Hello friends!

It’s time for a post looking back on my 2023. It’s been a pretty laid-back year overall; not filled with as many drastic changes for me as, say, last year when I got married. But it’s been a beautiful year with so much growth and so many wonderful memories made nonetheless.

Enjoy scrolling through my year in review!

I’ll break this up into months with mini reviews for each of them, as well as a link to my favorite post I published for that month. I wanted to simplify things a bit since these posts always get incredibly long.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Met up with friends from Sully’s old church for Bruster’s ice cream and Crazy Uno.
• Visited different local churches in our community.
• HARRISON ASKED MEGAN OUT! She and I talked/shrieked about it for like 2 hours. 😛
• My little sister Carmen turned 13! :O
• Went out to eat (sort of – see below) various times with family and friends.
• Sully and I did a 3 week fast with his church – SO hard even though I only did a partial fast.
• We watched lots of Gilmore Girls together. 🙂

FAVORITE POST || A Day in My Life as a Homemaker

HIGHLIGHTS

• It finally (barely) snowed – the only snow for this winter.
• Took a nice prayer walk on my family’s farm.
• Our last week at my old church and first weeks attending our new church plant! EXCITEMENT.
• Attended a fun “Sweet 16” party for Sheridan with black lights and dancing.
• A relaxing vacation in Wytheville – hiking, sightseeing, driving, and chilling at our hotel room.
• Added + made a lot of new decorations for our house.
• Built a compost bin and prepared our garden plot for planting.

FAVORITE POST || A Blacklight Birthday Party

HIGHLIGHTS

• Buffalo (sibling group) parties ft. Wawa, running around, and accidental group text triple dates.
• Sheridan gave me a cute short haircut.
• Planted daffodils and crocuses which brought me much joy.
• Lovely unexpected golden hour drive after small group cancelled for the night.
• Finished my Bible Journaling project after six years. :O
• Helped host a beautiful baby shower for my SIL, Bethany!
• Went on a “work trip” for Sully’s job and got to stay in a nice lake house + get a tasty breakfast.

FAVORITE POST || A Trip to the Mountains {Adventures in Wytheville}

HIGHLIGHTS

• Visited my friend Aria in Missouri – saw her amazing play + cute ducklings, and slept in the car. XD
• Celebrated Easter with family; the cousins pushed Dad’s truck a mile after it ran out of gas, ha!
• A Buffalo party ft. a Mule ride with many breakdowns and a bonfire in the evening.
• My niece Ellanie was born! ❤
• Sully got a day off of work because of the weather so we had fun playing games + watching shows.
• Photographed the Spring Fling – an annual fun-filled festival hosted by some friends.
• A graduation party for my cousin Leisha – yummy snacks and rewatching childhood movies.

FAVORITE POST || Golden Hour Spring Photoshoot

HIGHLIGHTS

• Planted my garden! Hooray!
• Went to Emma and Josh’s lovely wedding. 🙂
• I turned 23 and celebrated with ice cream cake, a golden hour walk, and some shopping.
• Sully and I took a nice day trip to Richmond and the Canal Walk.
• We celebrated our first anniversary with a photoshoot, nice dinner, and ice cream. ❤
• Mom’s heart started acting up again and I helped with driving to various appointments. 😦
• Went to Vero Beach in Florida for the Alexander family vacation!

FAVORITE POST || First Anniversary Q&A + Photoshoot, Part 1

HIGHLIGHTS

• More fun vacationing with the Alexanders – and like 17/23 people getting the stomach bug. :O
• Picking mulberries from our backyard tree.
• An epic family reunion with my Dad’s family ft. a Slip & Slide and friends from Finland!
• Began a huge crochet blanket with gifted scrap yarn.
• Met Chessie and Logan’s adorable new Beagle puppy at my family’s monthly Family Night.
• I second-shot a wedding with my aunt in a venue with caverns!
• So many hot and sweaty hay deliveries. :[]

FAVORITE POST || Family Beach Vacation, Part 3 {Sea Storms & Sunsets}

HIGHLIGHTS

• Had an Independence Day reunion with Sully’s family and saw amazing fireworks with my family.
• Megan and I started a community Bible study for young women & Sully started a band. 🙂
• Canned peach jam and pickles with my sisters and grandmother.
• Attended a marriage conference at Sully’s old church.
• We celebrated Sully’s 24th birthday with gifts, his birthday supper, and video games. 🙂
• My brother Jeff graduated highschool and we had a fun low-key party for him.
• Got ice cream with my family at a local food truck for Dad’s birthday – ft. a GORGEOUS sunset!

