2023 Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2022 that you’d never done before? Ben and I went on an anniversary cruise to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We also brought home little Miss. It's a lot of fun parenting a little girl and getting to do all of the little girl things!

2. Did you keep your New Years resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I always resolve to try and eat healthier and exercise more. Those have been my "resolutions" for a long time. This time, I really want to spend more time outside and focus more on hobbies.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No babies this year!

4. Did anyone close to you die? No deaths, either.

5. What countries did you visit? Bahamas, Curacao, and Aruba.

6. What would you like to have in 2024 that you lacked in 2024? More hobbies and more downtime.

7. What from 2023 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Holding our girl for the first time. She was placed in foster care at 4 months old and we'd been having video calls with her for months. Finally holding her sweet 2-year-old self in our arms was so special. 

8. What was your biggest contribution of the year? Working toward bringing A home and helping Luke figure out the next chapter of his life. 

9. What was your biggest failure? Keeping up with friends. We were wayyyy to busy there for a while. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nope!

11. What was the best thing you bought? My blue light blocking glasses.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Luke moved back home, settled down a lot, and is now enrolled in welding classes for the coming semester. I'm really proud of him.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My sisters. There's drug addiction and mental health issues so I know that clouds her thinking, but it's hard to see her doing nothing to get healthy while making it difficult for anyone else to parent her child. The person who takes the brunt of it is little Miss.

14. Where did most of your money go? Health. I worked with 2 different practitioners to try and help get my health on track. Plus all of the supplements....


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? We took our annual family vacation to the NE and knocked out 9 states. There were so many great memories made and amazing things we experienced. It was a great trip.

16. What song will always remind you of 2022? Baby Shark. Sung at full volume and with hand gestures.


17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier
ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter
iii. richer or poorer? Richer


18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Hiking and getting outdoors in general. Hobbies. Friends.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Fretting about other people's happiness when it's their job to make and keep themselves happy.


20. How will you be spending the Winter? Taking care of a toddler.


22. Did you fall in love in 2023? Nope, same loves as always.

23. What was your favorite month of 2023? May when we took our trip.

24. What was your favorite TV program? Gabe started watching Dr. Who and before we knew it, the rest of us started watching, too. Luke went through a Dr. Who phase so some episodes were familiar, but it was still a lot of fun. I also have to admit that I LOVE Bluey! Another enjoyable show was The Gilded Age.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope. Not a hater, such a waste of time.


26. What was the best book you read? I didn't read a ton this year. Just no time. I did enjoy Jill Dugger Vuolo's book, Becoming Free Indeed. It was so refreshing to read about someone who reconstructed their faith to be more faithful to Scripture instead of just deconstructing and abandoning faith altogether.


27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Gabe is really into the Dreadnaughts. It's very fun and lively music. Ben introduced me to Josh Garrels. I really like his music. Frosty the Snowman by First to Eleven was a blessing since we had to listen to that song 1 million times.

28. What did you want and get? For a hot minute, we thought little miss wasn't going to be with us in time for the holidays. We were so sad and frustrated. Thankfully, things were righted and she was able to come home in October. 

29. What was your favorite film of this year? The whole family enjoyed Into the Spiderverse. 

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 43.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Having a hobby that I enjoy and that I'm not terrible at.


32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023? Terrible. I continue to gain weight which makes me hesitant to spend money on nice clothes. 

33. What kept you sane? Supportive friends and family. Chelsea and her family moved back this summer and have been a God-send.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I really, really don't care about celebrities anymore. It's all such a joke. 


35. What political issue stirred you the most? I'm glad to see positive changes in first-amendment rights.

36. Who did you miss? We snuck in a Summer trip to see Paul and Amanda, but we didn't get to see them in December. I was really looking forward to that and was bummed it didn't work out. 

37. Who was the best new person you met? We briefly joined a Bible study group at church and we really appreciate everyone there. Great group of people! Also, we spent a week in WA with the foster mom, grandmom, and foster sister and they are all such precious people.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023: God is in control and he's working behind the scenes.

39. Best quote of the year?