a recap of 2015 and a welcoming to 2016

so we have accomplished a lot in 2015.
Aaron got a new job at TSYS. and I talked him into shaving his head bald. I love it and he likes it more than he thought he would.
now everyone says he looks like Zac Brown.

we can't really argue that.
I fulfilled a long time dream of mine of working at St Mark UMC and am still in awe of this opportunity.
it was also my first time directing kids camp. this was huge for all of us. Aaron was a single parent to 3 for a week while I cared for 100 kids with the help of some of my favorite people on the planet.
we made our first family beach trip.
one of my best friends moved back to the area. this has been fabulous for our whole family. her kids are teenagers and love to hang out with us and help with the kids. and they even host slumber parties pretty regularly, giving us a break. plus the obvious benefit of not having to drive 5 hours to have lunch with one of my favorite people.
biggie started prek and was the first kid we have sent to elementary school.
we had our first full year with biggie and smalls.
we threw 2 birthday parties. we had 4 court hearings for 3 kids. we had more parent visits than I kept count of. maybe 8? with 3 different mothers. we had 18 home visits with caseworkers and probably 12 doctor's appointments and 2 dentist appointments. whew.
Aaron and I also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on December 31st while attending my cousins wedding. it was nice.
I swear it has been the longest year of my life. but we have all grown so much.
at one point, we were preparing our hearts and minds to tell biggie good bye. now we hold our breath waiting and hoping. hopeful that we will be able to adopt biggie and smalls this year.

2016
I have already put a lot of pressure on this year in that previous sentence. but for the most part, this isn't something that I anxiously await. it will happen when it happens. I want it for biggie more than anything. to ease his worries. he thinks about forever a lot. he always asks "I gonna stay with you forever?"
I want to be able to at least promise him that in this year.
we are hoping to open our home to another child this year. we are still uncertain as to what that will look like and when.
I am hoping to be more healthy in 2016. full disclosure, I just finished a burger and fries from wendy's. Aaron and I are on the way home from our little anniversary get-away. but I hope to go running tomorrow and start eating better.
we want to reign in our spending a bit. we aren't necessarily living outside of our means or anything but we definitely could be saving more and spending less.
we have several friends getting married this summer and I will be doing hair at 3 of those weddings.
this will also be the first time we will offer Columbus area kids camp for 2 separate weeks. one in June and one in July. basically several churches in Columbus help with this camp and send kids 2nd-6th grade. usually there have been about 80 kids. last year we were booked solid with 100 kids in April. our hope is to have 70ish kids each week this year and not have to turn so many kids away.

I am sure that this year will still have a lot  of the same things as last year.
my biggest personal goal for this year is to write more. both on the blog and off. I have made an instagram (@calledtofosterlove) specifically for my blog and hope to use that to spread the word about my writing as well as some other avenues. I have an iron in the fire that looks pretty promising and exciting but that is all I will say about that for now. you will just have to stay tuned.

we are thankful for all of those who have been in our lives this past year. we couldn't have made it without many of you. we look forward to meeting new people and making new friends and family members this year. so here's to 2016! may it be everything you are hoping for. and may we continue to foster love!