5 Year Blogiversary

Today, July 30th officially marks 5 years of blogging for me! I can't believe how fast these past 5 years have gone!

When I started this blog, I chose to name it "living in his faithfulness" because when I look at my past, present and future I can see God's fingerprints all over my life. I know that he is faithful and even at times when I'm wondering why I cant sense his presence, I can look back and remind myself that he was always there guiding me and showing me piece by piece what his master plan is for my life. I can see how he has been faithful to us time and time again whether that meant providing for needs, answering prayers, making dreams come true, giving us unexplainable peace during the tougher times, and even joy beyond measure.

With my 5 year blogiversary I thought it would be fitting and fun to recap some of the highlights (and even a few low lights) from my life (our lives) over the past 5 years.

We saw some dreams come true!
-I went from being a part time front desk team leader at The Eye Center to a full time stay at home mom! This was truly a long time dream of mine that we thought couldn't happen financially and God made it happen.

-This past fall, after coaching for over 10 years, Caleb finally got to experience winning the State Volleyball Championship! That is a day I'll never forget. You know what is even sweeter than seeing your own dream come true? Seeing a dream come true for someone you love!

Family Life:
-I got pregnant 3 more times since starting this blog. Sadly, I lost one baby, but with complete joy we also welcomed Ethan James (now 3) and Emsley Jeannette (now 1) to the family!

-Life is 10x more crazy and busy now than when we had just our little Elliana Faith! It's also much more full and sweet.

It's so fun to see how much Ellie has grown and changed in the last 5 years, and how she slipped into the big sister role with ease. I can't believe our Ellie will be starting Kindergarten this fall!

Here's a collage of Ellie over the years. Each picture was taken during the summer of that year;

-I could show how each child has changed over the years, but that would that make this post very long, and I just wanted to show Ellie since she was the only child around when this blog started. :)

-The last 5 years have been full of sleepless nights, diaper changes, nursing, bottle feeding, baby food, pacifiers, sippy cups, crawling and toddling babes, potty training, etc. You get the idea. 

-I very much look forward to the next 5 years. We will no longer be growing our family (in numbers) but raising our school aged children. I look forward to learning who they are as little people and not just knowing them as babies and toddlers. It's going to be a great adventure!

-In our extended family, since starting this blog, we also gained 1 sister-in-law (Amanda, married to Caleb's brother Nate), 1 brother-in-law (Brian, married to my sister Alli) my nephew Josiah (born May 2010), my niece Ashlynn (born Dec. 2010), and my niece Kailey (born July 2013).

Nate and Amanda 

Alli and Brian

Travels:

-Over the past 5 years, we have been to the Caribbean on a 5 year Anniversary Cruise, Kansas City, Tulsa, Nashville, San Diego, San Francisco, Austin, Vegas and small short trips to Denver, Colorado Springs and Breckenridge! Whew, we sure do get to do a lot. I'm SO thankful! Here's just a few favorite photos from a few of those trips:

2010 Caribbean Cruise

Just me and Caleb

Jan 2012 Nashville

Just me and Caleb again

June 2012 San Diego

Extended Howard Family (Caleb's family)

March 2014 Vegas

Sanchez Ladies (me, my sisters, BIL Brian, and my mom)

New Interests and Hobbies:

-Over the past 5 years I have gained a few new interests/hobbies. I have become much more interested in health and exercise, and where I once loathed any kind of cardiovascular activity, I now really enjoy going to the gym to run, use the elliptical, or do my weekly Zumba class. :)

-Around this time 2 years ago I began baking, decorating and selling iced sugar cookies and cupcakes for special occasions. Even though I would say this was pretty successful, it required a lot of time. Once baby #3 arrived, AKA Emsley, I put this on hold and haven't returned to this little hobby/business yet.

-This past spring I made some DIY decorations for my MIL and FIL's retirement party. I had so much fun making the paper banners for this occasion that I've made a few more and *might* try selling them for special occasions. We'll see. In the meantime, I've really enjoyed working on them!

The Heartbreaks:

-Of course, the past 5 years haven't been all joy and no sorrow. The biggest and most unexpected heartbreak over the past 5 years was the loss of my beloved Grandma Nancy. I still miss her so to this day. Just today Ellie brought her up and said she was sad because she misses her. I look forward to the day when I see her again in heaven.

-Another heartbreak, although brief, was the scary news and journey of my dad's cancer. Thankfully this was a short-lived journey and he is now cancer free! Praise God!!

-One heartache that is very near to my heart, is the painful journey of infertility. I have loved ones that are still on this journey, and we don't know where their story ends. I have spent many hours in prayer for these loved ones, I still believe that God has a plan for them. Even though I don't know the specifics of his plans for them, I believe he will show himself faithful. My heart hurts when I see them hurt.

