Pennsylvania and Denver Trip Reports and Happy New Year’s!

For the past two weeks, we have been traveling for the holidays, a wedding, and New Year’s. We flew from Orlando to Pennsylvania for Christmas, and then drove to Cleveland to fly to Denver, and then finally home to Orlando! It’s been a wonderful two weeks, with lots of visits with family and friends, and lots of food, movies, and sightseeing. As always, it will be wonderful to get back home and back into our routine, but we are so thankful for the opportunities and experiences we have had over Christmas and New Year’s.

In Pennsylvania, we visited with dear friends in Pittsburgh for the day, before driving to Central Pennsylvania. Our kids were such troopers with super early wake up calls, days of travel, hours of driving, and listening to grownups talk for hours on end. It was so nice to visit the gorgeous little town of Sewickley.

We had a wonderful time at my parents house, and celebrated Christmas several times. While we didn’t have a white Christmas, we really enjoyed the Pennsylvania scenery and much cooler temperatures. Each year, we always enjoy visiting State College, the home of our alma mater, Penn State University. No visit to Penn State is complete without a visit to the Nittany Lion!

I’m very blessed to have parents that create a Christmas for me and my family, just as if I was 5 years old again! At my mother in law’s house, she does the same, and we are treated to so much love and generosity.

After Christmas in Central Pennsylvania, we headed out to Denver, Colorado for the very special wedding of my cousin, Jason and his bride, Lyndey. Chad and I were both part of the bridal party, so it was a very fun and eventful few days! The location was beautiful, only outdone by the bride, and we danced the night away on one of the last few days of 2018. We were so honored to watch the culmination of the Lord’s blessings on their lives in bringing them together.

I have lots more to share from our time in Denver. It is one of the most pedestrian friendly cities I’ve ever visited, although the below freezing temperatures made us stay inside quite often. We had the opportunity to experience several kid-friendly activities, and will share some reviews of these soon! It was such a joy to ring in the new year in a new city, although I thought it was strange to watch the ball drop from New York City on a time delay. It made me miss the East Coast and definitely be ready to get home!

I’m not much of a resolution person, but love to think about my hopes and dreams for the future. I hope to write more in 2019 and work on a book project I’ve been dreaming of for years. But I don’t get too hard on myself if it doesn’t happen, because my most important role in life right now is wife and mother to my husband and five precious kiddos. There’s only a season of life when they are in my home, needing so much of my time and energy, and I don’t want to miss a minute of that! So although I would love to write that book, and work more on my blog and social channels, it’s not my most important goal in life. I plan to grow in my faith and joy in the Lord, and improve myself overall in as many ways as possible. Your support means the world to me and it’s so fun to reflect back on 2018!

How did you spend Christmas and New Year’s? What are your goals for 2019? Let me know on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! Thank you for following along with my journey in 2018 and I look forward to getting to know you more in 2019 as well!