If you aren't reading my friend Emily's blog, you should be. It's one of the best written blogs that I read, and I've been reading it for.. I think like 8 years now? Wow! Em reached out about having me join in with some friends to share my best of 2019, and it's been so fun! I genuinely can't wait to read all the other posts from these girls! :)
Best adventure/travel/trip: Hands down, our first trip abroad as a family of four to England! Sometimes it's easy to get your expectations high when it comes to a big trip, but this was just such a sweet and refreshing time for our family. We've had a lot of work changes for Ben this year which has lead to a lot of tension for us in creating time for rest. Even though we were out and about all over London with two toddlers, we really took time to rest and enjoy and overall the trip was just incredibly refreshing. What it was like to adventure abroad with two children really exceeded my expectations. Below are a few of my favorite photos from the trip. :)
Best book:
I can't mention a best book without mentioning that on Amazon prime day this year, I bought a kindle. I know this is controversial for some, but I love digital books. There are some books that I'd prefer to read in a hard copy but overall, I'm an e book girl. I really enjoy re-reading old favorites so I like that I'm not having to hoard tons of titles and also that I can't loose them. I've also been borrowing a ton from the library digitally and it's been great. I've read e-books for years on the kindle app but the kindle itself is much easier on my eyes and keeps texts from interrupting me.
I think the book that I enjoyed the most in 2019 was November 9, by Colleen Hoover. It's "rated r" haha but the plot was different to anything I have ever read and I genuinely didn't know what was going to happen so I was GLUED to it.
Best movie: This might be a silly answer, but Frozen 2! :) A friend of ours told me that she took her oldest daughter to her first movie at 18 months, so I started thinking about trying with both of our kids. We tried watching the first movie at home and Beau lasted a long time and Sophie was REALLY into it. So we went to the theater with two cars to watch. Beau was over it after all the previews and about 30 minutes of movie, but Soph lasted the whole time and is now obsessed with the soundtrack and all things Elsa. It's just been a really sweet thing for me because it feels like such a big girl mom moment, her loving her first princess! :)
Best album or song: I am not the person to ask this, haha! Not a music girl.
Best podcast: This is SO hard for me. I love my podcasts. I am always a big Risen Motherhood fan, but I've also really been enjoying The Office Ladies (it's just really fun and incredibly restful for me to listen to!) and A Beautiful Mess. I like A Beautiful Mess because you never know what it's going to be about. I will note that they occasionally use mild language that it's my fave but it doesn't take away from the experience for me at all.
Best follow on Instagram: This is a hard one for me! I have lots of favorites, haha! A new one this year, though, is @NicolaBathieDesigns. She is incredibly stylish and makes beautiful earrings (I've snagged two pairs during her sales!) Her style is very elevated. She is also of British parentage and she has a daughter named Sophia so I like to think she is the fancy version of myself, haha!!!
Best date: This is so bad but one doesn't stand out, haha!! Real life!!! I will say though that during the summer we enjoyed several date nights to the movies that we really loved. We realized that the movies is a really great way for us to relax outside of the house. We especially like the eat in movie. :) My favorite date of the year is usually our anniversary on December 29, a perfect time to reflect on the previous year and look forward to the next.
Best kiddo milestone:
Beau- For my big boy, starting school! It was not my ideal situation for me in any way, but it has been incredible in inspiring growth for him, and he genuinely loves it. His teachers are amazing and the whole thing has been so much better than I could have ever hoped for!
Sophie- I think I would have to say getting to hear her little words! Because Beau's mostly still waiting on the Lord to give him his words, it's just felt really surreal and I thought it might be bittersweet but it's really just been SWEET! :) She learns new words every day and can sing a few songs and it's been so special. I can't wait to continue to get insight into her little thoughts.
Best faith grower: Honestly, this year was hard! We had three surgeries for Beau with tough recoveries on two of them, and it was just a lot for me. Life has thrown a lot at us over the last few years and I think that 2019 was my time to really start to process what we've walked through. I think just navigating the surgeries and just the dynamics surrounding this have been my biggest faith grower. I actually recorded my first podcast interview (!!!!!!! Life goal complete) with the Friends of a Feather podcast and talked a TON about this so I'll be sure to share that link when it goes live in January. It's my hope that hearing my voice explain these things will translate better than via typing, haha!
Best trend you tried: Headbands are back and my college, Blair Waldorf loving self is ALL about it! :)
Best beauty purchase: Hands down, the Tarte lip quench rescue balms! I found them from Lindsey Regan Thorne, where all the good beauty recommendations come from. :) They are minty, moisturizing, light. I feel put together but not overly made up which I LOVE.
Best family memory: This might be a cop out answer because it's not one specific memory, but when I think about our family in 2019 I will think about the relationship that has formed between our two children! Sophie is absolutely OBSESSED with her big brother. So many little moments string together and are my sweetest memory. One obstacle in our home right now is that when one of them gets in trouble the other one gets VERY upset. Haha!
Best habit you created: This has been only in the last month, but we bought a work out bike and I've been taking classes with the Peloton app and getting into a consistent routine for moving my body has been so life changing. It's been a challenge for me this year to take time for myself as a person, outside of mothering so this has been an incredibly encouraging habit! :)
Best new recipe: So easy for me to choose! Since I discovered Kristin Cavallari's Sweet Potato Hash in her True Roots cookbook, we've made it every week or two! :)
Best life or mom hack: This category is making me think, Wow! I don't really have any hacks and my life would probably be better with some! Haha! I've kind of fallen out of this habit but for awhile every month or so I'd go ahead and write down in my planner on different days any recipes that I'd recently discovered and wanted to try. That way, when I came to that week I wouldn't be staring at the paper trying to come up with what to feed our family that week. Need to get back into this!
Best mama moment:
Beau- I have had so many proud moments with my boy this year it's hard to pinpoint just one. He's been so brave and overcome so much this year that there have been so many times where I have been just bursting at the seams with pride over him being ours.
Soph- we traveled to South Carolina on a girls trip for Sophie to model for The Beaufort Bonnet Company, which was really special, but the afternoon after her wonderful experience with them really took the cake. We went to the beach on Hilton Head Island and Sophie just had a blast and it was one of those meaningful, real life moments that I have been thinking about since. Sitting in the waves with my girl and her loving every second. We are going to the beach in May and I can't wait.. but I'm also thinking I need to get very into cardio training to be able to keep up with her!
Best home improvement: We are actually pretty certain that 2020 will hold a move for us (more on that soon!) so we didn't do a ton of improvements this year, BUT I did save up and finally splurge on this popular mirror and it has completely changed our living room. I love it so much and was nervous that I would regret spending the money I had saved but I haven't thought twice about it.
Best little luxury you've enjoyed: FACE MASKS! My #1 relaxation. I've been known to have one on in the middle of a stressful day. I really like the Summer Fridays ones.
Thank you so much to my sweet friend Emily for putting together this fun post! :)
