Greetings Friends & Family,
Hello from North Carolina! We cannot thank God enough for the countless
blessings He has given us in 2012. He
has shown us repeatedly what a great God we serve.
This was our
“Year of Weddings!” We traveled
throughout North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey to take part in eight
weddings. What an honor to be a part of
each wedding—all distinctly different and unique. Each wedding gave us the opportunity to
celebrate another marriage and reflect on our own marriage. One year and nine months ago we said, “I do!” Being married has been more fun than we could
have ever imagined, we continue to learn about each other. We are still in awe and continue striving to
keep the “honeymoon phase” forever.
This
year was a “Year of Firsts!” We
celebrated our first wedding anniversary in March. Our birthdays are also in March so we took
one big celebration trip to Oak Island, NC.
We were given the opportunity to stay in a friend’s beach house for free—what
a blessing! It was incredibly refreshing
to relax at the beach. Our favorite
memories from that trip include the huge seafood meal we enjoyed our first
night, biking along the ocean and visiting Airlee Gardens in Wilmington,
NC.
In
April, we were baptized!!!
This
summer we took advantage of NC’s fresh strawberries, blueberries and peaches. At local farms we picked our own fruit; it was so
much fun! We made jam and strawberry
topping (AKA unset strawberry jam). It
turned out great for our first attempt.
This year we were frequent shoppers at our farmer’s market and met Mr.
Yates, a local farmer. He has the best
produce and honey, which we saw when we toured his farm. This was our second year of back-porch gardening. We grew a few types of tomatoes, peppers,
basil and lettuce. It was quite fruitful!
We
are involved with Ignite Church and the college ministry, FUSE. Chris plays bass guitar in the band and
Jessica mentors a few ladies. We host a
college small group and absolutely love spending time with the college
students. They not only challenge us but
also help us grow in our faith.
Fall
semester of this year Chris started taking online classes at Liberty University
for his Bachelor’s degree in Religion.
His classes have been challenging but extremely rewarding.
In
November, Jessica celebrated her first year as a Registered Dietitian.
Chris
completed his first Tough Mudder race in October. He was on a 9-person team, the race covered
11.2 miles and 23 obstacles; they all survived with only minor scratches and
bruises! Jessica visited NJ in October
and got stuck there for an extra week due to Hurricane Sandy. A devastating experience but also a blessing
to spend extra time with family.
There’s
our year in a nut-shell! Thanks to all
of you, our friends and family, that
continually support and encourage us through our adventures =)
Merry Christmas!
