The other day I was going back over the events of the year and was actually shocked by how MUCH has happened in such a short span of time. I thought I’d give you a sneak peak here. I have been so blessed by family this year and by an overwhelming sense of calm and peace that even with all that we managed to pack into 12 months, I really haven’t felt rushed or crazy (well ok, there were moments, but you know what I mean)

January: We moved into a downtown apartment in Portland over New Years and hastily unpacked ourselves. It was pretty surreal to go from a 1200 square foot house to half that size on the seventh floor of a highrise.

 

  February: Lots of guests visit our new digs and plenty of hours working. It was blissful to be within walking distance of pretty much everything. Also, Bryan prepared the first real dinner meal in our new place (yes, it took us 6 weeks of living there before we did that).

 

  March: GeGe comes to visit, K-Bear stays with us for a week and we make a trip to NYC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April: The best birthday surprise party was thrown by GeGe’s sister Aunt Marcie and we were all there to celebrate.

 

May: Bryan and I successfully planned another surprise visit to Sue for Mother’s Day. We also spent a weekend celebrating GeGe’s actual birthday with her in Seattle. It was during the Mother’s Day trip that we decided to move back to Spokane by the end of June. Was that a crazy idea or what?!!

 

June: Consumed mostly with packing, moving and all the stresses of changing cities. I can hardly believe that we had just moved six months ago and were already doing it again.We also announced the exciting news to our family that we were expecting our first baby!

 

July: Most of this month was spent settling in and enjoying quality family time. Bryan and I made a trip back to Portland for a Timbers game and to catch up with some good friends.

 

 

 

August: My little sister, L, came to live with us and the month was filled with street fairs, trips to the lake and summer revelry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September: My birthday came and was properly celebrated ( I LOVE birthdays) and I reunited with a few friends from college years.

 

 

 

October: Isaiah’s 8th birthday was celebrated with a circus, per his request, and what a party that was!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November: For the first time in years, all of my siblings came together for a holiday. It was one of the most precious moments for me to see them all together again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

December: Christmas is my favorite holiday and for the first time in my adult life, I was going to be in my own home so we went all out on the traditions and festivities. We took a family trip up to Greenbluff and cut down a tree, we made gingerbread houses from scratch and decorated sugar cookies. The newest addition to the Neel family arrived, Blake Andrew, on December 16th. He is the cutest baby possible. GeGe came for a week and there was more laughing, game-playing and merry-making than I would have thought possible. Plus, for Lysbeth’s birthday, we took a trip to Seattle to top it all off.

 

And lets not forget that during all of this, little Emma Jane was busy growing inside her Mum’s tummy and now we only have a month to go before we get to meet her in person! What a beautiful, adventure-filled and memorable year this has been. What a wonderful year it has been. I feel as though I’ve treasured every moment as fully as possible and worked especially hard to live deeply in the present. I am confident that 2012 will be lived into in much the same way and look forward to the changes ahead.