If you had told me last year at this time what this year had in store, I may have curled up in a ball and cried...that may or may not have happened a few times this past year anyway...
You know the old saying "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans?"
I have, but still find myself telling Him my plans.
My plan for 2015:
Live rent free until October
Buy a house
Stephen get full time at The Summit
Have a baby
God's plan for 2015:
Three different homes for us (still renting)
House>Apartment>Morganton
Three new jobs between the two of us
Summit (just not The Summit I had planned), West Middle, and Liberty Middle
I didn't even really process the craziness of this year until the past month or so as I began to reflect on 2015, but man what a crazy year! I'm not one to wish time away, but I'm welcoming 2016 with open arms. I have no clue what 2016 holds and I've learned to hold my plans with an open hand, but maybe we can settle down a little bit...maybe?
I still set goals for the year and considering all that happened this year, I'm happy with what we did get done and am accepting a lot of grace for what didn't get done!
A Recap on my 2015 Goals:
Set monthly goals
As I've gotten better at this goal setting thing, I wanted to start setting monthly goals this year.
That didn't happen.
Carolina Balloon Festival
The past few years, I've seen friends posting really cool pictures at these Hot Air Balloon Festivals. So I added that to our list this year and am so glad they came to Raleigh!
Daily Bible reading focusing on God's promises
I started the year wanting to read through the Bible, specifically looking for and highlighting the promises of God. I did this for the first few months of the year and then switched to other reading plans.
More focus on praying (specifically for Stephen)
This ties in with the next goal. I've found if I'm not journaling, I either get distracted or fall asleep when praying. Part of accomplishing this goal is reading Prayer by Tim Keller. I'm still working on that, but feel like I've improved with my prayer life.
Work up to journaling 3x/week
I went from not journaling to at least writing scripture and usually journaling some too every day. Looking back over my life, whenever life gets tough, I get better at journaling. I'm hoping to continue this habit even as life (hopefully) settles down for us.
Memorize one scripture/month
I did really well with this last December and have relied on those scriptures a lot this year, but haven't really added any new ones.
Paint Class
This was so much fun I did it twice!
Runner's diet
I did one at the beginning of the year. After moving and getting really slack with such a crazy end to our year, I need to do a month long one. :)
Keep reading
I did really well with reading the first half of the year, but then got slack (seems to be a pattern with 2015) when all of our transitions started...see my reading list below for the 2015 reading recap.
Sky Top Orchard
Along with the Hot Air Balloon Festival, each fall I've noticed friends posting fun pictures at apple orchards. The main one I saw was Sky Top, which is in Charlotte (I think). Lucky for us, Morganton has their own orchard. We had a blast!
Camping
We didn't officially go camping, but I'm kind of counting HALO as camping. Although, I think an actual camping trip would have been a lot more fun!
Keep skipping fast food 1 week each month
I did continue this until summer hit. I tried to continue keeping up with it, but we were eating out so much, I just gave up. Once we got settled here, I got back on track and then slacked some more here at the end of the year. In 2016 this will pick back up!
Keep running 3x/wk
My running was hit or miss this year. Again, I started out strong, had no time to run in our crazy time of transition, got back to running, then winter and rain happened. I did run in two races though and plan on training for a 10k in March.
My 2015 Book List:
Orphan Train by Christian Baker KlineSO good!
New York to Dallas by JD Robb
Intense. Action packed. Had to take "commercial" breaks. It was like reading an episode of criminal minds.
Undetected by Dee Henderson
Too many submarine details and not enough love story to get me hooked. I'm learning to put books down instead of dragging out long periods of no reading.
Child of Mine by David & Beverly Lewis
Surprisingly good. This is an Amish Christian book so I was a little hesitant about reading it; I feel like they tend to be super cheesy and not always well written. I did think it was predictable, but was surprised it ended up being very well written...I even cried.
A Moment in Time by Tracie Peterson
This one was a little cheesy. It was a cute love story, but wasn't the best writing.
The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken
So good! Highly recommend.
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
This is about the holocaust. Jodi is one of my favorite authors so I really enjoyed it. Very interesting read.
The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Depressing
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Quick easy read. Sweet. Balled my eyes out. Reminds you there is good in the world and hope for broken homes and broken children.
Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Really good!
Paper Towns by John Green
I decided to read it after seeing the movie trailer. Easy, predictable read. I kind of hope the movie is better than the book for once. (Didn't really care for either the book or movie)
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I had this on my list this year because it was one of my classics I didn't get to when I was re-reading them last year. It was good. I didn't finish though because I remembered it pretty well so I got uninterested.
The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley
Sad. Several intense plot twists. Quick read. Definitely sucks you in.
Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah
Good! First time in a long time I remember not being able to wait to get home and read. Typical chick flick in book form.
Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah
I was suffering from a book hang over from Magic Hour. I wasn't super impressed at first. Surprisingly though I ended up liking it. Possible spoiler alert: happy endings always make for a good story!
Reckless Magic by Rachel Higginson
This was better than I expected. I started it and didn't like it, but enjoyed it when I restarted. It's a fantasy book, but not to the point of sci-fi. It stayed within my willing suspension of disbelief.
The Heir by Kiera Cass
This is the fourth in this series and I thought the last one, but it left me hanging again. Still pretty good.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Pretty good. Good plot twists. Once I thought I had it figured out, my guess would be blurred. This is the first in a series and I'm excited for the next one to come out.
Life on Mission by Dustin Willis & Aaron Coe
This was the book we studied with our small group. Good reminders to live everyday on mission. Mission doesn't mean having to go somewhere. Being on mission is a command everyday all day.
Once our year got crazy, I had a hard time finding time to read or really being interested in reading. I tried to get back into it a few times, but haven't done such a good job.
I started Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh twice, but never could bring myself to finish it even though it came highly recommended.
I also started Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I was told it was similar to Divergent and Hunger Games. It was, but on a much lower level quality wise, I feel like. Part of the problem is the edition I got could only be downloaded on a computer. I'm still old school and prefer a paper copy. I'm getting better with the Kindle, but reading on a computer screen doesn't work for me. I got really bored with it and never finished it.
To Kill a Mockingbird is my all time favorite so I was excited to get Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, which is kind of a sequel to it, but I couldn't get into it. I found myself reading words, not really comprehending the story. So, I put it down.
I'm still reading Prayer by Tim Keller, but he is not an author you can just sit down and read. It takes time and concentration to soak up all he writes. It will take me a while to get through this one, but it's good stuff so far!
Have I read storyteller?
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