I've been particularly emotional in the 2-3 months leading up to Ruby's first birthday. It is bazarre, I do not understand why I felt so teary all the time, but I did. Now that she has had her birthday, however, I am a lot less emotional about it. I am so blessed and grateful for the past year I've had with my Ruby Joy. It has been so full and fun. I can say with certainty that I LOVE being a mommy! It has changed my life in more ways than I ever imagined. I feel like I have an entirely different heart, and outlook on life. It really is true that becoming a parent changes you forever, that you experience love like you never thought possible. While I feel like more of an emotional mess than I was before (mostly just more sensitive), I am grateful for the change that's happened in my life.
Along with Ruby's birthday (December 31st) comes a re-cap of my entire year. While Ruby floods my mind as being the biggest focus of mine this past year, there have been many other amazing things to happen in our lives.
-Ruby and I have traveled in airplanes, twice now! Both times were trips back to Ohio where my dad's family lives. We went in April to visit for a few days, knowing it was the end of my grandma's life. Then we went again in October with Brian and the rest of my family, for my grandma's funeral. I could go on about how I have viewed death so differently and so much more than I ever have before this past year, but I'll keep those thoughts to myself for now. While the reasons we traveled were very hard, it was sweet being able to see all the family. We were very blessed to be able to make those trips.
-Brian has now been employed at Outward Church for 2 years! His position at church is "Executive Pastor." While he does get the privilege of preaching on occasion, that's a very small part of his tasks. Brian helps run a lot of things that are more behind the scenes. He is in charge of training all of our Outward Community group leaders. We have between 10-12 Outward Community groups all around town, and Brian trains / teaches / encourages the leaders of each of those groups, in addition to leading a group himself. We have been blessed this past year of ministry to see 3 people in our community group come to Christ. It has been such a joy to see people come to the Lord!! We are so thankful to have this one of our jobs. Praise God!
-Last year when Ruby was only a few days old, Brian started tearing down the old siding on our house and preparing to put new up. One year later, that job is complete! Yes, it takes a while, especially for a 611 sq. ft. house. But my husband is the busiest person I know. I have definitely been taught patience, with this house especially, since we've been married. Now that our siding is all done, we have a crew who have prepped it, put gutters up, and are going to be painting this week! (Hopefully).
-As you can see in the third house photo, we have a new (to us) car. We no longer have the Jeep Grand Cherokee....*tear* but are proud to say we own two cars free and clear. No car payments for us! This is a huge victory to us. The best part is, both of our cars are the exact same! 1998 Chevrolet Cavilers. Mine is blue, Brian's is black. Mine is automatic and 4-door, Brian's is 2-door and manuel. We pretty much just laugh about our cars all the time. However, the black one was given to me a few years back from my uncle with about 60,000 miles on it. The blue one was sold to us from my aunt on the other side of the family, for $500. So, $500 for two cars that haven't given us any problems is a win in our book! Also, the blue car had 60,000 on it when we bought it. Too funny!
-Now that Brian has worked at the church for 2 years, we can officially start looking to buy a new house! We needed 2 years proof of income from that job as well as the business, since Brian has 2 incomes. We will be renting out this one out once we finish the updates needed. I AM SO EXCITED!! We get to move into a bigger house! Which means... we get to have more babies! ;-)
There is a quick re-cap of the Bradley's 2012. It is always so good to look back and remember how far the Lord has brought us. I am really going to try to step up my blogging game soon. Not necessarily just to gain viewers or popularity, but as a way to document big and small events in my life. It is so fun to look back and remember my thoughts at certain stages of life. Thank you for reading, dear friends!
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