2017 Highlights

Looking back on 2017, it's been a pretty good year around here! As the year comes to a close, here's a look at some of the highlights.

We enjoyed several fantastic trips, including a Spring Break trip to Vicksburg & New Orleans, our 14-day Europe Trip to Amsterdam, Paris & London, and a week in the Smoky Mountains to celebrate Christmas and our 16th Anniversary. We returned home at 1:30 this morning after a week spent mostly just relaxing!

In between our travels, Robbie had a busy year at work and once again has been part of a successful sale as the company he works with has been acquired by an international corporation. That acquisition will be finalized in the coming weeks, so we are anxious to see what 2018 will hold for him as the transition takes place.

We enjoyed quite a few get-togethers with family this year. We celebrated my parent's 51st wedding anniversary and helped Robbie's mom move back to Ohio after she lost her home in Hurricane Harvey. Robbie's brother and his family joined us for the spring break trip and a few days in Tennessee this past week. We met up with my sister and her family quite a few times as we dropped off and picked up the twins for their summer visits and recently celebrated my niece Nichole's graduation as she earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management. I'm so proud of her and might have shed a few tears when she walked into the graduation ceremony wearing a Magna Cum Laude medal (and my Beta Gamma Sigma stole).

A huge highlight for me this year was teaching my twin nieces to ice-skate over the summer and then getting to ice skate with all four of my nieces (and one step-great-niece) a few weeks ago! My sister even bought us all matching infinity scarves!

While I didn't achieve many of the goals I set for my ACTIVE year, I once again enjoyed having a word and participating in Ali Edward's One Little Word workshop. I've chosen a word for 2018 (which I'll be sharing tomorrow) and once again signed up for Ali's 2018 class.

This year I checked these items off my 50 Things To Do Before I'm 50 List:
Carve a Pumpkin
Tour the Anne Frank House & Corrie ten Boom Home
Travel to Paris (which I'll be sharing about soon)
Travel on a Train
Revise My Will

I continue to enjoy illustrated Bible journaling and sharing this FUN hobby with others through classes, workshops and women's events. It was a special bonus when my sister and two nieces joined me for one of my classes this summer! I will be hosting monthly classes here in our home in 2018 - if you'd like to know when registration for these classes opens (of if you're interested in a private event for your church or small group), email me or sign up for my newsletter HERE.

I didn't do as much scrapbooking this year as I had hoped, although I did complete a 146-page custom scrapbook-for-hire project.

I've always thought editing books would be a FUN job, so it was a real highlight when I got to read and offer feedback on the manuscript for Jann Gray's new book! In addition, I read 60 books and participated in a book swap with my sister Brenda this year. As a bonus, I enjoyed writing on the (sometimes challenging) blog topics Brenda sent me, especially Five People I Admire, the Top Ten Moments of My Life, and The ABCs of Reading That Work.

Here on the blog, I joined in a few times with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, Monday's Mail Memo, 5 in 5, and the Christmas Card Throwdown. I especially enjoyed creating a new blog header mid-way through the year.

Yes, it was definitely a good year around here! What were the highlights of your 2017?