FRIDAY'S LETTERS

Dear 2012, Wow what a year. Looking back its such a blur.  I can't believe we celebrated New Year's Eve & Jonathan's 29th birthday on the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  We had a lot of fun living there, seeing the Atlanta Ocean and spending time in the south. Then, a few short days later we made an impossible drive of over 2,500 miles in 72 hours.  Our destination was Beverly Hills, California and living in Los Angeles was quite the adjustment. We were crammed in a little studio among the most ridiculous display of wealth that I have ever seen in the country. I wrote the Overheard in LA Series which was pretty hilarious and we got to see the Pacific Ocean, the beautiful beaches of Southern California and all around had an amazing time.  Around Easter we were off again, this time just 6 hours north in the Bay Area. There I met my best friend Michaela in real life and we got to eat a stupid amount of delicious, fresh seafood from Fisherman's Wharf as well as visit Alcatraz and the famous big redwoods. It was here that I finally took the plunge and launched my photography business!  San Francisco is now, and will always be one of my favorite cities.  I also had the opportunity to fly to Seattle and road trip back down the coast stopping in Portland. At the end of July we were off again, this time making another long drive from NorCal to Michigan (again, in just 60 hours) and spent two long weeks on our annual vacation in Traverse City, Michigan (Part 1 and Part 2 here). After that Jonathan worked in Kalamazoo until October while looking for a permanent job.  Just when we had made the decision that he would take another "travel" position in Grand Rapids (45 minutes from Kalamazoo), THAT job fell through.  We spent a rough few days not knowing at all what we were going to do, where we were going to be living or what was happening.  But as always, the Lord provides and Jonathan was blessed with an amazing job as a clinic director right in Kalamazoo where we wanted to be! It was a job that was even better than he was expecting!  Since then we have been house hunting and as I type we have an offer out on a home.   We are waiting to hear wether the sellers are going to accept it and we are so excited to finally be getting to close to having a home to call  our VERY own for the first time since we have been married!  Of course, 2012 had its hard parts too--- with several pregnancy losses and being so far from family it was emotionally exhausting in some ways.  But in general, I look back at 2012 as a year of such amazing accomplishments, and huge growth and success. Our 2013 adventures will look very different this year but I can't tell you how excited I am for this year and the blessings it will bring. Thanks to everyone who lived through 2012 via this blog, and I hope you will stick around for the year to come!

-ashley
p.s. a new Friday's Letters button will be up at some point today, I am working on it!
p.p.s. image links will be back next Friday as well :)

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