2012 Most Treasured Moments

My thoughts bringing in 2013? 

We're finally in the year R comes come! Think positive. Be positive! 

I actually had a great New Years Eve. I spent the morning soaking in sunny shine shine and fresh air while on a gorgeous hike with my new gal pal D. Take a look!

Can you believe this is December and I'm wearing a t-shirt! I LOVE ARIZONA!!!

Me and Ms. Thang at the top of Thunder Bird! 

Going after the cactus just because they're so cool! 

Caught one! 

Both D and I took several minutes, to reflect on the close of 2012, once we made it to the top. And although this year hasn't been without it's hurts and disappointments, it was still an amazing 12 months that I wouldn't wipe from the books for anything! Like a lot of you, I wanted to write a recap of the year, but after finishing, was kind of nervous that my years worth of reflection was very different than most. ALL of my biggest moments were emotionally based, feel good memories! Not so much about mile markers, vacations and big achievements. Well, I take that back. Some of these memories are based around those 3 things, but it's very clear, that is not what I took from the year. I also bypassed the self comparison between the start and finish of 2012. Which is always fun! I guess you could say, I had  found a deeper appreciation for moments of connection, quality time and the heart in 2012, after having felt like that suffered a great deal during my pregnancy. This wasn't something I really chose to write about at the time, so you didn't miss anything ;) But to have that back between R and I, a better part of 2012, was just amazing and what I appreciated the most! Take a look :) Warning. It gets pretty mushy at certain points. 

~2012 Most Moments~

  

Memorable~ The birth of our daughter on February 12, 2012! If you're a parent yourself, I don't think much more needs to be said! I will say though, that I've been very humbled and honored to be given the chance to know a deeper kind of love in this life. I never knew such depths existed until I held our daughter's small body in my arms for the first time...The love came almost INSTANTLY and was very overwhelming, but yet the feeling of being so blessed was heart bursting! I love you Alyssa. So much... And thank God everyday for you and how you've blessed us! If you haven't already and you'd like to read about the day I met our daughter, you can read all about that here! Which is, by the way, my most popular post of 2012! 

Silliest~ I love being silly and more times then not it's in the form of finding new ways to get reactions out of R. Last Christmas R was given a plush Snoopy by his sister which was actually for our little bundle, once she arrived. However R kinda adopted him for himself ;)  So, naturally, I unearthed that he cares greatly for this plush dog (he took it with him to Afghanistan so I couldn't be mean to it, lol)  so one silly night while preparing for bed, I snatch up his snoopy and proceeded to jump around the bed swinging his poor animal round and round by his legs REALLY FAST, giggling and laughing the entire time while R then starts launching himself every which way trying to catch me yelling "NOOOO! You're going to tear his legs off! Don't be mean!!!" HAHAHA!!! I was having a ball... So that's kind of our thing now... When I know we're headed for bed, I RACE to the room with him on my tail, because he knows what's coming, trying to get to snoopy before him. Sometimes I win. Sometimes he wins. But it always ends in laughter, silly kisses and a feeling of flirtatiousness and love before we say goodnight. It's the best!   

Romantic~ Most romantic moment was our first, over night, date away from the baby. SugarCube was a month old when we had the opportunity to attend our first military ball. So when my sister offered to babysit so we could go, we both jumped on it! Even though I hadn't lost the baby weight yet and was feeling insecure about that, I still had the absolute best time! I went all out on my dress, the accessories, getting my hair done, nails painted, you name it! I felt like Cinderella and the way R looked at me with approving eyes and pure pride, made him seem like prince charming :) Those are the moments you hold onto! 

Peaceful~ Tail gating with my love in our drive way, while lullabies sing to us softly over the baby monitor. Cold beer in his hand. Glass of wine in mine. Just enjoying the night sky and one another's company. I could write all day about the many peaceful moments we've had but this is one of my most recent and favorite. Many more to come 2013! 

