Hard to believe another year has flown by! This year was filled with love, laughter, joy, hard times, good times, creativity, travel, and blessings. 

One of the things my husband and I love most is to travel. This year we were blessed with 2 amazing trips. In April, we visited our precious friends in Bellingham, Washington. The Pacific Northwest is beyond beautiful – pictures don’t begin to do justice to the amazing landscape! You can read more about our trip in this post.

We also took an amazing trip to Hawaii to celebrate our 35th anniversary – which is crazy!! Where has 35 years gone?!??! It was beyond incredible!! Time to explore and relax and just enjoy being together. Here are a few pictures from our wonderful adventure and you can read more about our time on The Big Island here and on Kauai in this post.

Photos from The Big Island…

And from Kauai…

In between these 2 fabulous trips we had a very difficult month. I became very ill. After 4 trips to the ER in a week, I was finally admitted to the hospital. The doctors were treating me for what they suspected to be Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I spent 8 days in the hospital on IV antibiotics and I can’t even remember how many times my blood was drawn. We never did get a definitive diagnosis – blood tests all came back negative. But I was one sick girl! I had some amazing nurses and the most wonderful doctor taking care of me and I am so thankful for them! They were some of the most caring and dedicated people I have ever met. I truly felt blessed that God put them in place to care for me. We also felt the love and support of so many wonderful friends – we don’t have any family close by and it was hard for them to be so far away. But God has blessed us with amazing people who are like family – they made sure my husband ate, sat with me so he could take a break and go home to shower, sent beautiful flowers, notes, and cards, and most importantly prayed for us through a really hard time!! I was pretty sick for about a month and when I finally made it back to church, our worship pastor welcomed me back and everyone applauded – what joy that brought to my heart to feel so loved!! 

Most days of my 2017 were just like yours – filled with cooking, cleaning, laundry, errands, and some time to create the things I love making. In the midst of all those daily necessities, I hope you will take a moment to recognize the little joys sprinkled around.

For me it was the sweet 4 year old girl who gave me a big hug and said “I love you” just out of the blue.

And the cute little 3 year old boy who shouted “Merry Christmas, Miss Nita” across the church parking lot.

And Rocket, my friend’s sweet dog who always wants to snuggle with me.

And the family and friends who are always there.

And my husband in more ways than I can mention.

Actually those last 2 are really major joys in my life. 😊

Keep your eyes and heart open in 2018 and I’m pretty sure you will find you are surrounded by little joys. ❤️

Wishing you joy in 2018,

Anita