2014

This past year has been probably my hardest year yet.

That's not to say it's been my worst year yet. In fact, it's been one of my best years. It was my first full year married to that Jared of mine, and I've learned a lot of good stuff from our adventures. Maybe the whole "hardest but bestest" thing is something I'll be saying at the end of every year from now on. Maybe that's what being an adult is? I don't know. Probably not. I'll keep you posted on that next year though, if I remember.

It has been so nice to be home for the holidays. Both with my immediate family and with Jared's family over the past few days. It's been like a much-needed refresh button, and I'm finding that each day we spend in America brings me an awareness of one more random thing to be insanely grateful for that I haven't been in the past. Carpet. The smell of pine. Falling asleep to silence rather than screaming tree frogs. Frost on the ground. Little spiders (wayyy better than giant spiders and cockroaches). And of course, family, but that's not random and I've always been grateful for that. Each day here also leaves me grateful for little Grenada-isms, which I think has been insanely healthy and will make this next term on our island much easier than the last. Perfect mangoes. Always soft skin. A completely free schedule for days at a time. Half a dozen gorgeous beaches, each ten minutes away (although let's face it, I'll always be a mountains-and-evergreens girl if I have to choose).

^^A picture from my in-laws' neighborhood lake. Isn't that the best thing?

I think every neighborhood should have its very own lake. 

In-laws, I love Washington. And your lake. And you!

^^A flight past my family's home this afternoon, and toward the SLC airport.
The ground looks gray in the picture, but it was a beautiful sunset-pink in real life. I love that valley.


So anyway, it's been a nice year, but I'm ready for a new one. I'm not one to make a million resolutions, but I've got one or two up my sleeve, one of which involves this blog. In the past I've been caught between two blogging worlds. The first is a world of journal blogging and family updates, and the second is a world of "gaining a following" and "maybe making some pocket change off this thing some day." The latter isn't something I'm really interested in anymore, and I haven't been for a while. I want this to be a place where I can combine scrapbook and journal, where I can let my family know what's up and record the everyday events that may or may not be interesting to the world at large.  For posterity--really though. Honestly, things will probably be pretty much the same as always around here, except that I'll make an effort to post more often, even if just a handful of pictures and a smattering of un-clever words. So anyway, that's just a head's up I guess. Or a public service announcement or something.

Mandatory Happy New Year's shoutout, everyone! I hope you all are attending lovely parties and sleeping in till noon tomorrow. I'll be recovering from a New Year's Eve cold, which I'm glad to be getting over with now rather than on our flight back to Grenada next week. Cheers to that!