10 Things I Learned in 2015

July 6, 2015 // Favorite Shot of 2015

1. Making your own hot chocolate is a great idea. The first recipe I tried came right off of the Hershey's cocoa powder box. In August, I discovered an even better recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Also, Old Fashioned donuts go GREAT with the latter recipe.

2. I really want to move back to South Carolina. The winter of 2014-2015 is responsible for this lesson. Going back again in the fall to watch my brother graduate from police academy sealed the deal.

3. Living to make yourself happy, only makes you uneasy. God says a lot about this in His Word and there's a reason why. Stay in the Word and listen.

Jan. 7, 2015 // Three of six.

4. That you should wash your clear shower curtain in the washing machine once every three months. The first day of each new season is a perfect reminder.

5. That ants can apparently eat or at least carry off seeds. If you have an ant problem in your garden, take care of the ants and THEN plant your seeds. I usually do this, but this year I didn't and I ended up having to plant my cucumbers several times.

6. Cosmos really can bloom anytime during the summer and will continue blooming until the plant is killed off by frosts.

March 17, 2015

7. That theatre life is HARD and also very rewarding. The schedules require a lot of evenings away from home right around dinner time. Once shows start, there go your weekends too. Seeing my brother and sister SHINE and having countless audience members rave about the performances makes it all worth while. I'll never forget the little boy who sat in the front row at one of the shows...It was his first time to see a live performance and the JOY the show brought him could not be hidden.

8. That the Holy Spirit's main ministry in the life of the believer is to mediate the presence of Christ.  Packer's book "Keep In Step With The Spirit" taught me this!

9. How to poach an egg. I've been doing it at least once a week ever since. If you want to learn, you should check out this video and especially this video.

10 . The wonders of essential oils. The latest victory was adding two drops of lemon EO to the washing machine while I was washing some kitchen towels that just needed a little extra help.

Bonus - That I really enjoy preparing for and putting the work into photo shoots for sponsored posts. After working with several brands over the last few years I realized that this part of blogging is really inspiring and FUN.

What did you learn in 2015? 

Christmas 2015 In Pictures

The day after Thanksgiving in 2009, marked the day when no family holiday would ever be quite the same. That was the day my barely 17 year old brother packed up his truck and made the cross country trek to start life over again in South Carolina. Since that day, holidays have held a bittersweetness to them that makes me squeeze WHOEVER I'm with a little bit closer.

Christmas 2015 was unlike ANY Christmas before it. My brother (who is now 23) and sister (who happens to be 17) were missing. He still lives in SC and she was visiting over the Christmas vacation. Meanwhile, I ended up celebrating the day at The Queen's Cottage with my Mom and youngest brother. It was just the three of us because my brother was SICK, I was getting sick, and my Mom was getting over having been sick. No body wanted our germs and we didn't feel like traveling, so we stayed put.

The whole week is kind of a blur. The day we dropped my sister off (the Thursday before Christmas) it started snowing and it didn't stop until a few days after Christmas. We shoveled like our lives depended on it. We saw the Star Wars premiere. We got rearended while we were at a stop sign on Monday. Went to a party on Tuesday night with some new friends. By Wednesday, we realized that we would probably be staying put and started planning for how we would celebrate.

I can't remember if it was Christmas Eve, Eve or Christmas Eve...But my Mom and I went shopping to get a few surprises to make sure that Christmas still felt SOMEWHAT like Christmas for my 15 year old brother. We braved the crowds and made our way to Wal-Mart where we picked up some sparkling cider, a waffle iron, one small gift for him, a little tree and tree skirt, and a giant platter of shrimp cocktail.

It was Christmas and sick or not, we had plans to make the most of it!

On Christmas morning, my Mom lit the candles and opened the drapes and the celebration of our Savior's birth began.

We had our traditional waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. We exchanged a few small presents. We had allll the time in the world to lay around feeling miserable (just keeping it real). We facetimed with my sister and the family members she was gathered with. I made a small pot of spaghetti (thankfully, it was the kind of sick where we could all hold down food and had decent appetites) complete with repurposed hamburger buns which served as garlic bread and some homemade crutons to go on our ceasar salads.

