Year One in the Books

Cutting the Cake at Our Wedding

Sunday the 13th marked 1 year of being married to my husband, Josh. This year has been one full of trials and tribulations. Marriage has been such a blessing to me and I've learned so much. Josh has been a great support to me over this last year and it's been a fairly easy transition. It was interesting figuring out very different lifestyles since I lived alone and Josh previously lived with his family.

I'm amazed at what God has done in our lives both separately and as a married unit. God has truly blessed the both of us and I'm so very grateful. There has been so much change this year that it makes it hard to believe where I was a year ago, but heading into our second year warrants even more changes. I'll keep these changes brief.

Home

I've seen my home go from having just enough to get by to having the ability to share my home with others. Josh and I have almost weekly game nights with friends where I make a meal and we play games to encourage friends while things were still a bit locked down here in Washington. It has been a joy to be able to do that as we get to know others better.

Over the course of my relationship with Josh, we have really honed in on our family vision and have been making plans based on this family vision. After almost losing my dad last month, it became very clear to us to continue with our plans so that we can be better servants to my family back in Pennsylvania. We are planning to move to Florida in the middle to end of August right before our lease ends. In a couple of years, we plan to buy land and build a multi-generational house so that we can share our home with our own family, visitors, and any family that we may have to take care of in the future. This was definitely not an easy decision but God kept pushing us to this decision and then giving us all the green lights for this plan after we started to commit to the idea. We are excited and, of course, a little anxious (the good kind) but very much preparing for these really big plans God has laid on our hearts.

TobyMac Concert at the Puyallup Fair

Health

My health around the time I met Josh was probably the lowest I've felt in my life. I struggled with daily migraines and constant fatigue while trying to function like a normal adult and planning a wedding. Through personal research and a good doctor, I rarely have migraines and I have more energy than I've had in the past. I take some natural supplements to help me with stress/anxiety and vitamins my body lacks. I also found out that I can't eat gluten. I'm still not fully there with my health but we got the major hurdles out of the way. I still have days where I struggle but we think we know why now and it's a matter of figuring out what works best for me.

 

Career

I feel like both Josh and my careers have really taken off this year. Josh got a generous pay increase this past summer that puts him where he should get paid in the IT industry with his experience. Many of you know that I have been job searching and interviewing on and off for about 3 years. I'm happy to finally announce that I have been hired to become an Instructional Designer II at a software company called Hyland. I'm excited about this job because not only does it use all the skills and certifications I received in the last year but it also increases my income within the Instructional Design industry standards. The increases in our salaries will help us with continuing our family vision in a much quicker fashion while also allowing us to continue serving within the community around us.

Trying Out Our New Kayak

Heading into Our Second Year of Marriage

Even though this past year was a huge year of change, this next year is going to probably involve even more change starting with a new job for me this week. In the next year, I see myself health-wise getting closer to normal. I see some joyous times and hard times because of the future changes we will see in our lives, but we are confident in that God is protecting us and leading us where we need to go.