Twenty-Seventeen | Our Year In Review ♥

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Twenty Seventeen: Our Year in Review

Hey Everyone,

Last year I did a whole post reviewing the events of the previous year (you can read that post here).  So, I thought it would be a lot of fun to do the same thing this year as well. Quite a bit has happened in twenty-seventeen and I am excited to share the fun memories with all of you! I shared my goals for this year last January. Some of those goals were completed some were not. This year was honestly a lot more crazy and busy than I ever expected – but looking back it was worth it.

My one word for the year was “faith”. And even though I did not get to study out that word like I wanted to… I really found myself living it out in my daily life. There were a lot of things that we (Adam and I) were unsure of for many weeks and months. But it was amazing to see how God worked everything out for us in the end (I will explain more soon!).  A lot of the events that took place in twenty-seventeen revolve around my relationship with Adam. Our engagement and wedding were the two biggest things in our year… so forgive me if it seems like our relationship “trumps” the year. With that being said… here’s what our year looked like in review.

Twenty Seventeen | Our Year in Review ♥

January – February

In January, Adam (at that time my boyfriend) was home for good from college. That began a whole new stage in our relationship. We went from being in a long distance relationship to seeing each other several times a week, as well as working part time together in the same business. This is when our relationship truly began to flourish….and this is the month I completely fell in love with Adam.

I went to two teen winter retreats as a counselor. Adam and one of my best friends went along to be counselors as well. This was a fun and memorable experience for the three of us and we loved it.

February was a month of firsts. Adam and I went to our first couple’s banquet, and enjoyed our first Valentine’s Day together. It was on our Valentine’s Day date that Adam first said “I love you”. ♥

February 18, was the day he finally asked! My family went to Adam’s home for what I thought was a normal get-together for our families. However, soon after we arrived, we found ourselves outside going for a little stroll and everyone else went back inside. We chatted, and sat down by the creek, and before I knew it… Adam was pulling out a ring box and asking me to marry him! Of course I said “yes!” 😉 After that we enjoyed a special dinner, we called and texted our family and friends, and Adam sang to me a song that he had written just for that evening. It was one of the most special evenings I had ever experienced!

Twenty Seventeen | Our Year in Review

March – May

Wedding plans were in full swing. We jumped on things right away… and I used The Everything Wedding Organizer to organize my wedding to-dos.

My parents took us out to a special Chinese restaurant in honor of Adam’s birthday. This was the best Chinese restaurant I ever went to… they had everything and the food was amazing! Looking back, I think I enjoyed this just as much (if not more) than Adam did! 🙂

Adam took me and all our siblings on a trip to Philadelphia. The city where he spent his previous summer. It was fun seeing the Liberty Bell again… as well as seeing some new places I had never visited before. It was a fun day trip for all of us. I especially loved visiting the Reading Terminal Market for lunch, and visting Macy’s to hear the magnificent organ playing!

After visiting sooo many bridal shops…. I finally found my wedding dress! I went to a second hand bridal shop in the area and found a dress that was modest, and brand new with tags. The best part? It was very inexpensive. I then had a seamstress altar the dress to make it beautiful (it was rather plain). She added a train, changed the lace on the bodice, and put completely new fabric around the base of the dress. (Funny story about the original dress… I actually found the very same dress on Amazon for a slightly cheaper price! Haha oh well…who knew right?)

In May we traveled to North Carolina for Adam’s graduation. Adam had finished up all his college credits early, but he still had to go back for the graduation. So in May both our families traveled to NC to see him graduate. I was soooo proud of my handsome fiance’ and college grad!

Twenty Seventeen | Our Year in Review

My babysitting job came to an end. It was so hard saying goodbye to the little boy I half mothered for the first two years of his little life. I remember the last day he came to my house… It felt like I cried buckets after he left.  Babysitting him was one of the best learning experiences I ever had.

Because I was no longer babysitting, I began working full time for my brother in his business. I enjoyed the job, but working full time, planning our wedding, going on weekly dates, teaching Sunday school and juggling all my other responsibilities was just a little too overwhelming at times. On top of that, within months, I had become a very valuable employee to my brother and was soon running the storefront of my brother’s business. A fun, stretching experience for sure.

Adam and I went on a special date and picked out our wedding rings. It was such a special moment when we finally found the perfect ring to go with my engagement ring. It was one of the moments that something clicked and we knew it was the perfect one. ♥

June – July

Adam began a summer internship at a church about an hour and a half away. This meant we only saw each other on weekends. This was hard for both of us… but in many ways it helped us. I was able to focus on all my responsibilities during the week, and our times together became a lot more valuable to us.

My best friend and I went on several shopping trips looking for wedding decor, and other things needed for the wedding. We had fun driving all over the place looking for good deals, finding things we really didn’t need and making memories.

I got a big surprise on the 4th of July. Adam and I got together with our own families and didn’t get to spend the day together because of the distance. But towards to the end of the day we chatted on the phone. Shortly into our phone call Adam said he needed to do something real quick and put the phone down. Within minutes there was a knock on my bedroom door – it was him! He made it in time to join us for the fireworks display in our town, and we loved every moment!

August 

I tried to cherish this last month with my family before moving away. This was a sentimental month with special walks with mom, and “last times” as a family.

I cut way back in my hours at work. This gave me time to spend at home, and time to finish up last minute wedding plans.

Adam and I got our marriage license and went on a special date to celebrate. We went out to dinner with his family and enjoyed some fun mini golfing and driving go-carts. We completed the day with a trip out for ice cream.

