November, it was a lot of fun! Can't wait to see what December brings!