A look over my shoulder…

So like most anyone, the change of a year is a time to ponder over the events of the past year and then look ahead with sweet anticipation to the year to come.  So why don’t we do that…

 

2011

• Having received a jewelry making kit for Christmas, I started the year making all sorts of fancy jewelry.  I still enjoy it.
• In January I went snowshoeing for the very first time!  I was so excited.  I cannot wait to go again!  This time I have my very own snowshoes… if we ever get any snow.
• We visited Cincinnati in January too.  We visited family.  As much as I’d like to count it a joy to be there, our purpose there was sad.  We bid Keith’s Grandma Vulhop goodbye. 
• We did some geocaching in the freezing cold!  It was grand!  We found our very first Nano cache. 
• February brought on more hikes, some with Keith and some with my gal pals. 
• Hiked Wyggeston Trail with the girls.  Some guy lost his beagle.  I wonder if he ever found it? 
• Set a 200 mile hiking challenge with my girlfriends.  Started out hard and heavy.  Finished under the mark.  There is always next year. 
• In March I was hot and heavy into the coupon game.  Picked up 9 tubes of Crest toothpaste for $3 and gifted it to a friend.  I stock piled cereal and cleaning products. 
• April brought the arrival of my precious Kitler… aka Lovey.  She’s such a fun kitten!
• April was also a time for horseback riding, hiking, and geocaching.
• We went to opening day for the Pirates.  It was FANTASTIC!!!  We had awesome seats and enjoyed the entire day together.  Keith is quite the autograph hound!  AND… the weather was PERFECT!
• In May we hiked some of the North Country Trail (among other trails). 
• We also celebrated Keith’s birthday.
• There was the Gettysburg trip for my work conference.  We had a great time and I’m so glad Keith was able to tag along!
• We went fishing with the Zombecks at Lake Arthur and I caught a big catfish!  Awesome!
• June was filled with more baseball, more hiking, more geocaching.
• July was hopping!  We found new places to hike and new places to fish.  We vacations with the Zombecks to Kalahari and then the Toledo Zoo… very fun!  We had a caricature done at the zoo. 
• We found a new restaurant La Vite’ at Narcisi Winery.  LOVED IT!
• Went on a really cool daytrip to West Virginia.  HOOFED it up some BIG hills… mountainous! 
• In August we went canoeing and I actually liked it!
• My cousin Ellen got married and moved to Butler!
• Then came our annual vacation week the same as our wedding anniversary.  It rocked!!!!  It was mostly hiking and geocaching.  We planted a travel bug in honor of our anniversary and tasked it with visiting all the coolest honeymoon destinations in the world!  How fun!  We also earned some merits for geocaching.  Challenging and FUN!
• October brought with it seasonal beauty, prime-time for hiking and geocaching! 
• We adopted a soldier via Adoptaplatoon.  We were so excited to start sending care packages.  Not long after we began, we got the word that he was coming home.  Now we have a new soldier we are supporting. 
• Novembers hikes took us to see a waterfall.  Who knew it was so close by?  I also hiked McConnell’s Mill with friends the day after Thanksgiving.  SO FUN! 
• Keith and I walked for the AHA… I walked in honor of my Grampy!
• Keith changed jobs mid-November.  I’m so thankful that he still loves his new job!
• The end of November we helped decorate at church for the Christmas season.  It’s so pretty!
• December has been a blur of hustle and bustle, getting ready for Christmas.  Not much snow, but festive none the less.  AND… I got my new iphone.  Yay!

It’s been a good year.  Work was hectic.  We thought we might move, but God had other plans.  My vision for a specific ministry was revived and again placed in God’s hands for a time in our future when it is right.  We’ve grown emotionally and spiritually as would be expected.  There have been sad times, fun times, and just plain lovely times.  I’m so grateful that God provides.  I’m so delighted to live in this complex world that God has made and that we actually set out to enjoy it frequently.  I’m so thankful to have a heart that puts my plans and desires into the hands of God.  I delightfully ask each day for His desires to be upon my heart.  If nothing else, I wish to allow the presence of Christ to be reflected in me, through my words, my actions, and most significantly in the deepest pondering of my heart.  God is SO GOOD!  I am SO BLESSED!  So if there is anything to be said about the year that has passed, may it be…

 “To God be the glory!”