2014: A Year in Review

As I look back on 2014 the word that comes to mind is GROWTH.

2014 stretched me.  It turned my insides out and upside down and all around.  It made me very uncomfortable.  And while i'm extremely excited to close the chapter of my life that was 2014, I look back with only fond memories.  

For my sake, I share with you 2014: A Year in Review

January:

We started off the year painting our whole downstairs.  The dark wall that made me feel like I was living in a black hole was replaced by a lovely grey blue.  My downstairs is finally a space that I really enjoy spending time in.  There are still minor changes I would love to make (namely a new lamp, a nice basket for my blankets in the corner, and curtains for my sliding glass door), but overall I am very pleased with my decisions in decorating.  That is a huge statement, because if you know me at all, you know that I have the worst Buyer's Remorse and have a terrible time making decisions.

Mom and Sydnee stayed with us for Syd's soccer tournament.  We so enjoyed cheering her on!  It's always such a pleasure to have family and friends stay with us.

We couldn't get enough of the Olympics.  We had it on day and night.  Sawyer loved chanting USA...USA...USA!

February:

Sawyer and I frosted some mean sugar cookies.  And my boy was thrilled to use a knife for the first time.  With parental supervision of course.

March:

The Anderson Family Vacation at Oceanside!  Sawyer and I went to spend a week in Oceanside.  We got to visit Mickey and Minnie at Disneyland for 2 days, spend time soaking in some rays at the beach, say hello to all the animals at San Diego Zoo, see old friends, make spontaneous ice cream runs, and truly just enjoy making memories with the Anderson clan.  The only thing that would have made that vacation complete, would have been if Dixon was there to enjoy it with us.

April:

A quick trip to San Diego with Bompie, Gam, Alyssa, and Hannah to see the Giants and Padres play.  Sawyer and I enjoyed a hefty amount of peanuts and enjoyed the salty beachy air.  We also made a stop at the San Diego temple for Sawyer's first time.

May:

Dixon and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary.  We treated ourselves to a fancy schmancy dinner at Honey Salt where we were introduced to a peach filled with marscepone cheese and drizzled with honey all grilled on a wood plank... Holy Yum.  6 whole years I've been married to that man.  I love him more today than ever before.  It's been a very wild ride. 

June:

Elder Yase came home from England!!!!  We were so excited to give him some lovin.  We ventured on up to Utah to support my siblings in Savior of the World.  It brought so many memories of friendship and love that I felt as I performed in that show almost 10 years ago.  

July:

I worked up the courage and put in my resignation with the company that I had been working at for the past 5 years.  It was very  bittersweet to leave.  Heavenly Father heard our prayers though, and the day after I put in my notice of resignation, I found a job that suits our family much better.  Tender Mercies.  I got called to be the Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward.  My initial reaction was sheer terror, but I have since embraced my calling and dare I say, have enjoyed it?! We enjoyed cheering on USA in the world cup.  And when the US weren't playing we enjoyed cheering for Brazil.  We loved having Lyndee and her boyfriend come visit us during July.  Is it obvious yet that we love having family and friends come to visit?!

August:

Our family spent a whole week at Oceanside with the Leavitt family.  We visited Mickey and Minnie again at Disneyland!  Sawyer loved catching up with his second cousin Reese.  They are three months apart and played in the sand from sunup to sundown.  It was so much fun to have the Runyon family with us this year.  We celebrated my 25 birthday.  So many mixed emotions about that.

Sawyer and I flew to Utah.  This was Sawyer's first flight in over two years.  The boy was happy as a clam to sit in his own seat and watch Space Jam on the iPad while sipping on a sprite.  

September:

Sawyer started his first year in preschool.  He has loved making so many new friends and looks forward to going to school every Tuesday and Thursday for two hours.  It has been weird having that extra time on my hands.  My house has been a little bit cleaner!

(sadly my pictures won't upload for the last 3 months of the year.  Hopefully I will be able to update with those at another time!)

October:

We celebrated the Giants winning the World Series!!

Mom and Sydnee came to visit again... this time they got to spend Halloween with us!  Sawyer dressed up as "Debron James" this year.  That boy and his basketball, true love right there.  Dixon got called to serve as the 2nd counselor in our bishopric.  I never thought at the age of 25 that I would have a husband in the bishopric!  He is doing a fantastic job and our home has already been very blessed because of his calling.

November:

Sawyer and I got to spend 10 whole days in Utah.  I haven't spent that amount of time in Utah since before I was married.  It was splendid.  Dixon joined us for Thanksgiving at Grandma Kathy's.  This was the first Thanksgiving we spent with the Anderson family in over 5 years.  Sawyer's first Thanksgiving with the Anderson family.

December:

Sawyer turned 4... we have a 4 year old!!!  He had a little friend pancake birthday party.

We celebrated Christmas with the Leavitts this year and enjoyed having Chase home for Christmas.  This month we found out that we will be welcoming three new siblings to our extended family.  Lyndee will be getting married in May, Chase will be getting married in May, and Jessica will be getting married in June.  We are so excited to have more siblings and are gearing up for a busy spring/summer.

Other hi-lights from the year include:  

The Rob Ford Face:

We became members of the YMCA and I have really enjoyed doing Body Combat and Body Pump classes.  It's fun to challenge my body and mind!  We have enjoyed using the pools there and playing on their basketball courts.  We have been going to a lot of Rebel games and Sawyer's love for basketball has grown 10 fold.  We loved having a little cousin this year and have spent many hours on Facetime soaking him up.  Sawyer has learned to write his name and signs all of his works of art.  I have had a hard time narrowing down what works of art to keep and what works of art to get rid of.  I spent most of my spring, summer, and fall going through extensive hormone therapy.  This body of mine can't seem to figure itself out.  We have doctors a little confused as well.  I am healthy as a horse, just can't seem to make my body work right.  We are grateful for my health and proceed forward with grateful hearts for our little family.  

A little blurb about resolutions for 2015:

This year I would like to focus on one word for my resolution.  The word this year that i want to focus on is Shine.  I want to let go.  I want to forgive.  I want to move forward.  I want to be brave.  I want to challenge myself.  I want to be kind.  I want to be thoughtful. 

Simply put: I want to Shine.      

Cheers to putting my best foot forward and shining this year.

(PS to those that are extremely observant, this post says it's published by Dixon... Psych!! It's definately published by me... Shaylee).