As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” A life full of ups and downs can either break us or make us... it's our choice and all about how we respond.
So I'm celebrating the year that has been, and looking forward to a new year ahead, like a fresh blank piece of paper, waiting for adventures and stories to be recorded, I know 2020 will be a good one. And as it always is with life, some of the stories written won't be the ones I planned or chose to have included, but whatever comes my way, I will chose to grow and thrive with God's help.
I want to keep a sweet heart, a spirit of adventure and have a stronger faith than ever before in the goodness and faithfulness of God. I'm so thankful for the past, but looking forward to the future!
This was the second year I used the app "1 Second a Day" and believe it or not, I actually collected another whole years worth of seconds! It's amazing when I watch through it how I can recall each day. Such a great way to catch a snippet of the year to preserve, and also realise how every moment and day in your life counts. The individual ones are stored here, and if you're game enough to watch a whole year of seconds, go here.
So here we go as I look back at some of my favourite highlights and memories from 2019...
Adventures
Our adventures this year included many roadtrips, quite a few conferences and adventures, but here are some of my favourites...
So here we go as I look back at some of my favourite highlights and memories from 2019...
Adventures
Our adventures this year included many roadtrips, quite a few conferences and adventures, but here are some of my favourites...
We had our annual family holiday which was so lovely!
We've attended a few amazing conferences this year including Life Conference in Auckland, Arise Conference in Wellington and Sistas conference in Auckland! All of these were amazing and including hanging out with some of our favourite people ever!
There were many trips to Kerikeri for our youngest braces treatment, and thankfully they came off at the end of this year!
We were spoiled enough to be able to see two stage shows at The Civic in Auckland this year... Aladdin and Les Miserable.
Renovations
This year consisted of two room renovations and 1 room redesign which was our youngest daughter's Loft Bed room renovation. We are hoping to complete most of our indoor rooms by the end of 2020 (fingers crossed!) as all we have left indoors now are a reading nook, lounge, family bathroom and hallways. Here is a quick summary of the renovations completed in 2019...
The Loft Bed room renovation consisted of a complete room design change (original room reno here) to allow our growing daughter to remain in her teeny tiny room a bit longer. We love it! For a video tour of the room, see here.
Our Ensuite Renovation was another completed space where we learned that a tiny room could indeed take forever to renovate and go way over budget thanks to hidden leaks and rotten spaces. So glad this space is complete now - we love it so much!
We fully renovated our Master Bedroom this year which was a highlight for me! I love this space so much, especially the large windows and the fact that it has an ensuite, which is not common in an old bungalow! You can watch a short video tour here.
Family
We've had some massive events happen in our family this year! Some amazing and some super hard.
One big event was our eldest son's engagement to his beautiful fiance Monique! This next year will include their wedding in April so we will be super busy over the new few months as we finalise plans for this amazing day. You can check out his cute proposal here.
One big event was our eldest son's engagement to his beautiful fiance Monique! This next year will include their wedding in April so we will be super busy over the new few months as we finalise plans for this amazing day. You can check out his cute proposal here.
This year has been a very difficult one for my mum in law. She suffered a major stroke in April which saw her in hospital for months with a long journey of recovery ahead. Despite still facing challenges, the biggest being communication difficulties, she remains positive, determined and joyful. She amazes me constantly! This year she turned 80 and I'm so proud of my mum in law! An inspirational woman for sure.
This year we celebrated my amazing Dad turning 70! My Dad has had a tough year health wise with continuing to have treatment for cancer along with jaw surgery and ear surgery! Despite all this he is an utter legend with a positive attitude and still keeping himself super busy. Love you so much Dad!
We loved seeing our kittens grow this year from teeny tiny fluff balls...
To the loveliest girls...
Had an awesome netball season...
Another highlight this year was our children's school production. Amazing!
I also took our youngest child away on our family's last Big weekend away ever! It's been so cool doing this with each of our kids. All the resources and information is linked in the blog post.
I absolutely love my crazy family!
Makings
Ever since my kids have all started school, I've noticed my creativity has gone down, I suppose due to working etc. Usually it spikes during the holidays when life slows down a bit.
Despite this lack of creativity, a few things were created throughout 2019...
And I finished a blanket! This is my Arcade Blanket (Larksfoot stitch). I've always been intrigued by the Larksfoot stitch (sometimes called the arcade stitch) and was keen to give it a go, so began a blanket with some rather bold colours. I really enjoyed this stitch but it took time, hence my blanket only being a baby blanket size!
I made dumplings for the first time this year! They were so yum!
This year saw the creation of grazing tables for 3 separate events (a total of 5 grazing tables!). Super thankful for the help of my future daughter in law and Mum!
We made a super easy Mario Kart cake for my son's 18th! Massive thanks to Monique for her legendary cake decorating skills.
And Monique shared her recipe for Peppermint White Hot Chocolate on the blog.
Celebrations
There were many celebrations this year including big birthdays (18th, 45th, 70th and 80th!) as well as engagements and special events.
Some big events for the year also included our church (Renew Church NZ) planning to plant a church in Scotland! Some excited for this new adventure, starting in the city of Kilmarnock early 2020!
Some big events for the year also included our church (Renew Church NZ) planning to plant a church in Scotland! Some excited for this new adventure, starting in the city of Kilmarnock early 2020!
We kicked off The Party this year at our church - a monthly youth service which was so fun! Check out a snippet here.
As usual, there was a lot of dressing up and shenanigans...
We took part in the first ever A21 Walk for Freedom in Whangarei! Around 100 people gathered to walk through the town Centre to raise awareness of human trafficking in the 21st century. Check out A21 for more info here.
And we had a great Christmas together.
Other super important achievements were had, like teaching my Nan how to dab so she could suit her number plate...
And joining the gym! Note: only 2 of these people still regularly attend...
I shared some thoughts about using what's in your hand, What a year. Next year sees our youngest daughter entering high-school (farewell primary aged kids!) our second eldest son starting a Bachelor in Nursing and our eldest getting married as well as a lot of other exciting things planned!!
Happy New Year to you all and may your 2020 be one of adventure, growth and joy! Xkristy
To check out past Year in Review posts, click here.
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