Twenty Seventeen | Our Year in Review

We finally got a house! Nothing was opening up for us and we were just weeks away from the wedding. Two weeks before out date, the perfect house opened up for us. It needed some major cleaning and painting before we moved in… but amazingly it all got done just in the nick of time!

September – October

Our Wedding Day , September 16, was amazing! The whole day went so incredibly well and we were very pleased. We wanted our wedding to be a God-honoring day, and with His help we believe that wish came true. To see all the photos and what our special day was like… read this post here.  We are so thankful for our parents, our pastor, and our Lord who all made our special day possible! To God be the glory!

Twenty Seventeen | Our Year in Review

Our honeymoon was the fastest and most wonderful week of my life! 🙂 We went to a honeymoon resort in the Poconos and it was wonderful. We stayed in a fabulous room, enjoyed dining in the fabulous dining room on the resort (believe me, the food was amazing) and literally just had so. much. fun!

Moving into our new home was a fun adventure. When we got back from our honeymoon we had boxes everywhere and no hot water! Thankfully the water problem was fixed the next day but the boxes remained as we spent the next week running around, changing my name, completing all the legal stuff that needed to be done now that we were married.

A few days later we went on another mini trip to Ocean City. It was off-season and Adam’s relative has a rental property not far from the boardwalk. It was a blast seeing some of Adam’s favorite places and getting some much needed exercise. We walked/ran the entire length of the boardwalk together. It was short trip full of fun memories. (P.S. if you like the ocean… I highly recommend going during the off season. People cover up much more when the weather gets cooler if you know what I mean!).

In October I turned twenty-one! For my birthday we went to super cute restaurant up town for breakfast (my request) and then went shopping. There’s a consignment shop in our area that offers 50% off on your birthday, so we took advantage of that and bought a couch and a chair for our living room. Trying to get the couch into our house was fun and challenging. We ended up having to take the legs off the couch and had to take the front door off the house just to get it inside! That was a memorable birthday to say the least! 🙂

We drove up to Connecticut for a Baptist History Conference. That was a long day but it was a great opportunity for learning and we were blessed by the conference. Oh – we had to leave at four in the morning and it was freezing in CT. What a trip!

November – December

These past two months have been a lot of fun… enjoying our first Thanksgiving together….picking out our very first Christmas tree… decorating the house for the holidays… enjoying the snow… attending parties and being with family for the holidays. It’s been wonderful and I’m sad that Christmas is over. However, I am very excited for the new year and all that it will bring!

Twenty Seventeen | Our Year in Review

Adjusting to marriage has been fun – and a learning experience. We have a blast together and love being married. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t adjustments.  I miss my home and family at times… but I love our new town… our house is just perfect for us and I’m adjusting to being at a new church. All in all… marriage has been even better than I imagined. We are s thankful for all the God has done this past year… and all that He will do in the year to come!

Final Thoughts

Well, that’s our year in review. Of course, there were fun things that happened that I didn’t mention… for the sake of time, and because I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few things along the way. It’s been an amazing year as always… this one just happened to be full of lots of wonderful changes. There were stressful times along the way, but God’s been good!

How about you? What are some of your favorite memories from this past year? Please share in the comments – I would love to hear what God’s been doing in your life as well!

With lots of love,

Rebekah Joy (2)

4 thoughts on “Twenty-Seventeen | Our Year In Review ♥

  1. I’m new to this blog, and I went back and looked at your wedding post–oh my, what a beautiful wedding! I’m in a season of life when I’m going to a lot of weddings, and it’s truly one of the most special things. And way to go in getting an inexpensive (but still lovely) wedding dress! I got mine on clearance from a bridal shop that was closing and never regretted it one bit. 🙂

    This year, being married and owning our own house, we’ve taken over the family hosting duties from my parents. Some of my favorite memories from this year have been entertaining my family for various holidays (I did Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day this year) and planning the dinner parties and holiday celebrations we’re having next year!

    Thank you for writing a wonderful blog–I’m excited to be part of the community. <3

    1. Hi Florence, thanks so much for reading! I’ve always enjoyed weddings – I agree that they are such a special thing! I was a bridesmaid once and I loved it! Of course my own wedding was the most fun 😉

      That’s so special that you have been able to host some family holidays. I’ve been able to have some family over a few times (not for a holiday though) and it’s been a lot of fun each time!

      Thanks again for reading – and I’m so happy to have you here 🙂

  2. This post ❤️ Reviewing the year can make us grateful all over again for the Lord’s trueness and faithfulness, as we see (a few of) the times He intervened. Our family keeps old kitchen calendars for few years, and when we put away 2017’s, noticing the 2015 calendar got me reminiscing. That year life changed forever when the Lord relocated us to a new part of the country, and the calendar is full of reminders about His amazing timing. 🙂

    This year, the Lord allowed me to work as a nurse assistant over the summer/fall, finish the last nursing school prerequisites, and grow through bittersweet change in several friendships. There have been lots of tears and lots of smiles, moments darker than I’ve ever seen before but also joyous times. Everything was used by Him. There’s not a lot to know about 2018 yet 🙂 but I’m excited to enter it with a Lord Who—whether we are single or married, in school or working—promises to lead us Himself. “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye” (Ps. 32:8) Let’s all keep looking up to Him, ladies! ❤️

    1. Hi Emily, Thanks so much for sharing! That is one of my favorite verses – It’s one I’ve read many times in the past to remind myself that God is in control and He will show me the way! Sounds like you’ve had quite a year! Stay strong in the Lord even through the ups and downs, the good times and bad… hope you have a wonderful 2018!
      Rebekah

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