There have been a lot of jokes made about the year 2016, some facetious and some painfully true. Sometimes things seemed alright, other times it felt like end of days. The news of the world has been bad and when that happens, I think it’s more important than ever to take stock of your immediate sphere. Your family, your friends, your home– how did they do this year? And when I look at it that way, I forget all the jokes and the pain, the bad news, the sometimes inhumanity of humans. When I look at my family, my friends, and my home, 2016 was a year full of wonderful and challenging experiences that I want to share with you.

We explored Europe:

 

We celebrated 5 years of marriage in beautiful Cinque Terre:

We found out we are expecting a baby boy in April:

 

We got a new apartment in Atlanta:

Our darling Ella turned 2:

We saw my favorite singer live in concert:

 

And we had a wonderful holiday season:

 

In more ways than one million, 2016 was rough. Unkind and violent, uncertain and exhausting– I know it was a leap year but it felt like much longer than just one extra day.  But in the little ways, the every day ways, there were things to celebrate and be grateful for each one of those 366 days. And all I can hope for now is that that gratitude will carry over into this new year.

Happy 2017, everybody!