Sweetest~ There are SO MANY sweet moments when you have a little one. It's hard to pick when they're all sweet... But for the sake of completing these moments, my favorite memory of pure sweetness was over Christmas Eve when R got to Skype with us for 3 hours while we all opened presents. Half way into the time, our daughter stood up, bracing herself on the coffee table where the laptop was sitting and obviously connected with the fact that, that was her daddy talking inside the computer screen! She stood there for 10 minutes caressing his cheeks and hair,  just talking and smiling and looking at him with such sweet eyes. She KNEW that was her daddy. It did my heart so good knowing that and R's as well. Of course, later,  she didn't understand why he wasn't behind the screen when she'd push it down :)

Joyous~ R's last month long field problem before he deployed. He does a lot of these now that he's no longer a Drill Sgt. but this last one he did in preparation for the deployment really got me! We had been working through some issues when he left and while he was gone we had a major break through. I couldn't WAIT for him to come home so I could kiss his face and feel his hugs and just reconnect. I don't think I had smiled bigger, before the day he came home. I was on pins and needles as Alyssa and I dressed up in our best clothes and drove out to pick him up. I felt like a school aged kid again with a crush! It was great! We drove home with our daughter snoozing in the back seat of his truck, while I sat hip to hip, with his arm around me, smiling the entire way. Good memories 2012!  

Somber~ The day R deployed. It's a time I do not want to repeat and definitely the hardest moment I've had to just allow happen... Saying goodbye to the other half of your heart for 9 months is like feeling your breath being taken from you, until they return. But, with the close of 2012... We open 2013; the year I get the rest of my heart back!  

Accomplished~ Fitting back into my pre-pregnancy clothes after 7 months! I worked my buns off (literally) for 3.5 months. By the end, I had lost 27 lbs, gained some muscle and was feeling WAY more confident and like my old self again. I smile every time I think about that huge accomplishment! 2012 was good to me! 

Embarrassing~ Does giving birth and ALLLLLL that entails, count ;) 

Spontaneous~ Driving 4 hours to buy donuts over Mothers Day, ha! I mean, a business called VooDoo Donuts? You just have to visit that! 

Content~ This is probably one of my FAVORITE memories in addition to being my most content moment of 2012. We had went on vacation in September to visit R's family in Arizona. Which was more of a pre-deployment/meeting of our daughter trip. But while there, we managed to sneak out for a day, baby free, to head for cooler temps and wide open meadows in Flag Staff. We went off road for several miles until we reached the perfect spot and let me tell you, it was breath taking! No one there but the birds and grasshoppers and a big sunny sky to welcome us; much needed time away. We quickly laid out blankets in the shade and just melted into one another's arms...Doing nothing more than existing and enjoying the closeness. AND QUIET! Okay, I lied. This IS the perfect make-out spot so there was (a little) something more, than nothing going on, ha! If I close my eyes, still, I can feel him next to me, hear wind in the trees, feel the warm air moving over us and just the biggest sense of contentment...I'll never forget this moment as long as I live. I remember thinking about our life there on that blanket. About how our life back in Washington, most days, seemed too loud and fast and full of anxiety for the big changes to come. But in that moment, I could just breath. We were just us again! Boy and girl who fell crazy in love then became husband and wife who just couldn't imagine being anything other than one another's world... 2013, there will be more of this!      

Daring~ Rock climbing for the first time! We went with some friends over the summer and although I have a more then mild fear of heights, I still went and actually enjoyed myself! Now I've picked it up here in Arizona where I'm really anxious to see growth and progress! I've become so fascinated with it and LOVE how it challenges my mind, body and muscles. So here's to MORE awesome climbing adventures in 2013! It pays to be daring ;)

Blessed~ Just a few days ago actually! December 27, 2012 was mine and R's 4 year anniversary. I feel and felt so blessed on this day; to have found such a wonderful man, who loves me deeper than I can honestly comprehend. Puke if you must here, but I feel life started for me the day R walked into my little sphere. I guess you could say I was in a bit of a fog up until then... God did a wonderful thing by giving me this man to love and be loved by.  I can never thank him enough for this gift of partnership, love, happiness, contentment, joy and trust. It is my goal in 2013 to show R, as much as humanly possible, how blessed I am to have him and the beautiful daughter we've created together...

I hope you enjoyed this as much I I loved writing it! My next installment will be the iDream reveal on my new menu bar! 2013 is a perfect time to start fresh, set some goals and voice some dreams!

~What was your most shining moment of 2012~ 

~What will be your biggest goal for 2013!~