top five friday: new year's edition.

since it's a new year, i think it's only appropriate to share my top five things from 2011. here we go, in no particular order:

#1. we started our crazy adventure, which is taking on the air force life. we packed up and took the 1,856 mile trip to montgomery, al, only to pick up 6 weeks later and drive another 975 miles to del rio, tx. then, unexpectedly {and gratefully} we left 7 months later on a 1,395 mile trek to cali, where we are now waiting until the day we make the 1,280 mile drive to cheyenne, wy. whew. that was rough. looking at that, you may wonder why it made it to the top five list. it sounds hard and painful and sometimes it was, but at the same time, it has been so very rewarding. i've loved seeing the sights of this wonderful country, learning how to be a grown-up and do things for myself {mostly} and my very favorite part - meeting so many incredible people. seriously. we've made some friends that will be a part of our lives until the day we die, i'm sure. on top of all that, zachary and i have grown together more than i imagined possible in one year. yes, we have kind of been thrown into it, being away from family and such, but it really does a lot when you are all each other has to rely on. when you are the only person each other knows within a 1,000 mile radius. what a blessing in disguise it has actually been.

#2. we welcomed in a new member of our family. a member that is here to stay. {unlike the fish we got for christmas. or the puppy back in april. or the motorcycle. sheesh.} her name is stella.

you might laugh when i talk about a car being part of the family, but let's see you go shopping for one and then tell me how you feel. it has to click and you have to love it. i had the biggest butterflies when we drove her home for the first time. never mind that her tint job is bubbling up, causing her to look like a car straight from the hood. never mind that her night lights are very dim, making it hard to see what i'm doing. and never mind that she happens to be a manual and has embarrassed me many times as i've stalled her in the middle of an intersection. she's perfect and we adore her. i'm so glad we never have to live in one-car-purgatory again.

3. our many trips to utah. we went four times last year and each time it was incredible.

{alex and jodi's wedding - march}

{snow creams - july}

{the bestie's wedding - july}

{bryce canyon 5-mile run - august}

{temple square -november}

{black friday shopping with the sils - november}

#4. i got a job! my first job in over two years. there can be some serious down times:

but i am so so grateful for it. it really is a good job. i have prayed for this for months now, so i am grateful to have been so blessed. it's been a serious miracle. i like the people i work with and i love feeling all secretarial like. i can't even tell you how many times i've felt like pam from 'the office'.

#5. i know it wasn't 2011 when we got married, but come on. it was only 3 days before the new year! i feel like when something happens after the new year, then it's kind of old news, but trust me - my wedding is not old news. at least not to me anyway. someimes i will get on pinterest and see all the cute things that i couldn've done if only it had been around at the time. it bums me out and makes me resent the brides of 2012 that will all have perfect ideas. but then i realize that those perfect ideas will be done by more people that you can count and at least my wedding was an original design by me.

there's nothing like reliving the most perfect day of your life through pictures. it really was like a dream come true.

what are your favorite things from 2011?

-the wife