best of 2013.

2013.  what a ride you were.  i can honestly say you held some of the best & worst moments.  you were challenging and frustrating and trying and honest.  and yet, at the same time, you were surprising, full of new experiences, love, magic and most of all, growth.

i didn't document much this year- and that's okay.  i lived.  i embraced.  i forgave.  i moved.  i learned.  sometimes without even knowing it, i did what i needed to do.  and in the end, it made this past year perfect.

so adios 2013.  i know this next year will hold much wonder and joy- and for that, i'm thrilled.

our january via instagram.

as i'm sure i've said it a thousand times, one of the things i love most about instagram, is the collection of everyday photos i accumulate over the course of a day, week, month & year.  the ease of this fabulous social media outlet has promised a very cool way to capture all the little moments that tend to sneak by with little notice.

as mentioned, yesterday, january for us was the last 500 meters of our 2k sprint (crew reference anyone?).  it was a month of new firsts, a month of frustration and a month of celebrating life.  we started the year in big bear, spent a ton of family time together, found a place to call home, explored san diego via plane, boat and on foot.  we both spent the better part of the month getting things figured out job-wise.  soon, we had our careers lined up ready to take the next steps.  much to my dismay, my job fell through so i picked up a part-time gig until i could find something a bit more permanent.

as exhausting as a month might seem, these photo recaps are the perfect insight as too how good life is.  when i'm overwhelmed, frustrated or otherwise feeling down, i look at these pictures.  they remind me that despite what i might think at that moment, the culmination of our daily events and everyday moments create magic.  and that, is what makes life so very beautiful.

best of 2012 v2.

and here's part two of the 2012 roundup.  like i mentioned earlier, i had way too many pictures so i broke this up into two posts.

i can't thank you enough for coming back day after day, to read this little blog.  i've had so much fun capturing our adventures over the past two years, and can't wait to continue to share these stories with you.  throughout all the changes in my life, blogging has surprisingly remained my constant.  there are some days when i struggle to find something to say and some weeks where i have so much to write i can't seem to share it all.

one of my 2013 goals is to learn html & revamp this space.  i'm not sure how long this will take or when it will be, but i'm excited to see how this blog changes over the year.  once again, i can't thank you enough for all your support & love- because without you, this space wouldn't be the same.

i hope you have a wonderfully spectacular time ringing in 2012.  happy new year to you & yours!!

cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. - oprah winfrey

best of 2012 v1.

i love this time of year.  the time when you can sit back, revisit hundreds of pictures, memories & stories and recollect everything we managed to squeeze into 365 days.  every year i try to change up my yearly recap (here's 2011 and 2010) and this year was so special to pull together because it was a year entirely spent with one another.  no deployments, no two to three month long training exercises...just us, together all the time.

throughout 2012, we experienced so much adventure & learned so much about cooking, knitting, gardening, and home diy projects.  we were so lucky to fill our days with so many wonderful things.  this year also proved to have it's challenges.  leaving our home and our sweet, sweet friends was obviously one of the the largest challenges we faced.  we also had surgeries and the fun task of finding new jobs.  but at is with so many ups and downs, so much good comes from change.

here we are getting ready to ring in a new year and as we reminisce on days past, we can't help but think about what lies ahead.  for us, we really feel as though 2013 will start with a true, blank slate.  new jobs and a new home, new projects, volunteer opportunities and new community activities to become involved with.  i'm so excited about this year & can't wait to see what's in store for us.

in addition to this post, i'll be sharing another similar post with a few more of my favorites 2012 memories later today.  i had so many pictures, i had a hard time figuring out when to stop.  so, just a heads up!