Other:

-One other major change over the last five years worth noting, was leaving the church both Caleb and I grew up in and finding a new one. This was not an easy process, but I am happy to say we have found a new church home that I can see our family staying at for many years to come. I look forward to the friendships that will grow from Mill City.

-Just this past spring Caleb and I both got smart phones! I also joined Instagram and am loving it!

Of course it's impossible to cover every important detail of our lives over the past 5 years, but I think I covered most of the highlights. I can honestly look back and say God was with us, faithfully carrying us through every joy and sorrow. 

I look forward to what the future holds for our little family. I love this crazy adventure we're on, and knowing God is with us through it all.

I'm Still Here

I don't know why, but for some reason I just haven't felt the urge to stay on top of my blog over the past few weeks.

I don't know if it's because not much is going on in our lives right now, or the fact that I'm still waiting for spring to lift my winter blues.

Really, I think it's that recently I've just been using the little free time that I have differently.

I've been reading more, which has been a shock even to me. I used to label myself as someone who just doesn't read. However, a few months ago a friend suggested that I read The Help. I did, and I loved it! I haven't stopped reading since I finished The Help. Now I have a never ending list of books that I want to read. Who is this person?

I've also been spending less time on the computer in the evenings and more time talking to and snuggling up with Caleb. I feel like we're in a really great place right now, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we're getting more quality time together. ;-)

Don't get me wrong, I really don't want to come across as one of those "holier than thou", "the computer is the devil" people. I don't feel that way at all. I love the Internet, and I love keeping up with people on facebook and by reading their blogs. I didn't make a conscious decision to make these changes, it just happened slowly over time.

I'm not saying that I've made a permanent change and that I'll never blog again. I just hope to find the right balance. Like everyone else, I'm still learning how to juggle time with kids, time with the hubby, time with extended family, keeping up on house work, keeping up with friends, spending time with God and reading his word, and how best to enjoy my free time.

I still love this blog of mine. It's definitely still one of the things I enjoy doing when I do have some free time. I love how it gives me a place to record my thoughts and journal about my life and the lives of my loved ones. So, I know I'll be back soon and I hope I won't neglect this place for too long again.

Just Catching Up

First of all, a big thanks to my sister Jenn for designing another beautiful design for me! I LOVE it!! I especially love the leaves and the colors. I've mentioned many times before how much I love fall and this new design just makes me feel all happy inside. It makes me want to go and drink a pumpkin spice latte, eat some pumpkin bread, play in the leaves with my kids, carve a pumpkin, and watch some football with my hubby. :)

The weather around here has been gorgeous and I've loved seeing all of the leaves change colors. Ellie has been begging to help me decorate for Fall and we are going to do just that this afternoon after she wakes up from her nap. :)

What I really want to post about is my baby boy turning 6 MONTHS OLD this past week. I can't believe how fast that went! I'm waiting until we have his 6 month check up before I post an update about all of his milestones and what he's like at 6 months. I want to know what he weighs and where he's at size wise.





In the meantime, I've been watching some old home videos and thought it's been way too long since I've put some of those videos on here. So I did just that. I think these videos give a really good look into our day to day lives and you can see the family/ relationship dynamics too. Our Ellie just cracks us up. Enjoy!

Lost My Blogging Mojo

I've never been one of the most amazing, fascinating bloggers. I'm still not amazing or fascinating. But suddenly I feel as though I have nothing creative or even interesting to blog about. I wonder if people are getting bored with updates on Ellie and Ethan.

I say I blog for myself to keep an online "diary" (or something like that), and that is mostly true. But I also love it when every once in a while I write a post that hits home with others. You know, one that many people can relate to. Or a post that's about a subject that I'm really passionate about, or a post about something I'm struggling with.

I guess it's true what they say sometimes. No news is good news?. I can say this, life for us has been busy but overall just good. Thank the Lord for that!

So, I guess I'm just saying that I'm sorry my blog hasn't been very exciting to read lately. I hope to get my mojo back soon. Not for everyone or anyone that reads this, but for myself too.

Okay, now that that's off my chest, here's some photos of this past week. It was a BUSY and fun one!

Last Friday I went to the zoo with my sisters, nieces and nephew, and parents. We had a GREAT time! Here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

Me and Jenn with our babies. Ashlynn is 7 months old.



Poor Alli and Courtney ended up carrying these two most of the day.




Ellie and Reagan. They love like sisters and fight like sisters. I love to watch these two together. They crack each other and everyone around them up!



