Thirteen Things I Loved About Twenty-Thirteen

Watching our family and friends get married.

Being married is my favorite thing, so it’s such a joy to watch the people we love start their marriages by celebrating with their family and friends. There’s something so wondrous about watching two people dedicating their lives to each other and making that commitment in the sight of God and those closest to them. We were lucky enough to attend three weddings this year, which are always precious reminders of the vows we made to each other almost four years ago.

 

Welcoming little babies into the world.

Probably the only event that I love as much or more than weddings is babies being born. Fresh, new and squishy, there’s nothing in life quite like a newborn baby. This year we’ve seen co-workers and friends welcome sweet little people into their lives. It’s been a joy to watch my Instagram feed explode with pictures of precious little ones, each picture cuter than the next. Nothing is quite as effective at making you excited for your upcoming child than pictures of babies.

 

Trying new things to improve our health.

2013 was a year of new health adventures for the Rabons. After the first of the year, Stephen started p90x, which had incredible results. He (and by extension we) followed the diet plan pretty well (I ate differently in my time away from Stephen). Then we watched some documentaries and each completed 10-Day Juice Fasts. You can read those stories here (mine) and here (Stephen’s). While I delved into books about Real Food, Stephen pursued his next physical challenge: Crossfit. It’s been fun to watch him workout and to see his progress in just a few short months. I also really like that his gym posts pictures of the workouts on their Facebook, like the picture below, courtesy of Backcountry Crossfit:

 

Enjoying a mini-plan of season tickets to the Rockies.

Thanks to my dad and grandparents, we spent 15 days or evenings at Coors Field this year, taking in some baseball, eating large amounts of Skittles & sunflower seeds, and really just enjoying each other’s company. I looked forward to our baseball dates and those hours spent together watching what would be Todd Helton’s final season. Sometimes we ran into friends, sometimes we made new ones and sometimes we just enjoyed the time alone. This was the perfect year for us to have a mini-plan as I spent most of the season pregnant but thankfully not uncomfortably so.

 

We attended our first concert in our 6 years together.

Well, the first concert we chose anyway. We’ve been gifted tickets over the last couple years to shows we really enjoyed, but the Zac Brown Band concert at Red Rocks was the first one that we were like “I don’t care how much tickets cost, we’re going!” For two people who really enjoy music, and who have individually been to many concerts, it was kind of shocking to realize this was the first for us. But what a first to have. The show was INCREDIBLE. Absolutely worth the coldness (and knowing how much I love the cold, that should really tell you something). And what an amazing venue.

 

We’ve finally been able to experience the joy of a healthy pregnancy.

After losing two babies, we’re so thankful for the baby that is growing inside of me. Each milestone has been so incredibly precious to us. Those first little flutters, the first real kicks, our 20 week ultrasound, not finding out the baby’s gender, the first time Stephen could feel kicks, Stephen hearing the baby’s heartbeat through my belly, Baby’s first hiccups… every moment is such a treasure. As excited as I am to have our baby soon and meet him or her on the outside, I will genuinely miss all of the precious little moments we’ve shared.

 

Getting to experience the wonder of how a body changes in pregnancy.

Despite the fact that I still get people telling me that I’m “tiny” and that I don’t look as pregnant as I am, I have been in awe of the changes in my body since getting pregnant. It’s been so incredible to watch my belly expand to accommodate our growing child. Sure, I’ve got some stretch marks and yeah, I’ve gained a significant amount of weight, but it’s amazing to see the female body do exactly what it was designed to do. Pregnancy is so different from what I expected it to be. The way my body and the baby have just taken over and done their job, with no necessary action from me, is truly miraculous.

 

Having my longest run yet.

Though I’ve taken a 9 month hiatus from running, I did accomplish my longest run this year. Those who know the history of this blog know that I go back and forth with my running career, but to hit a 10k, especially on accident, was a big deal for me. I’m hoping to incorporate some running into my post-baby workout routine, hence our awesome jogging stroller.

 

Traveling to different states to see our family and friends.

This year we traveled almost from coast to coast to spend time with our loved ones. This year we covered Tennessee (driving through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky on the way), Nebraska, Texas and California. Stephen also made his yearly pilgrimage to Vegas with the Superman League.

We’ve also been lucky enough to have family and friends come visit us this year, from California, Nevada and Tennessee.

 

Completing 3 more items on my 30 Before 30 List

Completing the remaining items on the list before my 30th birthday might be difficult, but I’m happy to have knocked out a few more items this year. The more labor intensive item was the 30 new recipes one, which was both a pleasure to complete for my belly as it was to cross something off the list. At least I know that item #1 will be completed within the first month of 2014!

 

Helping friends move into their new homes.

Two couples in our group of friends in Colorado bought houses this year. What a special time in their lives! It was our pleasure to help the Gossetts move into their new home (with a very tiny baby Piper in tow) and the Athertons to move into their first home as a married couple. I use the term “help” rather loosely for me as I was pregnant for both moves, but it is so fun to get to celebrate these milestones alongside our friends.

 

Blogging some of the experiences of pregnancy.

With our families being so far away, it’s been really handy to use my blog to tell them about the latest Baby Rabon news. Taking inspiration from one of my favorite bloggers over at Little Baby Garvin, I did a few updates about the Baby & my status at milestones. We also tested out Old Wives’ Tales to see what they thought our baby is. Guess what? They don’t know either! Good thing we have less than a month for all of us to wait to see whether Baby Rabon is a girl or boy!

 

Starting to see my husband as a daddy.

There is nothing more precious in this world than watching the man I love talk to our baby through my belly. It’s been incredible and melt-inducing to watch Stephen so naturally fall into excitement about our baby and Baby’s upcoming birth. His face every time he feels Baby move is priceless. I wish I could bottle up that feeling and break it open on bad days. The face he made when he heard our baby’s heart beat through my belly was the same face he made when he first told me he loved me almost 7 years ago. I just know he’s going to be such an incredible dad to our baby once he or she arrives and seeing him fall in love with a little person that he hasn’t even seen just makes it more obvious. I can’t wait to see him wrapped around our baby’s little finger.

 

Looking forward to 2014!