-15-

It's December 28, 2015, and in just a few days, it will no longer be 2015, and that means we are closer to leaving the place I call 'home.'
This brings tears to my eyes, both happy and sad. This year has been wonderful to me, a few obvious reasons such as the birth of AnaLynn, as well as my 21st birthday, and our 2nd marriage anniversary! I would be lying if I were to say I wasn't scared of 2016 however. My little bug will no longer be a baby, she will be turning 1 in less than 6 months, and we will be moving back to Iowa from Alaska either shortly before her birthday or soon after. This is the part that brings the sad tears to my eyes. Alaska was where Jonathan and I shared our first home together, where we started our family, and it holds so many beautiful perfect memories, as well as the bittersweet memory of AnaLynn's birth. I feel so lost leaving, I'm not sure where we will live in Iowa, and I really am not sure how we will be financially speaking. I am sure of one thing though, I am completely positive that the Lord will help answer our prayers and show us the reason we are being pushed in this direction. I will miss being able to take walks and worry about moose, or bears. I'll miss the antler arch at the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitor Center, the Aurora Borealis dancing outside our bedroom window, and the 24 hours of daylight all summer long.

Alaska is where I met my best friend, Arianna, it's where we have seen friends come & go, as the Army sent them away, it's where AnaLynn took her first breath, and it's where I consider home. I don't know if we will ever visit again, but I sure hope we can, so we can show our daughter where we spent our first years married, had our first home together, and where she was born.
2015 was our last full year in Alaska, and it has flown by far too fast. Life truly is a roller coaster, and it doesn't stop to allow you to fully catch up, this year I have learned to appreciate the little things, appreciate any time you are given with friends, and family, and to just enjoy life-the good and the bad, because it seriously goes by, faster than you think.