This year has been such a crazy year for our family.
We experienced every emotion from sadness, grief, and anger to happiness, excitement, and joyfulness.
We experienced all these emotions to the extreme!
I can honestly say that in our 7 years of marriage, this was the toughest year for Nick and I.
We realized at the beginning of the year that all the separations and deployments we had faced as a couple had caught up to our marriage.
Reintegration reared it's ugly head into our family, but lucky for us, we had God on our side.
With a lot of hard work, prayer, and counseling, we overcame our obstacles, and it made our family unit and our marriage that much stronger.
We also experienced two deaths at the end of the year, and it hit our little family like a freight train.
I like to say that I am pretty honest and straightforward in my blog.
I write about my struggles, our family's struggles, and just life in general.
I hope that through my blog, it can give people hope, and a sense of feeling that they are not alone...especially my fellow military families.
I realize how taxing "this life" can be emotionally, and I hope that by sharing a little slice of my life with y'all...the good and the bad...you can get something out of it.
So here are the highlights of our year!
Enjoy!
We spent the first two months of the year separated (surprise!).
Nick went to the advanced course for GySgts in Quantico.
And of course he left us during the snowiest time of year in New England.
We tried to make the best of it.
Nick even flew home over some of the long weekends he had to hang out with us!
Dannika started dance this year at Miss HeeJin's Dance studio in Natick!
She had her very first recital this Spring.
Sleeves went back up in the Marine Corps!
I know a lot of very happy Marine wives.
Sleeves up, Guns out!
We became the proud owners of a 1972 Chevelle SS!
Nick ended up flipping it and selling it when we moved to Texas and made a profit on it!
Nick seriously injured his eye playing dodgeball at a work function.
He got a hyphema in his eye.
It was an extremely stressful time for our family since he was scheduled to go to OCS just a month before this happened!
Luckily he had a full recovery!
For my 30th birthday, Nick took us to California.
We got to visit friends, go the Disneyland, and he put together a little party for me at my favorite restaurant in the OC!
Nick got me a new car for our anniversary!
Nick was selected at the beginning of the year for the Marine Corps' MECEP program.
It's a highly competitive enlisted to officer program in the Marine Corps.
This meant that he would once again, leave us for almost 3 months this summer to attend Officer Candidates' School.
This was the morning he left.
Dannika finished preschool!
Dannika turned 5 this July, and because Nick wasn't home, our amazing neighbors threw her a 5th birthday party at their house!
We were truly blessed in 2014 with some pretty awesome neighbors.
FINALLY...
We waited 10 long weeks....
Our little family flew down to Quantico, VA to watch Nick graduate from OCS!
He graduated with honors on the CO's list!
We were so proud of him!
It was definitely one of my proudest moments as Nick's wife!
Nick got home just in time for us to celebrate his 31st birthday with the neighbors and the family!
My sweet sweet Dannika Jane became a KINDERGARTENER!!!
How did this happen!?
We took a trip to St. Louis to watch a dear friend that we met in California get married!
Nick said his farewell to Boston University!
We bought our second home in Texas, and Nick became a Texas resident! (hooray!)
We ended the year losing Nick's mum and my grandma.
With the whirlwind of a year that we had, we didn't think much more could possibly happen.
Through their passing, our family's gotten much closer and a lot stronger.
I am so thankful that we have each other for support, and I am so grateful that we live close to my family.
I don't know how we would have gotten through this difficult time without them!
Here's to a better 2015, and living a life that would make mum and my grandma proud!
