Just for my records:
2016
January: Sweet Beatrix was born on my dad's birthday. This was easily one of the most healing events of the whole year. I noticed a lift in my emotional altitude with her presence in our family.
February: Theo turned four!
March: Cousin Joy's wedding! So fun to be apart of celebrating her marriage to Kappes!
April: Adoptive sissy Meghan weds Jordan... And on what would have been my mom's 60th birthday. This totally helped redeem the day, much like Beatrix's birth alleviated the pain of Dad's birthday. PAUL TURNED 30!
May: Grantiers come to visit from Jackson, Mississippi!
June: We all traveled to Riviera Maya, Mexico to welcome a new sister in law! Tyler wed Jaclyn on the beach and this was my 3rd a final wedding I was apart of for 2016. Also, came home to another year of Fry Me Up food stand at the College World Series. This means I was a widower for a few weeks.... but, I made it! It was also an honor to speak at Bridge Northwest on Father's Day. What a special experience!
July: Went to Minnesota for an Abide-staff retreat! So many memories made. It has been such a source of life and blessing to be apart of this team!
August: Violet turned 3! We also moved to north Omaha to be apart of Abide's light house program. Also, we traveled to Chicago for the Willow Creek Conference with other Abide staff members- amazing! Wrapped up the month with a getaway to Mahoney State Park with the Lanphier side of the family... 10 cousins!
September: breathed
October: My grandpa came a stayed with us while he was in town for the Hope Center Gala and Abide's Better Together Bash. This was another monumental moment in my healing as I was immensely blessed by seeing my kids make memories with my grandfather.
Another huge highlight of the year was visiting New York with my sister.
I continued my globe trotting with a trip to San Francisco with one of my besties Melinda. We won a trip to Stitch Fix headquarters and got style makeovers! An amazing, kid-free, once-in-a-lifetime girlfriends' trip!
October wrapped up with the Aksarben Ball where us Schenzel siblings had the privilege of witnessing Mom and Dad inducted into the Court of Honor.
I must also mention taking our kids trick or treating Halloween night was a parenting highlight. The sheer joy of realizing everyone would give them candy was hilarious to behold... we had an awesome family night!.
November: Spoke at MOPS for the first time about being an overcomer at Stonebridge Church...
Celebrated my sweet sis-in-love Sarah's bday with some girls in Nebraska City.. we had a blast!
Went to West Virginia for Thanksgiving. All my siblings traveled to Morgantown as well to spend the holiday with my mom's side of the family.
December: Paul and I went to Colorado with dear friends Rob and Samantha Johnson so the boys could ski. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven with four nights of uninterrupted sleep! The day we got home the Grantiers came to help us ring in the new year! So grateful for our history and depth of friendship with this wonderful family!
In case I didn't make this clear: I was in THREE weddings. I took SEVEN trips this year (and that's not even counting a few getaways Paul and I took to Nebraska City)... A year where I expected to hunker down and reflect was the exact opposite. I never stopped moving. While I resisted the fullness of our schedule at times. I'm so grateful for the opportunities that presented themselves. I feel like I have such a treasure trove of experiences from the last 12 months. I'm wildly grateful.
On the books for 2017? Paul's going to Africa this month (January 2017), I'm turning 30 in June, and settling in to raising our babies... I hope to blog more frequently... Life is beautiful.
