Best of 2019 with friends
My friend Emily invited me, along with a handful of other blogger friends, to do a “best of 2019” blogpost, each of course with our own spin on it. I love each of these ladies dearly (and their blogs!), so I can’t wait to read what they wrote as well! Here are links to their posts, in case you’re interested in finding some lovely new blogs to read and to see what their answers are!
Emily Thomas
Samantha Ray
Lisa Kirk
Victoria Strader
Rhi Bosse
Without further ado, my “Best of 2019!”
Best adventure/travel/trip: Earlier this year, our family visited Nashville Tennessee for a week to spend time with my mom, my sister, her husband, and all their kiddos. It was such great cousin time! We went to Amish country together and did an hour long tour, we went to a little water park, and we played and played together. I also got to watch Jess and Taylor’s photo shoot happen for their new album Mission House, which was just plain FUN!
Best book: Anonymous & Switch on your Brain.
Best movie: The Avengers Endgame? Why can I not think of any other movies than this? I clearly need to get out more. I mean, it was a really great movie… but I feel like this is not a true representation of my taste in movies!
Best album or song: Mission House (album), Center of it (song).
Best podcast: The Next Right Thing (personal, spiritual, encouragement) & The Graham Cochrane Show (business)
Best follow on Instagram: Kate from Naptime Kitchen!
Best date: I feel like that girl in Miss Congeniality, finding myself thinking… “what does this mean?!” Ha! Will and I really enjoyed our 2 day stay at Fearrington Village - the first time away from Beaufort. While this isn’t technically one date, it was the best thing we did for our marriage all year. So I’m counting it!
Best kiddo milestone: Milly learning to read. Just watching the lightbulb moments are so fun! Lyndon. In general. Lyndon at age 2 is like heaven on earth. She is hilarious and as sweet as can be!! We want to keep her like this forever. Also, Beaufort’s two bottom teeth. I can’t.
Best faith grower: Having 3 small kids. Period. Talk about crying out to Jesus for help every single day. Learning how to listen in all of the noise, in all of the need, in feeling so stretched thin. Learning to pray as I work, as I do dishes, as quiet times feel hard to come by some weeks. // Closing my photography business. Talk about trust, and a complete reset of my identity. This has been a necessary and good step, but a difficult one for me. It’s been a wild ride, and this entire year has been marked with grief, closure, and a change of season. // Silence and solitude, which is a RARE THING in our house. Honestly though - the times I just asked to be alone in my room, I felt so connected with the Lord and so enriched, it was beautiful. Realizing it’s worth fighting for now more than ever.
Best trend you tried: I’m really not that cool. What are the trends these days? ;) If you really know me, you know I live under a rock. I don’t really pay attention (or care that much) about trends. Oh! Somebody sent me a hydroflask! That’s trendy! And I like it!
Best beauty purchase: Hands down, my new primally pure face cleanser. It’s oil that cleanses your face and smells like heaven. OB. SESSED.
Best family memory: Spontaneously going to the Great Wolf Lodge for the weekend! It was a blast!
Best habit you created: Joining friends for workouts. It is way more fun that way!
Best new recipe: Honey Butter Chicken in the crockpot! A friend brought this to me earlier this year after Beaufort was born and I could not get enough.
Best life or mom hack: Making preschool lunch the night before. Simple, yet it has helped our mornings IMMENSELY.
Best mama moment: When my birth photo went viral, I’ll never forget waking up Beaufort at 11pm so he could be on the news. That was pretty fun, and I can’t wait to tell him all about it when he gets older!
Best home improvement: Cleared out pine trees and underbrush, then painted our house white!
Before:
After:
Best little luxury you've enjoyed: Ordering ahead on the Starbucks app, leaving all the kids in the car and running inside to grab the order. Then quietly sipping while who knows what is going on in the back seat!
Choose one or two questions and answer them yourself in the comments! I’d love to hear them!
Affiliate links used in this post!