A year in review: 2012 insta-style

Hello all,

Well, today is the first day of 2013. I don't do resolutions because I think anytime's a good time to make changes in your life, so why wait a whole year? This past year has, well, it has been pretty difficult. I won't lie to ya. With Toby's new job, ministry, me being a student and working part-time it has left us stressed and down at times. Many things have happened with family, friends and just in our own personal lives that have left us speechless. But there have also been AMAZING moments where we were absolutely happy. My point is, every year that comes or goes has it's major ups and major downs...and some years have more of one than the other. But in all of that, we grow in ways we never could if it had all been sunshine and roses ya know?

This year I have had this image of Toby and I being on a ship at sea. I know, it sounds corny but hear me out. In the ship, there is a man at the helm that is taking us deeper into storms and into the wind-tossed sea. He never moves and he never speaks, he just keeps sailing further into the great tempest before us. Toby and I, oddly enough, don't run and hide but we stand on deck and get blasted by the wind and the waves. With each storm, however, we grow less afraid. We know what to expect. We are homesick and ready for the storms to cease, but we know how to weather them.We are sea-worn sailors, weary but capable, and our mysterious helmsman steers on into wild waters that test our courage. There is a poem that many of you may know by Lord Alfred Tennyson called "Ulysses" that I feel describes us. Maybe not in its entirety (because we are not old kings haha) but in how we feel now:

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are---
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Though we may be weary, we will keep pursuing. Though we have been tested, we will not fail. Though our hearts are heavy, they beat on still. This is how we enter the new year. With a warrior's heart and with a hope that whispers of good things to come. I hope all of you, no matter what kind of year it's been, can enter this time with hope and courage, ready to face the world with confidence that only God can give.

 And now, for some pictures :) 12 photos of memories for the last 12 months!

I went back to school in Januray 2012.

My cousin Meredith came and stayed with us and we had a blast! Also, a side note: this amazing coffee shop pictured
above tragically closed down not long after this and I JUST FOUND OUT. A moment of silence please.

I turned 25. Holy crap. (forgive the grainy quality of this one)

We started a family...well...a garden family that you can see here and here.
Don't get too excited yet :)

Visited my family in Dallas, TX.

Visited family in Delaware in the summer and it rocked! (Part 1, 2, and 3)

We got to play at an amazing music festival in North Carolina, on Toby's birthday!

Moved into our new and lovely apartment!

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary, and created fort bebe!

Went to the set of the hit TV show The Walking Dead that is filmed only an hour from us!

Had Thanksgiving in Texas for the first time in a few years!

And finally, we just got back from Delaware visiting Toby's family! (post to come)

Have a great 2013!

~B~