The day was slow and lazy and special all at the same time. It was Christmas and the three of us were together with eyes glazed over, fevers running high, and the kind of quiet in your soul that comes when you're thinking deeply about LIFE. 

It was a Christmas for the books. People were missing and a lot DIDN'T happen. Oddly enough, it's not one I want to forget anytime soon.

How was YOUR Christmas?

What is your favorite Christmas tradition that you take with you no matter WHERE you spend it?

 

Continuing in Him

December 18, 2015

I've been reflecting on 2015 over the last month or so and I've really liked what I've found. One day it hit me: 2015 was a year of almost no anxiety.  No matter how hard I try to figure out WHY that was, I keep coming up without an answer. It could be so very many things...

I found myself in South Carolina TWICE in 2015. It was so good for my soul. The kind of good that you can't quite explain. The kind of good that makes your eyes well up with the happiest of tears just thinking about it.

I chose three words for the year and did little more than kick them around every now and then. Reading over my hopes for 2015 makes me praise God because the hope that I wrote about on January 5th could be turned into a description of the year as I sit here on December 29th.

I read the entire Bible. I found a church. I house hunted until I couldn't house hunt any more. I made new friends. I finished college. I read a variety of books and learned a lot from the people that wrote them (E.B. White, Richard Adams, Madeleine L'Engle, and Andrew Murray in particular).

Yesterday morning I found myself standing on the sidewalk chatting with the neighbors. It was 10am and we were all in our pajamas. I was out shoveling snow and they were enjoying cigarettes on their porch. After I put the shovel away in the garage, I headed back into the house with all kinds of thoughts flying around in my mind.

When I rang in 2015 in Georgia, I had no idea what the year would hold. I was 24 and I was sure of one thing: I wanted to continue trusting in God and looking to Him for direction. As it turned out, He took me to some pretty great places and gave me a taste of the JOY and CERTAINTY that come with trusting Him. The thing is, 24 year old Victoria didn't want to or try to get rid of her anxiety any more than her younger self.

As I prepare to ring in another new year that leaves me with even more room to question, I'm setting my hope in God once more. I'm grateful for gifts of God's grace and I'm longing for them to stay with me in the days to come. In all that I found myself doing and enjoying in 2015, the theme was RECEIVING.

"For in Him we live and move and have our being..." Acts 17:28 

May 2016 be a year of continuing in Him. 

One Word 2015

Jan. 1, 2015 - Photo Credit: My Brother

Reflecting on the year behind has looked a lot different this year. I spent the last bit of 2014 and the first bit of 2015 on the other side of the country...Even though the West Coast has been my home since shortly after my 5th birthday, the East Coast has always felt like "home". It has been really great to be surrounded by my aunts and uncles and cousins over the last few weeks.

I've kept wanting to pinch myself because the happiness has almost been overwhelming at times. Looking around and seeing all of the familiar faces has forced me to pause just to take it all in. These last few weeks have had me looking back on 2014 and WAY beyond.

These people know my story...They know where I come from, because they came from the same place! Reflecting on familiar things with other people is one of my favorite things to do.

I've been kicking around a lot of words for 2015 and I haven't decided on one yet. Here's the list so far:


* Dream - This trip made me realize how important it is to me to get back down here. I think it was the moment I totally lost it as I was standing on my Uncle George's front porch for the first time in 13 years...

* Reach - A move might not happen for a few few years, but I really do want to start figuring out what it will take to make it work and more importantly, how I can get the rest of my family to move too!

* Breathe - I'm really good at holding my breath in hesitation. I want 2015 to be a year of less hesitating.


There have been a few other words, but I can't think of them this morning...

The point is, I want to continue trusting in God and looking to Him for direction. We may not be here long, but there is a lot to take in while we are. May 2015 be a year of being sure in God and not being paralyzed by fear or anxiety.

What's your word for 2015?