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!
