Happy Happy New Year!

  So yes I must admit I was a total slacker on the whole blogging throughout December thing! It just got the best of me and was so busy that I felt like I never had time to catch up and actually blog. Well now its January and a new year so on the 3rd of December I will start it off right!

I thought I would start the new year off by recapping what a year 2011 was by listing 11 of my highlights of 2011 in no particular order...

1- 1st Anniversary... Well we did it :) Chris and I finished out a whole first year of marriage. We beat out Kim Kardashian. No seriously though, you do go through some adjustments that first year and I am more in love now than I was the day I married him. We got to celebrate by spending a long weekend in St. Simons. Perfection!

2- Becoming a family of three... I bet you all thought I was talking about finding out I was pregnant! Haha, actually on January 18th we welcomed in our Havanese Puppy Jacks and yes I count him as a full on family member. I cannot tell you the amount of joy he has brought us over the last year.

3- Finding out we would be a family of four... Okay here is that finding out I was pregnant part! This was quite a surprise as many of you know but we have truly discovered over the last 29 weeks since we found out that God's timing is perfect. We can't wait to welcome sweet Hutton into this world in 7 weeks or less :)

4- Wizarding World of Harry Potter... Yep- I'm one of those. Now I don't want to get into any type of conversation whether Harry Potter is good or bad. All I can say is I grew up for it and take it for what it is, fictional books and movies that just entertain me. In March, Chris took me on a short trip to Orlando and I got to do the whole Harry Potter world and had a BLAST!

5- Bahamas... In early March even before Harry Potter world I went with some sweet friends and spiritual mentors for a long weekend in the Bahamas. I can tell you without a doubt I've never felt God's presence more in a place than I did those few days. I'm not even sure how to explain it but I came back a better wife, worker, friend, daughter and feeling more renewed than ever before. Hmmm... return trip? I'm so thankful for those sweet friends that experienced that with me.

6- Roughing it... Well, it doesn't really count as roughing it but in February we went with our friends Clay and Melissa up to Mt. Cheaha for the weekend. It was just a relaxing weekend of a little hiking (maybe an exaggeration), food, fun, music, and Catch Phrase! Now 2012 will bring their wedding and we can't wait to share in that excitement with them!

7- Highlights for some sweet people in our life... Some of our friends had some really special moments in the last year that we were able to enjoy with them. My precious friend Aletha married her high school love Bo Mann and they are enjoying married life together! Our friends Brad and Rachel brought home their long awaited and prayed for second daughter Amelia home from Uganda in February. What a special blessing it was to have their family of four together! We also had some other friends JW and KC bring home their sweet little second daughter Zoe home from Ethiopia! Two sweet friends Ty and Kimberly got married in October and we were able to celebrate in that occasion with them! On December 21st, our sweet friends Matt and April Damato welcomed their little boy Lucas into this world! There's more... two of my Melissa friends got engaged and will be getting marred in 2012! Congrats to Clay and Melissa and John and Melissa! And in December we also found out some exciting news that is still a secret :) I think that is all... if I missed anything please please forgive me!!

Aletha and Bo in their coffee shop in St. Simons- Wake Up Coffee Co.!

8- Together... In April of this year the women's ministry of our church put on an exciting event to bring the women of our church together. It was called Together... Pray Love Act. I was in on the planning for this event and had a blast helping plan it as well as seeing God's faithfulness as it all came together. They are also planning another special event for this year and I pray that God will give the women of St. James an incredible experience and reveal himself to them in new ways!

9- 25th Birthday... Trips are always fun, trips with friends and your spouse are even better! We spent a long weekend with our friends the Goode's and the Freeman's at the beach for my 25th birthday. It is just extra special because you get to be with both your spouse and some of your besties all at the same time!

10- Paseo... Chris and I spent our actual anniversary weekend at Paseo which is a spiritual retreat. I really can't go into detail about the experience except say that it started out slow but ended up really blowing us away :) If you are interested in learning more or going yourself... let me know!

11- It's a Boy/Baby Shower... I will combine these so that I don't take up so many things with info about Hutton! Well we had two fun parties that involved Hutton this year. Late summer we found out we were having a BOY and threw a gender reveal party at our house to announce the news that Hutton Whatley would be joining our fam. Then in December, a sweet group of friends threw an amazing baby shower for me. I was honored by all the people that came to support us as well as so blessed by the beautiful gifts they gave. A special thank you to my sweet friend Mary for opening up her home!

Okay, I said I would only do 11 things because it was 2011 but I had to add 1 more. I also started an awesome new job in August that I love! I am now the Director of the Montgomery Area Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy which is a project of the Gift of Life Foundation.

2011 surely did bring us many blessings and I have a feeling 2012 has some awesome things in store. On Thursday, I'll tell you about my excitement and ideas for 2012!