2018 is hands down the craziest year we’ve ever had. It held the most change, the highest of highs, and some pretty low lows. But we look back with joy, hope, and gratitude. This is the Blomberg family 2018 year in review— one more moment of reflection, before we move forward with excitement and anticipation for what 2019 brings!
January: We started January still in Florida with both of our entire families. Everyone made the trip and we had a blast at Disney and celebrating New Years together. A great start! We celebrated a ton of birthdays this month with my sister on the 2nd, my dad on the 18th, and Duane’s dad on the 27th. Then kicked off the crazy with officially putting our house on the market!
February: This month started with absolute heartbreak when we woke up to a phone call the morning of Feb. 1 and learned that our sweet Trixie pup had been hit by a car. She went peacefully to heaven later that day. We won’t ever forget the 12 years of love from the greatest pup we’ve ever known! Next we celebrated our sweet Caroline Roddy’s birthday with another precious dress donation and prep day for Project Angel Gowns of the South. We had the greatest date night we’ve had in a LONG time at The Venue Chattanooga Valentine’s party with great friends. Then wrapped up a crazy month with one of my favorite trips to NYC we’ve ever taken! Duane got to see his Knicks play at the Garden for the first time and we had more fun with Chris and Lacie than we knew we could!
March: We launched our new website and marketing team for Timberline Outdoors, LLC that we had worked really hard on! We hosted a surprise thrift store date night with some of our great friends and laughed until we cried. My sister and I had a photo shoot for an exciting project to come later. And I started packing up our home of 10 years because just like THAT we were under contract!
April: We kicked off April with great friends celebrating Easter, but then it quickly took a very scary turn when mom called and told me dad was in the hospital after having a heart attack. My sister and I took off to MS immediately to be with them. Thankfully the Lord answered our prayers and he is healthy and safe! We celebrated my nephew Henry’s 5th birthday shortly after and Duane and I went to see comedian Jermaine Johnson with great friends. Then we went into full panic when we woke up to a huge “boom” in the middle of the night, only to find a tree had fallen on our house, one week before we closed on it. Thankfully we’ve got the hook up to the friendly neighborhood tree man, and we successfully closed a 10 year chapter by selling our house on April 20. We then moved most of our stuff to storage and the necessities to our friend’s beautiful new house that would end up being our home for the next 3 months. Wrapping up an insane month was even crazier as my sister and I launched our secret project- our sister site called Front Porch Frame of Mind. Thank you so much for being here! We are thrilled to have you in our lives, and SO excited to see where the next year takes us!
May: I started May as I always do by celebrating my birthday for over a week- complete with a friend dinner, the new iPhone, a massage, and a huge surprise from Duane to see Justin Timberlake in Nashville the next night! My friend Jessica and I loved every second of JT and even got a surprise performance by Chris Stapleton! The next weekend we celebrated Mother’s Day with Duane’s parents flying in and us all traveling to Mississippi where we all got to be together with my family too. The next weekend I “royally” lost my mind over the Royal Wedding and spent the whole weekend devouring every second. We wrapped it up with a Memorial Day BBQ celebration with friends.
June: This month started with a trip to Mississippi for a wedding that my sister and I coordinated together. And then back in Chattanooga, Duane and I reenergized our fertility journey by starting with a new doctor. The next weekend was absolutely insane. It started with us house sitting for good friends, Duane shipping in a big, cool new piece of equipment, waking up the next morning realizing that we had several other pieces of equipment stolen (never to be recovered), planning a big pontoon day on the lake with friends, only to realize my tummy pain was appendicitis and being rushed into emergency surgery. Whew! I was down for the next week or so, so we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on the 20th with a takeout picnic on the floor of our little “apartment” upstairs in our friend’s home. We spent several days with our family at our annual family cabins in MS, and we celebrated Duane’s mom’s birthday on the 27th. Even through all the crazy (and I have no idea how Duane did it- he’s Superman I guess!) we had our biggest month with Timberline that we have ever had!
July: After recovering from surgery, July started with a super fun lake day with friends for the 4th. Then maybe one of the biggest things that’s ever happened for us, we officially closed on 6.2 acres of land on Flat Top Mountain. So so so exciting and still surreal! Then my sister and I took an amazing sister trip to NYC to celebrate our cousin Sasha’s wedding to beautiful Cicek! One of my favorite trips we’ve taken together!
