January: We spent New Year's Eve at the Corson's house, and made brisket for friends on New Year's day. I continued to nanny for the Horst chil'ins. I began my last semester at SIU. We completed our applications to law school and grad school. The waiting game began.
February: We celebrated my birthday and Valentine's Day (or Birthentine's, if you're nasty) by going to St. Louis for the weekend. We stayed at the Cheshire Lodge, had a date at The Fountain on Locust with our newish friends, Josh and Kim, visited the art museum, and discovered Gioia's Deli. I spent the month wondering where in the heck God was going to send us or if we would stay in Carbondale for a few more years.
March: I spent the first half of the month anxiously awaiting news from graduate schools. I started feeling like we weren't going to be staying in Carbondale and treasuring our time there. Over Spring Break, I got my first acceptance, and it was to SLU! I was at my grandma and grandpa's house when I got the email on my phone. We all screamed and smiled and cried and jumped around the kitchen. It was a really special moment.
April: After three acceptances and two rejections for me, we were feeling like St. Louis was the place God was calling us, though all the details weren't exactly in place yet. Kyle still hadn't heard from SLU Law (and a few other schools), but planned on just getting a job in the STL area and re-applying because we were so sure we were supposed to be there. We had a marathon day of apartment searching, signed a lease, and the next week Kyle got his acceptance to SLU. Crazy lessons about stepping out in faith were learned.
(I took not a single picture in the month of April.)
May: A month of celebrations and new beginnings. Had a great celebratory night with classmates meowing around Carondale. Graduated and moved to St. Louis on the same day with the help of many friends and family. Started attending August Gate, where we knew we should go even though we'd never set foot in the doors. Started graduate school at the end of the month, and began a painful summer of living away from Kyle while he finished up his job in So Ill.
June: A haze of school and loneliness and driving back and forth between STL and So Ill. Oh, and threw a bridal shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Hope.
July: A haze of school and loneliness and driving back and forth between STL and So Ill. Oh, and threw a bridal shower for my dear friend, Ellen. Then we both stood up with her and Bradley at the end of the month at their wedding. It was our last hurrah in Carbondale. Saying goodbye at the end of their reception left many of us in tears.
August: Kyle came home to Saint Louis for good! We celebrated the end of a long, hard, lonely summer. We got a puppy! Celebrated 4 years of marriage. When we first began praying about going on with school together, we just prayed we'd be in the same city. God went further. He put us in the same city, at the same school, and our buildings right next door to one another. Unbelievable goodness and grace. No accident there!
September: Traveled to Virginia to celebrate the wedding of our brother and sister, Kent and Hope. It was fun to travel with family, and even more fun to gain a sister in the Bass family. Went to school.
October: Really started making better friends at church and at school. Praise God. The summer was so lonely, even though friends at church reached out to me, I definitely was not myself then. October finally clicked and I started feeling more like me. School started getting harder on us, and it became very clear that our dog was really, really bad. We knew he was our "Marley." We hosted a Halloween party that seemed like a pretty big success, but we forgot to take pictures.
November: A haze of school and puppy-wrangling. In John Mayer-fashion, I wonder if I am going to make it through to December. I got to travel to Philadelphia for my first ASHA convention with classmates and faculty. Spent Thanksgiving with Kyle's family in Anna. Got to celebrate with Keith and Loni the night of their engagement.
December: Completed our semesters by the grace of Jesus. When the semester ended, we mostly spent our days at home wrangling our bad, bad dog, cooking, watching all the TV we missed during the semester, and enjoying each others' company. Christmas in Springfield with my family. As things slow down, the pain of infertility creeps back in as it always does when I'm not insanely busy. As always, I'm ready for a new year and thankful for a God who is faithful and isn't done with us yet.
2 comments:
you remember a lot more from your year than i did lol!
i can sympathize with the long, lonely summer - justin and i lived apart for several months after we got married because i was going to school and he was in the marines.
the last part got me - i really hope next year God has for you what He had for us this year. i REALLY hope.
Wow, those pictures just kind of say it all, doesn't it? A tough year to be sure, but you got through it. Love the penguin ornament!
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