FAVORITE POST || Family Beach Vacation, Part 4 {The Finale}

HIGHLIGHTS

• Met up with an elementary school friend at a super cute bookstore.
• Finally introduced ourselves to and made friends with our neighbor!
• A deer totaled the work truck while Sully was driving. :[] Everyone was okay, thankfully.
• I photographed another lovely wedding for Lydia and Zach.
• Went to King’s Dominion and rode rollercoasters with the Buffalos!
• Went to Smith Mountain Lake with my family for a fun vacation.
• Had a reel go viral for the first time and got lots more followers on my art business IG, yay!

FAVORITE POST || A Peek into an Artist’s Sketchbook 

HIGHLIGHTS

• A fun Family Night with my family ft. apple bobbing and a water balloon fight.
• Worked so hard on my poem book and self-published it!
• Found out my granddaddy has severe leukemia. 😦 ❤
• A neighborhood stray cat appeared for one day and made us fall in love with her and then left…
• Went thrifting with sisters + friends – SO fun and successful!
• Went floating/tubing with Sully’s family – VERY chilly but great memories XD
• Enjoyed a lovely girls’ retreat at Aria’s family’s house. Delicious food and fun memories.

FAVORITE POST || Homemaking Tips + a Little Home Update

HIGHLIGHTS

• Went to a funeral for Sully’s great aunt with his family.
• Visited my grandparents for Gram’s birthday and to see Granddaddy.
• Mom, Carmen and I went to an Amish produce auction and got such good deals! So fun.
• Went to a lovely women’s retreat with my old church.
• Sully helped me with my first craft fair! It went pretty well but was SO windy.
• Spontaneously drove two hours to help my aunt with their fried pie shop one day.
• Our Bible study got together to watch Narnia and eat candy in a barn loft on Halloween. 😀

FAVORITE POST || Through the Back Door {Poem Book Launch + Giveaway}

HIGHLIGHTS

• Mom and I both reported for jury duty but weren’t chosen. Long, boring, but educational.
• Helped Harrison with his professional Christmas lighting business a couple times.
• Our pastor resigned. 😦 God has graciously continued to bless our church despite that.
• Drove to Philadelphia for my cousin’s wonderful wedding + a tour of “their” ministry.
• Lots of delicious and nice family Thanksgivings.
• Went piano-searching for church but Sully’s car broke down so it was a whole adventure…
• Our church held a HILARIOUS and super fun talent show. XD

FAVORITE POST || Etcetera #24 {Autumn Views, Apple Bobbing, Many Cats, Etc.}

HIGHLIGHTS

• Got to photograph some friends and their adorable new baby.
• My family helped Harrison put up Christmas lights for Mom’s birthday!
• Went to another craft market which was exhausting but SO successful. :O
• Christmas caroled with our church and overheard my sister sharing the gospel. ❤
• HARRISON AND MEGAN GOT ENGAGED AHHHH! Plus an engagement party and photoshoot + wedding dress fittings!
• A huge leap in holiday sales kept me extremely busy on the Etsy side of things.
• Enjoyed various family and church Christmas celebrations/vacations – still a couple to go!

FAVORITE POST || Mary’s Song {a Christmas Poem}

A few more miscellaneous happenings I didn’t want to leave out…

• My mom had a lot of heart issues and health problems this year which was pretty scary, but God graciously provided successful surgeries to heal her. ❤ Both Sully’s and my family had tons of health issues, actually – heart malfunctions, a brain tumor, pregnancy complications, cancer… lots of stuff. Praise God that for the most part they ended well or are still healing.
• Spent delightful hay day lunch breaks and Family Nights catching up with my family, and Sunday Nacho Nights with Sully’s family, plus various trips and vacations with both. I am SO grateful we both love each other’s families and get along well!
• Crocheted and embroidered many things! I’m still proud of the huge blanket I made.
• Got to watch Megan and Harrison’s relationship grow. Megan and I have had many deep and lovely conversations on this topic since after all, Megan’s my sister and Harrison is Sully’s brother. I’m THRILLED for them and excited for their wedding next year.
• Hosted + met up with friends and church family for so many good conversations. I’m especially grateful that our church family is still vibrant, faithful, and amazing at loving each other despite the period of transition we’re going through right now.
• Finished watching Gilmore Girls and learned how to play Minecraft. 🙂 Now Sully and I often play Minecraft together instead of watching shows to relax on free evenings.

I think I’ll end the post here since I wanted to keep it shorter and simpler this time. I hope you enjoyed that recap! I so excited for this upcoming year and I can’t wait to share it with you. ❤ Here’s to a marvelous 2024.

What were some highlights of your year?

Thanks so much for reading my blog this year, my friends, and have a lovely 2024!

***Allison***