August: During the first week of August we moved into our cute little townhouse after deciding to rent for awhile until we’re ready to build on our land. We spent most of the first two weeks getting settled before I started my new part time job at Moody Radio Chattanooga! Before I started work, we took a long weekend visit to Florida to visit Duane’s family, and we took a fun getaway trip to Atlanta with friends for TopGolf and a dinner out. Then during my first week of work, we also attempted our 3rd IUI fertility procedure, which we soon found out was unsuccessful. Lord, we still praise You!
September: We spent most of this month getting settled into a new routine in a new home, me with a new job, and we were also grieving an unsuccessful procedure. I did a lot of writing, Duane was super busy with work and a new crew. We started teaching 4th & 5th grade kids on Wednesday nights at church, Duane in the boy’s class and me with the girls. We ended the month attempting another procedure that the doctor decided not to perform because it was unlikely to be successful. We were heartbroken. I decided to go home to MS that weekend to be with family, celebrate my mom’s birthday and rest.
October: A lot of this month is a blur. I was really down emotionally. I was also dealing with a lot of neck/back pain having chiropractic care every week, and still on all my fertility meds. We watched a lot of football, and Duane was my rock. The month took a fun turn as we dressed up for several Halloween events, and celebrated our sweet twin nieces’ 3rd birthday. We ended the month with our 4th and final fertility procedure of the year. We would later find out it was also unsuccessful. This one was the hardest one yet, and in many ways I’m still grieving it.
November: After the disappointment, Duane and I disconnected for over a week. No social media, not really any social events, we just took time to process and be together. We basically worked and came home. I did get the opportunity to plan and coordinate the wedding of sweet friends Eric and Lydia- and this precious event was a fun reprieve for us. We pulled ourselves up by the boot straps and geared up for the 6th annual Christmas tree lot. Lacie and I also hosted a Favorite Things party and a blast with some great girls! Thanksgiving soon arrived and that week is always the busiest of our entire year. We set up the lot, had Duane’s parents fly in to Chattanooga for the holiday, we celebrated Duane’s birthday the day after, we opened the tree lot, we loaded everybody in the car and drove to MS for my family’s Thanksgiving, we celebrated our nephew Wil Franklin’s 10th birthday, watched Mississippi State win the Egg Bowl, and turned around and came home— all in a matter of 2.5 days.
December: This month started pretty much how it ended: raining. We worked 7 days a week from Thanksgiving on (at regular work and the Christmas tree lot) and if I’m being honest- it was the hardest December of our adult lives. Emotionally and physically we were exhausted. And then when every major day we normally have at the tree lot got rained out- we were anxious and stressed. Normally something that brings us so much joy, was once again full of disappointment. But let me tell you what did happen- we saw the Lord move and answer and at the last minute we were able to sell the trees we needed to. We’re so grateful for friends, family, and strangers that rallied behind us and supported our small business. Thank you. As if we didn’t have enough going on, we found out we had met our insurance deductible so we decided to pull the trigger on a very needed knee surgery for me. Thankfully Jen and Amber rallied for us and saved us! With Duane already booked with a huge job for that day, Jen was with me every step as my emergency contact, nurse, and designated driver. Then Amber swooped in when I was already scheduled to coordinate a wedding for sweet Bailee and Michael the very next day. We (she) rocked it. I was on crutches and pain meds- but hey, I showed up! Grateful for my sisters! I recovered the next week but went back to work, we also had our Timberline crew appreciation dinner, we got to see Dancing With the Stars live (incredible!), and we wrapped up the tree lot. I can tell you that we were never more ready for a break than we were two weeks ago. And this break with family over Christmas in Mississippi and then New Years in Florida was precious and needed.
We’ve just made it home to Chattanooga after over 2000 miles in the car and 14 days of travel— and we are so grateful. I’ve been talking through this year with Duane as I’ve written this and we’ve been laughing and shaking our heads. So much change, a lot of heartache, but so much JOY. The highs have held us up, and the lows have taught us so much. We’re so grateful for health for us and our families, we’re grateful for amazing friends who have loved us through it all, and we’re so so hopeful for all the blessings and favor we feel coming in 2019. If you’re still reading this far down, then you’re the real MVP. Thank you for walking this road with us! Happy New Year!
Love, Whit <3
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