The four older cousins



Me and Ellie on the carousel. Although this picture doesn't show it, she was overjoyed to be on the carousel.


On Sunday we went to the family cabin and spent the night there with Caleb's parents. We LOVE spending time at the cabin. I only wish I had gotten more pictures of our time there. Here's Elliana enjoying her first smore. :)



We spent the day of the 4th at the cabin. I think the highlight was taking the canoe out on the lake. Ellie really enjoyed that too.

In the evening we went to my parents house to watch fireworks. Even though Ellie is 2 1/2 years old, this was the first year that she got to watch the fireworks. She loved them!

Here's Elliana with her oldest cousin Devyn.



Sweet Reagan getting some alone time. :)



Our sweet, handsome Ethan.



Watching fireworks from the backyard.





And last but not least, here is a picture of our two babies together. I was putting away laundry in my room and turned around to see that Ellie had climbed into Ethan's bassinet. Yikes! Poor Ethan.



My sister Jenn used to climb into my crib when I was a baby. Maybe it's an oldest sister kind of thing?

Happy Birthday / Anniversary To Me!

One year ago today I started this blog. I don't know if that makes it my first birthday or my first anniversary, but I thought I should acknowledge it either way.

I'm so glad I started blogging. My only regret is not starting sooner. I really wish I had started when I got pregnant with Elliana. I would love to go back and read how I was feeling with each phase of the pregnancy. It would also have been great to begin writing about her the moment she was born to capture all of those newborn moments. Oh well, at least I'll be able to blog about every important moment from here on out.

I've really enjoyed being a part of this "blogging world" and following all of my family and friends blogs too. Mostly, it's been great to go back and read about how God has been faithful to us time and time again. I loved going back and reading/ watching all of Elliana's milestones, how God provided a way for me to be home full-time, Caleb's team taking 2nd in State, etc. Really that was why I started blogging. Not just to keep a record about our lives and to watch pictures and videos, but as a reminder to me about how God has always worked everything for his good. I know he will continue to do so. I'm so excited to see what God has in store for us in this upcoming year! :)

Since my very first post had a fun video of Elliana, I thought I should close this post with a video that Caleb took of miss Ellie this morning. We love this video, even if Ellie is into the word "no" a lot lately.

2009 Highlights

We had a wonderful, crazy, busy, blessed Christmas. I hope the rest of you did too. Sadly, our camera battery died on Christmas Eve, so I have no pictures to show for it. :( I'm a little depressed about that.

Since 2009 is coming to a close, I thought I'd write out several highlights from the year.

-Welcoming my sister Courtney, and her husband Jeremy home from their honeymoon.

-Maternity leave and learning how to be a family of 3 with our newborn Elliana.



-Getting to have the same months off with my sister Jenn, who also was on maternity leave.

-Our short but fun trip to Phoenix, Arizona to watch my Uncle Andy and Aunt Christina get married.




-The birth of our nephew, Nehemiah Duncan. He is SO cute!!



-Watching Elliana's unique relationship with each of her cousins. She loves all of them.





-Watching my mom come full circle, and eventually recover completely from her Guillain-Barre syndrome that hit her last year around the holidays.

-All of the healthy births of our friends and family. There was definitely a baby boom this year.

-After working long and hard, Caleb comleting his Masters degree. I'm so proud of you, babe!

-4th of July




-Enjoying Caleb's family cabin. His parents have dreamed of a mountain cabin for so long, and their dream finally came true this summer.




-Our trip to Washington for a family reunion on Caleb's Mom's side of the family.




-Various visits from out of state friends.



-Seeing Wizard of Oz onstage at the Candlelight Dinner Theater.




-Beginning this blog. :)

-Going to the Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley concert with my sister-in-law, Shamree.

-God providing a way for me to be a stay at home Mom!! Thank you Lord!

-Watching Caleb's volleyball team and their very successful season that eventually lead to State where they took 2nd in State!




-Beginning the What's For Dinner blog with my sisters.


-Our first Halloween with Elliana (she was a bunny).



-Celebrating the first homes bought by Caleb's brother Josh, and his wife Shamree, and also my sister Courtney and her husband Jeremy.

-Thanksgiving.

-All of Elliana's milestones, and celebrating her first birthday. God is so good.




-The honor of getting to sing a solo for our church's Christmas Eve Service.

-Christmas day, spending time with my family and singing and worshipping with my very talented sisters and cousins.

-Spending the days after Christmas with Caleb's family at the family cabin.

Whew! I think that covers all of our highlights (or most of them). We're headed to Jackson Hole to spend some time with some long time friends. We'll be there over New Years.

Happy New Year everyone!!