a year in review: 2016

hi friends! it's been a while! 

i figure that the best way to dive in is too just do a good ole' year in review. 

so here we go!

January: 

celebrating my mom's birthday from afar,

 and a wedding where i was able to see my brother and some close friends.

february:

was a chaperon for a college trip. the youth pastor and myself took a handful of our youth group to chicago to visit moody bible institute for a conference and the chance to visit the school. we also got the joy of seeing some of the youth that had graduated and started attending school there.

march:

attended one of the most jammin concerts i've ever been to

 (not including my favorite band, The Oh Hellos the year prior) 

with some of the loveliest people. this month also started the wedding festivities for one of my dearest and oldest friends (she got engaged the previous fall). also, voted in what i THOUGHT was going to be a hopeful election. also notice the most terrifying face swap of the month.

april: 

this was actually one of the most diffcult months i've ever experienced. 

i had some property stolen and work became very stressful. thankfully that smae weekend, after these things happened/ were happening, i was able to get out of town with some of my dear friends (abby and cara)- we hightailed it to the mountains where we rented a cabin in the woods (no weird movie ref here, i promise), and we just spent some much needed time in the mountains, away from everything. praise the Lord for calm bachelorette parties. thankful for these beautiful woman and our lifelong friendship.

may: 

what a month this was!

 i got to watch someone who has been one of my sisters,

 get married to her best friend. it is such a cool thing to watch.

june:

this month had some hectic and busy times. i had to make a last minute trip up to West Virginia as there was a loss in my family. while this is not the best of circumstances, it was a good time to visit with family that i hadn't seen in ages. then i came home and had to turn around the next day and head off to camp to get set up. my church does a yearly youth camp (as seen here and here) and this year, i was in charge of the worship team. so we headed up a few days early (with the help of my brother coming as well) to get set up and get the sound checked. it was a wonderful week of learning and worship God, and while trials happened, the devil did what he could to discourage us, God prevailed overall. 

july:

this was definitely one of the main highlights out of the year. 

i was able to revisit a country that captured my heart- China. 

made some wonderful friends, saw some amazing sites, 

ate some crazy good food; this was a good month! 

this month really only required me to readjust back on american soil, s

pend time with my furbaby and best friend, 

and get used to a job promotion. very relaxed over all!

this month was lovely because i was able to see another year and celebrate my 24th birthday. a couple of my dear friends were in town and my best friend/ roomate took me to my favorite place in the world- Charleston, SC. also, (not pictured) wrecked my beloved truck near the end of this month.

this month was a whirlwind. at the beginning of the month, a hurricane swept through my sweet, sleepy little town and along the east coast. with that came evacuation. thankfully (especially since i was with out a car at the time) i was able to high tail it out of town with my roommate, Caroline, her family and boyfriend. we headed up to greenville and spent about five days in the mountains and it was a much needed break, yet again.

and so begins the holiday season. 

i voted in the scariest election that i have ever actually paid attention too. 

then a couple weeks later my mom came into town and 

we celebrated thanksgiving with some dear family members.

december brought in the usual christmas cheer. 

i started out the month with a christmas party for the youth group, 

had the wedding of my dear friend a couple weeks later, 

and ended it with heading out to colorado to spend christmas 

with my mom and other family members.

this past year was an odd one, both in the media and in my own life. there was lots of learning, lots of questioning, lots of jim halpert faces. but over all there were many good moments, as you can see through the cluster of pictures. and over all, one is to remember how GOOD God is. 

so here is to 2017.

 a year to once again remember how GOOD God is no matter what happens.