A Look Back at 2012 (Part 1)

I’ve gone back and forth in my head about whether or not to do a 2012 recap. I do one every year, but I’m so ready to leave 2012 behind that I almost didn’t want to look back. Even though 2012 was the worst year of my life, there were still good moments.  It was a challenging year.  I went into the year with nothing but optimism and soon ended up with a broken heart and broken bones.  But, I survived.  So here is a look back:

In January, we took the kids bowling for the first time.  Bella Grace turned one!  We didn’t have a party, just a small group of family over to enjoy some Hello Kitty cake.  Bella wasted no time digging into her cake and made the best mess ever.  I shared our struggles with age three and some breastfeeding advice as passed the one year milestone.

February brought our first heartache of the year with the loss of our sweet Tucker.  I still miss him so much and Bryson talks about him a lot.  I shared some of our favorite preschool supplies and how to make homemade slime.  We enjoyed the warm weather and played outside.  I tried no heat curls and shared my anger after domestic violence was made out to be a joke during the Grammy’s.

March was probably our best month out of the year.  It was just simple.  I did a lot of cleaning and organizing and gave our dining room table a makeover.  The weather was gorgeous and this is still one of my favorite photos.  My father-in-law was released from prison and I prayed that this time would be different.  (It hasn’t been, just in case you were wondering.)  Justin’s brother & sister came for a visit.  We made edible finger paint.

April got off to a good start as we learned that Monica’s killer entered into a guilty plea.  It was relief to know that a trial had been avoided.  We had a wonderful Easter surrounded by our family from all sides.  Four days later, our lives were turned upside down.  On Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 9:10PM, our sweet sixteen year old Kolby left this earth for his Heavenly home.  Kolby was laid to rest the day before my birthday.  One week after his death, Crossville High School held a balloon release in memory of Kolby.  We attended Day Out with Thomas for the second year near the end of the month.  It was a nice distraction.  We also had a family party for Gangan’s birthday and I picked up my camera to help deal with the loss.

May was spent surrounded by family as we all struggled to keep it together.  We grilled at the river often, made our summer bucket list, and began working on it.  Justin built the kids a water table using an old sink and a water wall out of recycled materials.  We made the cutest boiled eggs ever.  At the end of the month, we celebrated my cousin, Brianna’s, high school graduation.

During June, we continued to cling to one another and tried our hardest to stay busy.  Bryson & I made homemade water color paints.  We spent every weekend at the river, tubing, having fun out on the water, and even had a s’mores party.  The first blood drive was held in memory of Kolby; the same day that I was called fat in front of 5 million people.  I struggled to accept that Kolby was really gone in a post titled Eight Weeks.  It felt like a punch in the gut when Monica’s killer was only sentenced to 37 years total for her murder and abuse of her corpse.  I still don’t understand how that could happen.  Justin and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary and I shared a little about our wedding.

I’ll finish with July through December tomorrow.  I hope you have a fabulous Friday!