2019 in Review (+My Top 10 Blog Posts and my Top 6 Books of the Year)
It's time for a recap of all things 2019! It was quite a year of change for our family.
1. In March we bought my brother's house, becoming homeowners again for the first time in 6 years!
2. Shortly thereafter, I started watching my niece, Ruby, twice a week.
3. Levi moved into a big boy bed with no prompting from me.
And that was the beginning of his wretched sleeping habits. 😭
4. Justin and his dad added a bedroom and completely gutted/remade the bathroom in the basement.
5. My sister put in the biggest and best in-ground pool you can imagine, and we spent most of the summer there. Lena and Levi also taught themselves how to swim this year!
6. I accidentally signed up for a year's membership of Instacart, and it has saved my life.
7. I joined the VBS committee at church and named myself "Craft Coordinator" - a job that perfectly complemented my skill set (if I do say so myself #humble). It was one of my most enjoyable VBS experiences to date.
8. Despite all the good in my life, I continued to battle through depression - days of lethargy and rage and weepiness (usually not all at once - haha). I upped my meds significantly in September, and while the increase has helped, I still bear some guilt for being on a such a high dose, and I definitely bear more weight than I did at this time last year. 🤦
9. Lena and Levi ran their first "1k" race, and did better than I expected. Lena was the first girl across the finish line!
10. We lost Levi's last Binky and unwittingly gave it up cold turkey.
11. I went to counseling for my depression, and enjoyed it, but couldn't afford to continue. 🙁
12. I bought my fancy new phone and started inundating you all with the amazing pictures it takes. (Pixel 2)
13. We were able to borrow a camper for camping, and it made the whole experience immeasurably more enjoyable!
14. My depression reached new heights (or would it be depths?) as we started our second year of homeschooling. I agonized over what to do, and we ultimately decided to send the girls back to ACS. It's been very challenging financially, but very rewarding in every other way.
15. After a traumatic first experience on a bike, Lucy finally got back on the proverbial horse and overcame her fear this summer to finally learn how to ride!
16. My van, Trusty Ol' Rusty, became significantly less trustworthy and I got a "new" one:
17. Almost every member of my family moved this year. Luke and Esther moved twice, Libby moved, my nephew Tyler and his wife Rieley moved, my nephew Tristan and his girlfriend Brandy moved, and my parents moved after 35 years in their house. The only members of my immediately family that didn't move were Mike, Niki, and Tayton!
18. Levi got his first x-ray after hurting his foot jumping off the couch. It wasn't broken, but I'm calling it sprained because he wouldn't put weight on it for a solid week, and babied it for another week after that!
19. I read all of Harry Potter! It took 5 months, and a bit of a bad attitude, but I did like it in the end.
20. I ended up surpassing my reading goal of 75 books and finished the year with 79.
These were the books I gave 5 stars to this year, in the order that I read them:
Flat Out Love by Jessica Park (*content warning* This is not a Christian book, and I read it so long ago that I don't remember how inappropriate it is. I just really liked the story.)
Sweet on You by Becky Wade (My girl Becky never disappoints.)
How the Light Gets In by Jolina Petersheim (This book blew my mind.)
Daughters of Northern Shores by Joanne Bischof (Second in a series. They need to be read in order. Both so worth it.)
A Twist of Faith by Pepper Basham (This was a re-read, but just as good the second time around!)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Yeah, yeah, HP made it in my top 6 for the year. Too bad it took til the last book!)
And these were my top 10 entries from 2019.
10. On depression and sending the girls back to ACS (184 views)
9. Homeschool update, lots of randomness (186 views)
8. Insta vs. Instant Pot debate, heart condition update, Clifton's Strengthsfinder test results (192 views)
7. New year's resolutions, reveal of plan to buy Luke's house (193 views)
6. Physical therapy, school on fire, Lucy's field trip (195 views)
5. Lena's psychotic meltdown at school, Mom and Dad officially listed their house (199 views)
4. Despair over what to do about school (204 views)
3. Family photos sneak peek, first day of homeschool, pics of Levi's new room (208 views)
2. New house update (210 views)
1. The house that built me (246 views)
Stay tuned tomorrow for an update on my resolutions for 2019 and goals for 2020! Thanks for your love and interaction with this silly blog over the past year!
