Possibilities

So January is pretty much over and I haven't really made an official post for this year yet. Where does the time go....oh yeah, working, keeping house, church involvement, working. :)

Brian and I sat down a week or so ago and sort of planned out our year and budgeted for the big expenses that we knew we would have. We have some doctor's bills to pay off which hasn't been all that fun, but it has made me extremely grateful that we have insurance. Our insurance has made a Boing! into a slight Ouch! which we can live with. Blessings! There were a couple times that we could travel to Idaho this year, once for the Westover reunion and once for Christmas with my family. After much thought, prayer and discussion we decided that it would be best for us to forgo the reuinion and just make the trip for Christmas. It was a really tough decision, because we haven't seen most of Brian's extended family since we moved out here in 2010, and my family lives right around the reunion location and so we could visit both families at once, etc. But to meet our financial goals for the year, we only can make it to Idaho once. :( It has been over a year since I've seen any of my family and I miss them like crazy, but waiting an extra six months won't be all that terrible.

We tentatively have planned two other events. Wonderful, exciting events that I am greatly anticipating. We most likely will be visiting Gettysburg this spring, where we will get to see where the battle took place and visit the spot where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address. I love history and this trip will be full of it. Also, Brain has volunteered to take a leg of PC Mag's fastest mobile network event again. Last year we visited Louisiana and Texas. We don't know where we are going for sure yet, or if we are going, but it most likely will happen. We are hoping for somewhere down south such as Georgia or Florida or up north maybe through New England or maybe the midwest like Saint Louis...we're having a hard time deciding where we most want to go. It all depends on the route selection and availability any, but it's awesome to think of all the possible places that we might get to visit. These opportunities are too great to pass up, mostly because they are going to be very cheap trips for us, and I've found that after about six months or so I need its nice to take a break from NY.

So in just one week our year has started to fill up. Just thinking about the new places we get to see makes me smile. My life has definetly changed from when I was growing up. I lived in Chester Idaho my whole life and our family took vacations to Salt Lake City and Boise, and once we drove to California. That was a crazy trip. Six kids in a minivan on winding roads... my parents were brave! Since going to college and marrying Brian I've been to tons of new places...Mexico, Nevada, Canada, Oregon, California, New York, Louisiana, Texas. Okay, so the list is relatively short for all of you world travelers out there, but for a humble country girl who grew up on a dairy farm the list is pretty intense. I can't wait to see what states I get to add to the list this year. :)

Throughout all of this planning, it's been interesting to start with a full brand new year stretching out in front of us with nothing written on it yet, full of possibilities and choices and different paths. I like having a new slate to start with, of using my agency and making my choices and putting a new plan together for this next period of time in our lives. Life is so exciting and wonderful and full of new places and experiences just waiting to be visted and discovered and learned. Hooray for life, love and the opportunity to experience all of it!