It's been a quiet few weeks here on the blog. But my all time favorite post is here! Goals get me excited, but reflection gets me hopeful and brave. I love getting to see how much has changed and how much God has done year after year. (If you're feeling particularly nostalgic with me, you can go down memory lane and see 2012 and 2013 and their highlight reels.)
Seriously, one of the benefits of blogging is getting to do this very post.
Here's the Highlight Reel of the Spragues 2014 Year:
2014, you've been a good one.
January kicked off with big photography goals. Including a monthly self portrait project and a 52 week project of our girl. (Both of which I ducked out of come march/april as we began the process of moving to Finland.) I'm glad I started both of them anyway as they offered a fun distraction midst not knowing what our year was going to hold. Also, I got ridiculous pictures like this one:
In February we got a good mixture of snow and warm weather, which made for happy hearts all around. Eowyn sadly knocked her front tooth out on the coffee table and we had a scary trip to the ER. It was our first heart panic with her. But, the tooth lived (Did you know they can pop those babies right back in if there's a short enough time?!), and she got extra ice cream which may or may not explain those cheeks she's sporting.
March was a big month! We got to spend time in Sunny Florida for AGM and vacationed a bit with Ben's side of the family.
Before the month was through, we got official news of moving to Helsinki and celebrated big time!
April brought a rush of life as we prepared for moving to Helsinki the following month. God's almighty gift to my heart, Katie and I went on a mini-roadtrip together
and I spent a lot of time processing what it meant to leave the awesome community we had here in Minneapolis. We bought a lot of suitcases that month too. And got rid of a lot of our things.
Early May (Mothers day!) We arrived in Helsinki and spent the first several weeks settling in and building IKEA furniture. We also got pregnant that month (Nothing like getting a baby the same month you get to live in a new country!)
June was a quiet month here on the blog. We got to have our first visitor in Helsinki and got to see even more of the sites. First trimester nausea kicked in the last day of my friends adventures (I puked minutes before taking her to the airport. Keeping it classy.) So, we spent the rest of the month taking it easy and me working on my budding relationship with our couch. In all honesty, this was a major season of struggle for me. Being sick with a toddler, and feeling like we were missing out on summer, plus not having community equated to a lot of tears. The struggle lasted for several months and homesickness + hormones made for daily battles and desperate prayers.
July was a sweet month of redemption. Towards the end of the month, we went on a vacation (right at the cusp of the glorious 2nd trimester) and while driving back to Helsinki, I realized how excited I was to be going home. That reality gave me a lot of hope that this place might win me over yet. (Spoiler Alert: It did.)
Also, I turned a quarter century old and Eowyn turned TWO. She proceeded to unveil a whole new level of awesome toddlerness.
In August, we had a few fun Helsinki Adventures that included lots of animals. Then, we ended the month with one very happy announcement:
September was probably my favorite month of the year.
We went sailing,
reached the fabulous 20 week mark,
visited beautiful sunflower fields, picnicked with friends and went on our first date since coming to Helsinki. It was a very good month.
In October, we ventured out to Nuuksio and took our own family pictures,
celebrated Ben's birthday, and bought the first set of baby clothes for our little boy.
In November, my parents came to visit (something I had been waiting for for several months!) and we got to show them around Helsinki, enjoy their company and adventure together in Tallinn, Estonia
We also got to host our very own Thanksgiving here with several of our new friends, and even a few acquaintances. It was one of my favorite Thanksgivings to date. Late November brought the first snow to Helsinki, which was a perfect way to start December.
December has kind of been a blur. I'm still trying to catch up on the photos taken and all the sweet happenings. The Holiday season crept up on us quick but has been kind.
We decorated for Christmas early in the month, got to visit Tallinn again and got to experience the Christmas markets of both Tallinn and Helsinki. Then mid-December Ben's parents arrived!
This meant a lot of Christmas celebrations, adventuring, going to the zoo and Eowyn loving every minute of it. While I have yet to post the photos from those adventures (More of those soon) it was a sweet time indeed.
After 2013, I remember hoping 2014 would have a little more sweet and a little less heartache. This year has been exactly that. While it has definitely had its seasons of struggle, it's been a beautiful thing to see how much of this year has been a redeeming year. So grateful for another year with my my main squeeze, my girl and my Jesus. Super excited to add a sweet baby brother to the mix in the next several weeks (eeee!)
Cheers to 2015. I have a feeling you'll be filled with all sorts of highs and lows and overall be a bit blurry. I'm excited for your still.
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