Thankful Thursday - Happy New Year's Eve!

Happy New Year's Eve :)!!!

As I look back at the past year, it's been so very full. Late January, Tori agreed to join choir with me, and that has been such a joy! My Aunt got married in March, and, during our trip to TN for the wedding, several of the little ones came down with the flu, which made for a very interesting wedding rehearsal. But, despite how miserable they were, they lived through it, and the wedding was *beautiful*, and while in the state we got to visit a historic site and tour a cave, which was wonderful :)!

Our summer was *bus-y*! My very bestest ever friend and her sister came for a week long visit! I truly can't tell you how much of a blessing that was. It was the first time we had actually met in person, so you can imagine how exciting that was! We got to go to Jamestown while they were here, which created mannnnny memories... haha :).

Right after the girls left, we headed down to SC to visit family. It is always a treat to go down there! On our way back home, my parents surprised me by picking up two of our friends to stay with us a few days :). While they were here, Mama announced that she was expecting :D! The new baby should arrive in March, and I am so very thankful for another sibling <3.

I started up an Etsy shop, Under The Tapestry, in August, and in September I turned 18... no, I don't feel like an adult. I actually don't think I ever will, haha. My Gramma, Granny, Aunt Donna, Aunt Jane, Aunt Bobby, Aunt Heather, and Uncle Greg all drove many hours to come here for my birthday. It was such an awesome surprise!

A few more birthdays, a few more trips for Daddy, the opportunity to give the message for children's church, and daily life filled our time until the holidays, when we enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving, Advent, St. Nicholas Day, and Christmas. I love this time of year, but it just went by too fast this year! The Sunday after Christmas, we said goodbye to our Pastor, and now we are enjoying having Daddy home for a week, after how busy he was at the store during Christmas :). 

For me, some of my favorite posts on my blog this year were these...
An Afternoon... -To be quite honest, there wasn't much "to" this post. But I loved that morning, and as the last Hidden Treasures auction that we got to work on, I am so thankful that we got to work together for it :).
While I was a Sinner -This one. I wrote it as I was going through a rough time. This year has seemed full of fear and doubt for me. I'm not going to say it was over when I shared that post. But it did help to be honest about the fact that that is a struggle for me, and it is one of my favorite posts, no matter how raw.
For We Ourselves -This post was actually written during the time I was going through at the time of writing that last post, but I waited months to actually share it, because I wasn't sure I wanted to actually put it out there. But after I made the plunge, I had no regrets, haha :).
No Worthless Task -This one was written on a whim after my devotions one morning :).
Contributing to the Needs of the Saints, Part 3  -I enjoyed writing the entire Romans 12 series, haha! But if I had to choose a favorite, it would be this post. And that is probably because, again, the issue has been very close to me the past several months.
Trust -This one was only a few days ago, so I feel redundant sharing it again, haha :). But it is what is on my heart as I look at the coming year, and I had to include it.

Now here it is New Year's Eve -and the day has been interesting. Broken dryer, broken picture frame, marker on the wall, parts missing to the grill Daddy bought that we're planning on using tonight, a whole maple twist thrown on the floor right before it was supposed to go in the oven... one of those days. Daddy mentioned hoping it's just all getting out of the way at once, rather than being a preview to 2016. But, in all truthfulness, I am looking forward to the next year. I'm kind of apprehensive, as I have a feeling that it will probably bring more changes then pretty much any other year of my life so far. But I am excited, as well. I am hopeful that this year will be a year of growth, in many ways.

But before we head into the New Year, I want to share with you some of the things that I have been thankful for lately :)! I also want to let you know that this will be the last "regular" Thankful Thursday. It took me a long time to make this decision. My blog title came from my Thankful Thursday lists, and I do, somehow, feel that it is wrong to stop them. But I think it's time to let them drop. I'm not saying my Thankful posts are done -I promise you, I will still have the desire to share one once in a while, because I do love writing these posts! But they're not going to be a given every week anymore, and they'll not even be restricted to a certain day. The reason I started these posts was to make sure I took time in my life to remind myself of all that the Lord was doing for me, and I have actually started doing that, on paper, every night (at least, more every-night-ish than I've posted every Thursday, haha!). To be honest, I miss writing descriptive-heavy "fun" posts about our life, and they are hard to fit in with Thankful Thursdays each week (when I'm actually blogging and that happens ;) ), along with my other more "thoughtful" posts. I just wanted to share that with you, because I feel like, as the reader, you should hear about big changes ;). Haha :). Now, this Thankful list :)!...

~Snuggling little ones all ready for bed in comfy PJs from some friends :).
~Josiah enjoying picture books. He has fallen in love with them this past month!
~Josiah's adorable little "Here! Here!", as he tries to climb up you... I'm not sure if he means "Here I am, I want you", or "Here's the best thing you'll find in the house, pick me up immediately". I have my suspisions. But nevertheless, it's cute :).
~Wrapping presents with Tori Christmas Eve. Might have been the highlight of my Christmas, hahaha! She's awesome...
~That Christ came to earth to pay for our transgressions, to redeem us. How incredible!
~That he took part in our trails so that he might be our Righteous Judge.
~Cable sweaters.
~Our Pastor and his family, and the blessing they have been to us in our church.
~The sock monkeys he gave out to all the little ones in church before he left. If you don't know, our "church mascot" of sorts was a one legged sock monkey by the name of Peg Leg Pete. So, when our Pastor left (and took it with him), he gave some to the children to remember him by :).
~All the projects I got accomplished last week. Including a new skirt made out of scraps from some I made a couple years ago, haha :).
~Homemade caramels and other treats ;).
~The grace of the Lord.
~2015, and the new year full of anticipation :)!

Happy New Year and blessings in our Savior,

Bri <3