happy 2015!
can't believe 2014 flew by and we are already in the new year!
here's a quick and photo-filled review of our 2014.
this year was marked by our love for trader joes (again) and replacing most of our shopping with smaller, neighborhood-type markets like fresh and easy, sprouts, trader joes.
a lot of coffee was consumed (mostly by me.) and my love for small cafes and latte art grew even more! no surprises here.
eugene and I grew a big love for games! we currently love ticket to ride, sequence, pandemic and avalon. much of this love for games was fostered by one of our fave couples - the oquindos! <3
i finally got a cast iron skillet! i had initially been saving up for a really nice one - but scored a more inexpensive one at target for almost 80%! it's definitely not as high-quality, but it does its job and i've had so much fun making chicken roasts, pizzas, steaks, etc. (above is our dutch baby - my 1st try! and a breakfast pizza i made for eugene)
i made four trips to norcal this year. three of them were on my own during eugene's final's seasons and one trip was with eugene for bryan and carson's wedding. every trip was filled with lots of time with the choi's (my fave!), good eats and philz...of course!
in April, I challenged myself to #30daysofsalad. I made it a goal to eat a salad for a meal at least once a day. it was surprisingly a lot harder than I though but I learned a lot of good things during that month. I learned that you can practically get a salad-version of anything almost anywhere and that making healthier choices is a deliberate and intentional commitment you have to make every day!
**NOTE: NO BABY INSIDE.** that's just my bladder. lol
this year we had a few pregnancy "suspicions" (not scares!) i missed my menstrual cycle a lot this year (for 3-4 months at time sometimes!) and had a lot of negative pregnancy tests which led us to a 2-month process of blood draws, ultrasounds and OB appointments to make sure everything was okay. we found out i was not pregnant and that (thankfully!) nothing was wrong. learned a lot about trusting God and His perfect will for our lives and our family. it was a daunting process but thankful for God's grace and for good health. (ptL!)
this was a year of major meal planning!
eugene and I are a total to-go couple right now. we rarely eat sitting down at home and we're constantly having to go out (to work, church-related functions for me and school/work for him). therefore, this meal-planning-slash-putting-everything-in-tupperware is our life right now.
eugene and I went on a cruise during the summer before he started his 3rd year and basically slept the entire trip. we also took advantage of the "free", 24-hour room service. it was amazing!
eugene and I celebrated our 3 years of marriage.
i wrote about some of the lessons i learned in my short 3-years of marriage and was so nervous about posting it publicly - but was so thankful and humbled by the response of all of my friends/fellow-wives who reminded me that we are never running this race alone and that there is beauty and grace in all things.
our love for whole foods + super foods!
this year we really learned to love eating more "whole" and eating better. of course it is not all the time -- but we're hoping 2015 will be a healthier year for us overall. we've definitely grown a love for carb-replacements like spagetti squash and have tried incorporating high-energy, super-food snacks into our daily routine.
one perk of living in downey is that i live closer to where are parents live/work. this means that I get to spend a lot of good, casual, quality-time with both sides of our family. these impromtu lunch dates are everything to me right now.
i am blessed.
as always - this year was filled with a lot of trips to starbucks.
most of my starbucks trips are early in the morning before I head to work. every year I learn more and more of how important and precious God's Word is. praying this new year will be filled with much more of His life-transforming, mind-renewing, heart-evaluating Word!
many of trips to portos were had this year. and dozens of pastries were given as gifts.
definitely another perk of living in downey!
I had a CT done this year! of my head. for my teeth.
this was for my wisdom tooth extraction and I had the best experience possible. this is only noted in our 2014 year review because of 2 things I learned/confirmed about my teeth this year. one - i still have a baby tooth and two - i have a bud/seed of a tooth that never came to be sitting deep in my upper gums. my mouth is weird.
I've learned a lot during my time as a hospice nurse. It's been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done and it's a very unique and special experience to be invited into the lives of people who know they are dying. i've grown to appreciate starbucks drive thru's, my spotify playlist and travel-size hand sanitizers.
i've been blessed to have spent a lot of time with my co-workers this year. they are a huge, huge, huge blessing in my life and they make my time at work so much fun!
looking back, i cooked A LOT this year.
mainly comfort foods and/or foods that we were craving. here is a peek into some of my faves from my culinary adventures this year: oxtail pho // shrimp + veggie spring rolls // miso ramen // galbitang // chicken pho // hainan chicken (from last december!)
i fell in love with calligraphy and paint this year.
there's no explaining it. i don't know how and why. but i love it and it is my fave!
this year was not majorly eventful to say the least - but a lot of life was lived and a lot of lessons were learned. we've grown to love downey as our home for the second year and eugene finished his halfway mark through the pharmacy school journey. even though there were no real major "events" that took place (i.e. moving, having a baby, etc), we both agreed that this year taught us much about trusting in God and finding joy in every little thing. i'm continuing to learn how important it is to treasure all the little moments and seeing the tremendous significance in what God is doing every day. here is one of my favorite quotes that embodies what my joy and hope is for the new year:
the character of a life is not set in 2 or 3 dramatic moments, but in 10,000 little moments. the character that is formed in those little moments shape how we respond to the big moments of life and what makes all of this character change possible? relentless, transforming, little-moment grace. so we wake up each day, commited to live in the small moments of our daily lives with open eyes and humble, expectant hearts.
// paul tripp //
happy new year, sweet friends.
xoxo
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