1. In March we bought my brother's house, becoming homeowners again for the first time in 6 years!
2. Shortly thereafter, I started watching my niece, Ruby, twice a week.
3. Levi moved into a big boy bed with no prompting from me.
And that was the beginning of his wretched sleeping habits. 😭
4. Justin and his dad added a bedroom and completely gutted/remade the bathroom in the basement.
5. My sister put in the biggest and best in-ground pool you can imagine, and we spent most of the summer there. Lena and Levi also taught themselves how to swim this year!
6. I accidentally signed up for a year's membership of Instacart, and it has saved my life.
7. I joined the VBS committee at church and named myself "Craft Coordinator" - a job that perfectly complemented my skill set (if I do say so myself #humble). It was one of my most enjoyable VBS experiences to date.
8. Despite all the good in my life, I continued to battle through depression - days of lethargy and rage and weepiness (usually not all at once - haha). I upped my meds significantly in September, and while the increase has helped, I still bear some guilt for being on a such a high dose, and I definitely bear more weight than I did at this time last year. 🤦
9. Lena and Levi ran their first "1k" race, and did better than I expected. Lena was the first girl across the finish line!
10. We lost Levi's last Binky and unwittingly gave it up cold turkey.
11. I went to counseling for my depression, and enjoyed it, but couldn't afford to continue. 🙁
12. I bought my fancy new phone and started inundating you all with the amazing pictures it takes. (Pixel 2)
13. We were able to borrow a camper for camping, and it made the whole experience immeasurably more enjoyable!
14. My depression reached new heights (or would it be depths?) as we started our second year of homeschooling. I agonized over what to do, and we ultimately decided to send the girls back to ACS. It's been very challenging financially, but very rewarding in every other way.
16. My van, Trusty Ol' Rusty, became significantly less trustworthy and I got a "new" one:
17. Almost every member of my family moved this year. Luke and Esther moved twice, Libby moved, my nephew Tyler and his wife Rieley moved, my nephew Tristan and his girlfriend Brandy moved, and my parents moved after 35 years in their house. The only members of my immediately family that didn't move were Mike, Niki, and Tayton!
18. Levi got his first x-ray after hurting his foot jumping off the couch. It wasn't broken, but I'm calling it sprained because he wouldn't put weight on it for a solid week, and babied it for another week after that!
19. I read all of Harry Potter! It took 5 months, and a bit of a bad attitude, but I did like it in the end.
20. I ended up surpassing my reading goal of 75 books and finished the year with 79.
These were the books I gave 5 stars to this year, in the order that I read them:
Flat Out Love by Jessica Park (*content warning* This is not a Christian book, and I read it so long ago that I don't remember how inappropriate it is. I just really liked the story.)
Sweet on You by Becky Wade (My girl Becky never disappoints.)
How the Light Gets In by Jolina Petersheim (This book blew my mind.)
Daughters of Northern Shores by Joanne Bischof (Second in a series. They need to be read in order. Both so worth it.)
A Twist of Faith by Pepper Basham (This was a re-read, but just as good the second time around!)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Yeah, yeah, HP made it in my top 6 for the year. Too bad it took til the last book!)
And these were my top 10 entries from 2019.
10. On depression and sending the girls back to ACS (184 views)
9. Homeschool update, lots of randomness (186 views)
8. Insta vs. Instant Pot debate, heart condition update, Clifton's Strengthsfinder test results (192 views)
7. New year's resolutions, reveal of plan to buy Luke's house (193 views)
6. Physical therapy, school on fire, Lucy's field trip (195 views)
5. Lena's psychotic meltdown at school, Mom and Dad officially listed their house (199 views)
4. Despair over what to do about school (204 views)
3. Family photos sneak peek, first day of homeschool, pics of Levi's new room (208 views)
2. New house update (210 views)
1. The house that built me (246 views)
Stay tuned tomorrow for an update on my resolutions for 2019 and goals for 2020! Thanks for your love and interaction with this silly blog over the past year!
I'm screenshooting your books recommendations. You'd probably like YA author Jay Asher and maybe Kasie West
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