I usually like to wrap up the end of each year with an article highlighting what happened throughout the year. At the bottom of this post you can see all my highlights from the first year I started blogging til now. I love to share what has happened so that you can follow along, and I also love documenting it for my own enjoyment, to see what God is doing in my life.
My goal was to get this out by December 31st, however, one thing after another kept me from hitting that goal. I share a little about what has been going on here: What To Do When The New Year Doesn’t Start Off As You Expect
So it may be a few weeks late, but here are my highlights from 2015…
The first week of January started out with a bang as I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago to record reading my book The Unveiled Wife. I was so blessed to experience going to a studio and reading the words I poured into this book about my life. As amazing as this was, it was a difficult trip. This was the first time I had left my son overnight. I was also 7 months pregnant. Traveling in the winter, by myself, for the first time in 2 years, was lonely, and I admit when I missed my connecting flight on the way home and had to spend an extra day in a hotel I just about lost it. I stood in a line trying to get another route home just weeping. When I finally made it home, I realized how much I love my family and I realized how difficult it must be for mothers who leave their families for work regularly.
You can listen to a sample chapter of my book HERE.
Then toward the end of January, my husband’s sister-in-law passed away. It was a tragic situation. We didn’t hesitate to get our things together quickly and head to California to spend time with family.
Our trip to California extended into February. While we were there, we received a phone call from our landlord that we would not be able to renew our lease in March. My emotions swirled crazily inside. Preparing for a book launch and then the birth of my baby in April, moving was the last thing I wanted to try and accomplish. However, the good Lord provided for us as soon as we got back to Oregon and our friends helped us with a swift move into our new place.
Also in February, we had the privilege to hear our new Worship Song. Aaron and I desired to use the opportunity of the upcoming book launch to praise God. The song was a collaboration with our good friends Quiet Science and it is titled: The Unveiled.
Listen to The Unveiled:
The first week of March was something I had looked forward to for a very long time. My traditionally published book with Tyndale Momentum, The Unveiled Wife: Embracing intimacy with God and your husband finally released! My husband went all out to celebrate! First he surprised me with a day at the spa, then I got my hair and nails done, then to top it all off he invited all of our close friends for a dinner downtown. I was floating on clouds!
Also that first week I got some girlfriends together for the Be Unveiled Event. If you missed that you can watch it here:
I felt so loved and cherished for all the support I received both in person, but also online from the Unveiled Wife community. I praise God for this incredible opportunity I got to experience surrounding my book launch.
Before I could calm down from the excitement in March, April came and went. On April 29th around, two days after the baby was due, we headed to the hospital to meet our sweet baby!
At 3am on the 30th I gave birth to the most precious baby girl! You can read all about that here: Baby Birth Story – Introducing Baby Olive Ann
In May, when my parents came out to visit the baby we took a small day trip to Salem. We got to check out the Enchanted Forest, the Children’s Museum and we discovered Word of Mouth Bistro which is by far one of the best food joints I’ve been too. That was a fun day!
June came and brought with it much warmer weather. Our family started a summer tradition of “Saturday Adventure Day!” We made up a bucketlist of things we wanted to see and do, then every Saturday we got up early, packed a lunch and headed out for a great adventure. Some of the wonderful things we explored included Sahalie Falls, Proxy Falls, Crater Lake, Horseback riding, early morning fishing, and other awesome central Oregon sites!
Also in June, we celebrated my twin brother graduating from the nursing program. I am so proud of him.
July was slow for our family. And we liked it that way. We had experienced so much in the first half of the year with the book launch and baby being born that we found ourselves tired. We spend lots of down time playing games and of course adventuring on Saturdays.
We did find time to work together on Thirty-One Prayers For My Wife! This resource was a top priority on our list of goals for 2015, so we were thrilled to be able to release it, and it is doing very well! Being able to offer the book bundle at a discount was a huge blessing for us and our communities. For more information on these resources you can click HERE.
I challenge you to take the 31 day challenge and pray for your spouse!
I also had the opportunity to take my young daughter with me to Little Rock for an interview with Dennis Rainey & Bob Lepine on the Family Life Radio Show which just launched this January!
Listen to the 3 part series HERE!
I was anxious about being on the radio, yet the staff at Family Life made me feel so comfortable. I praise God for the opportunity I had to share my marriage story.
In September we went back to California to spend quality time with our families. We had a ticket that was going to expire and we didn’t want it to go to waste. Plus baby Olive was growing so fast and many of our family members had not yet met her. It was a great trip and we got to take the kids to the beach, something we miss while living in Central Oregon.
We also launched the Unveiled Wife Membership in September. I was nervous and excited about this opportunity. We had hundreds of wives joining in during the week to engage with the devotionals and forum. The next three months I was consumed with this membership as I dived into preparing content, making videos and doing the prayer calls. It was pretty awesome. 
October and November in Central Oregon are beautiful. The leaves everywhere turn vibrant shades of red and orange. The weather is crisp. It is wonderful. During this time my son turned 3! THREE! How did this happen? This is a defining moment. He is no longer a baby or a toddler, but he is a getting-bigger-eating-me-out-of-a-house-kid! I love it!
Here are a few of the articles I wrote this year (Just click the graphic to read!):
We also took advantage of the beautiful backdrop of Oregon and took some family photos with Allison Harp. I love capturing stills of our sweet little family.
In December my husband and I released Husband After God!!! This has been a long time coming. Husband After God is the husband version of Wife After God. We sold over 1000 in the very first week! We are praying that God is glorified as husbands and wives go through these resources together and draw closer to God. This is a great resource to read together with your spouse and then discuss!
Then, to end the year right, I got to celebrate my 30th Birthday!! My friend Cambria from Effortless Events threw me the best murder mystery party. I had never been to anything like this before. And it was fabulous. A night I will always remember. More pictures of my murder mystery party will come soon! But here is a live Facebook from that night for you to enjoy!
1920’s birthday theme for my 30th!!
Posted by Unveiled Wife on Wednesday, December 30, 2015
I forgot to show my outfit! And the party is about to start!
Posted by Unveiled Wife on Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Our year was very full. We experienced a ton of exciting, as well as hard moments. I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything. We appreciate all the ways we grew this year and we are looking forward to all that we will experience in the next year.
