28.

  

  It really is crazy what can happen in a year. 27 seemed to be the year where I felt all the emotions. It was also the year where I learned a little better what it means to be joyful. Not in a warm and fuzzy way, but in a my hope truly lies in Jesus and nothing else way. In my 27th year, some of my biggest hopes were fulfilled. While 26 was a year of simple things, 27 was one of big life changing things. That's probably fitting, a pattern everyone's life has. 
  One of my favorite parts of last year was the time I set aside to intentionally learn about choosing joy. Ironically {or not really, at all} that was the same month we found out we were expecting. We kept the pregnancy to ourselves and were so very relieved when we were able to heart the baby's heartbeat. It felt a little bit like redemption from the flat lines we had seen the year before. 
  Every year we split our holidays between our families and we headed to Florida for Thanksgiving last year. For some reason Florida kind of hates us and is always unseasonably cold when we visit, but the guys braved the chilly waters anyway. We were also really lucky to be able to spend lots of extra time with our brother and sister-in-law between the holidays, football games, and a visit to NYC. 
  Before we found out we were expecting, Justin and I decided to plan a trip. We were feeling pretty discouraged about trying to get pregnant and feeling a little bit like life was on hold because of it, so we put a holiday trip to NYC on the books. I ended up being 12 weeks pregnant {and really feeling it}, but it was such a great, and unintentional, babymoon. We had so much fun exploring the city and spending time with family and just getting away for a few days. 
  I'm an introvert, but I really worked hard at intentional friendships last year. Between book club and cooking club and hosting a wine night, I realized how much I both need people and margin in my life. 
  And then we announced our exciting news, but I felt like we needed to do so in the context of our bigger story. I spent the next few months chronicling my pregnancy by writing notes to Caleb. We revealed the gender at a small family Valentine's Day party and started planning the nursery. 
  May was a month of thinking about motherhood and praying for mom's with babies on the other side of heaven. I always feel extra prayerful around Mother's Day, but never more so than this year when my best friend tragically lost her sweet baby boy and Caleb lost what should have been one of his first friends. That set in motion the most bittersweet experience I've ever had, becoming a mom. I haven't, and probably won't talk much about that on here, but it so indescribably bittersweet to welcome my sweet baby while my closest friend mourns the loss of hers. 
  So while I've treasured Caleb's first weeks and months and started a new season, I have also been mourning. And reflective on how there are so many different parts to everyone's story. 
  And, naturally, I spent my 27th year just as obsessed with my dogs as ever. They are just too stinking cute! {here, here, and here}
  So now I'm 28 and two years away from 30 and still feeling a bit like a teenager, just a lot wiser. This year, I'm hoping to learn to pray better and love deeper. I really mean that, so hold me to it. I don't have many expectations for 28, since I've learned that life just doesn't go as expected. And that's not a bad thing at all.