A Look Back: 2012

I like looking back at where we have been. I think it helps us figure out where it is we are going. 2012 was an interesting year for me. Many things came and went. My work life was probably the most challenging it has ever been. We played as much music as time would allow. So many things have grown in my heart for this new year. 

A look back....

I ate vegan/vegetarian for a month. Looking back, I remember how crazy that felt. I think a meatless day here and there is good for me, but beyond that, I am happy with Weight Watchers as of right now. (Mexico is only about 100 days away!) 

We shared some amazing meals with some amazing people. 

We drove many miles to visit this store. 

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. 

We built a front porch and gave our yard some much needed loving. 

I traveled to California to play music with The Piggies. 

I swiftly got back on a plane to visit Longview: the town that once held my heart. 

We tried to play as much music as possible. I also started to write and finish songs again. 

I could go on and on, really. 2012 was a good year. 2013 will be even better, of that I am sure. I have many thing stirring within me this evening regarding what is to come. 

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Chili Night

This past weekend, we opened our home to some of our dear, dear friends. We made two massive pots of the infamous Hollen's Family Chili and I'm still eating leftovers as we speak. (Which is not a problem, at all.) It was nice to be able to slow down during this season and just be with some amazing people. 

Shawn's Cutting Onions Face

The End 

I love how food brings people together. 

We need that during this busy season of our lives. To just sit and live. There's a lot swimming through my head and heart lately: dreams for this new year that is upon us, love for those around us, and the unknown that rests somewhere right in front of us. I feel change coming. Good change. 

I'm Thankful For: Community

Source

I am thankful for.....

Meals shared with friends, new and old.

Nights spent on the back porch discussing life, love, and our dreams.

Being able to come to this place every Sunday and throughout the week and feel like we have finally found exactly where we are supposed to be.

The brewed beer, the baked bread, the fire pits.

The fact that we are not meant to live as islands, but are made to live in community with each other. No matter our pasts, no matter what may be ahead of us.  In these moments, we are meant to live life out together.

The community of people we have found ourselves a part of is a very wonderful thing.

Beer: In Black and White

We are blessed to live in a such a wonderful community of people. Many we have only met in the past year, some we have known for a decade or more, and some are new additions as of this very evening. These are good people. Loving people. People that understand the importance of coming together in community and just being with each other. This night, we met over beer. This beer was brewed by the hands of men in our little community, with care, patience, and love for the art of creating something of worth that can bring people together. 

Pumpkin Ale and chicken wings brought all of us together on this November night and we are blessed. Very blessed for each and every person in this room and the hands that prepared this evening for us. We toasted to life, brewing, and people. 

Mani (The coolest dog ever.) 

Sounds 

A Toast 

Even looking at these photos, I realize how lucky we are to be in this very place. I have never felt so part of something like this before. Community is something we truly cannot live without.