Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing. Believe in yourself. And believe that there is a loving Source - a Sower of Dreams - just waiting to be asked to help you make your dreams come true. -Sarah Ban Breathnach
2016…Another year has ended and a new one has begun. 2016, was a special year for me. It was in 2016 that I got engaged! Now, most people get excited about the proposal, how it happened, and looking forward to planning a wedding. For me, getting engaged is about the promise that my fiancé has given me and the promise that I have given to him. I know what your thinking, the wedding ceremony is where the promise is given, but being engaged is the beginning. It starts the promise of agreeing to be committed to each other for the rest of out lives. It is a promise that we will continue to grow with each other and not apart. It is a promise to love every version of each other. It is a promise to accept and love each other fully. Agreeing to get married is a agreeing to alway work on our relationship for the rest of our lives, and not just skate by because we said ‘I Do’. I am excited to go through lives struggles and SMILES with this amazing man.
I sit here and reflect on past New Years celebrations. I remember celebrating with friends and family and remembering the good times we had the past year, and those to come in the new year. I can remember drafting a text message, selecting all the 20+ friends to send it to and just waiting for the clock to strike midnight so I could wish all those important people in my life a Happy New Year. With Social media now, things have been become less personal. We do not tend to reach out to people personally. We write a general status to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Let me put it in a way I am sure you will all understand. On Facebook, I have 457 friends, with about 150 of them are family members. The amount of those I talk to in real life I can count on 2 hands.
With the convenience of Facebook and the many friends online, we start to wish them all Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Congrats on a big achievement, or sympathy for a loss. When we do this for all 457 friends, it becomes less personal. We loose the personal touch of a close friend taking the time to reach out to us in time of need or excitement.
Ok, I know I have been down on social media and you are all thinking, “if she is against it, why does she use it?” Well social media does have its pluses. We can connect with long lost friends, keep up with family members, and follow our role models. I believe there is a time to use social media and technology, and there are times to put it away and be personal and present in the world around you.
But enough about all of that…let’s get to the SMILES:
While shopping for Christmas, and picking up our wedding rings, our car decided to brake down. We had to call the tow truck, and found out the starter was bad. he had to tow the car to a dealer near by. With a car that wouldn't start, Jad and I had to find a ride home. We went into the jewelry store and asked the lady that sold us our rings if she could take us home (you see when we picked out the rings, we realized she lives a few houses down from us!) She was more than willing to give us a ride home.
Purchasing groceries, and realizing that we no long have to take them up multiple flights of stairs
Actually seeing an octopus moving in the tank at the zoo, such an incredible animal!
Christmas Day - Being able to spend the whole day with Jad, and only Jad. It was a relaxing day spent together. We relived some childhood memories by playing Oregon Trail on the computer and the new card game….Let me tell you what, that is not an easy game! I died 8 times before making it to Oregon!
New Years Eve - Spending it with my family at their cabin in
southern Iowa. Time spent together and enjoying nature. We spent the nights watching the sunset, listening to the ice talk, laying on the dock looking at the stars and calling the birds in by using the Merlin App. Spending time at the cabin helps me refresh and remember this amazing world God created.
Overall, 2016 was a great year…But I am sure 2017 will be even better!
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