year in review | 2017

Tuesday, January 09, 2018

I can’t believe it’s gone. 2017 came and went in a blink of an eye.
This year brought a lot of fun and A LOT of change. What more could I ask for than a year like this one with my crew?
The Spears 5, it was a dang good year!

january
We kicked off the year in the most difficult time of pregnancy. I was about 3 months pregnant and very overwhelmed with the migraines this pregnancy brought. It was a daily battle and seriously ruining my life (yes, that bad), until I finally got sick of it and asked God to take over. And there began the blessings of a wonderful year. Brandon had also just completed recruitment for the Sierra Volunteer Fire Department. Proud wife moment!
february
Noah turned 4 and we celebrated the blessing and miracle he is with a superhero party. One of the best ones yet. Still exhausted (ok, maybe not) from the planning involved with this one but so so worth it. We also announced our pregnancy since we like to keep things private for a while, and people flipped! Yes we're pregnant again, and no, it wasn't an accident.
march
As if Noah’s party wasn’t enough, here came Skylar’s. This sweet baby turned one whole year and what? Bittersweet.
What would be more fun than for one of our kids to reveal baby #3's gender. We found out the day prior and Sky announced that we were having a baby BOY at her first birthday party!
april
The month of celebration. Man, we’re party people! My birthday followed by our 2 year anniversary. We were made aware of MidiCi having a grand opening so we decided to make a trip out of it. We had never done something like this and left the kids for a whole day. I had real mom guilt but it truly was a fun trip and great quality time to celebrate our marriage. We did our favorite thing to do, yall know it, EAT! So much fun, and dreams began. I’ll remember that day forever.
We also spent most of our days outdoors soaking up the sun and getting tan!
may
Brandon was able to have some good “him” time, hog hunting with his dad in Texas. I love the pictures he came back with. Merica!
june
We celebrated Lucas’ arrival with a cute little greenery shower. So fresh and so fun.
We also put our house on the market, so it was clean everyday, and I loved it! But had a hard time with the thought of letting go of our first home.
july
The greatest moment of 2017; welcoming baby Lucas. Our smallest baby was here and a real prince. Cherry on the top!
august
The real change began. We packed our life and moved to Texas.
Best. Choice. EVER!
Also the month Noah started Pre-k. "I love my school in Texas mommy!"
september
This month was for exploring. AND a new bed. I am happy to report, Sleep Number is absolutely worth the investment. we love it!
october
Although nobody really held up long enough for the State Fair of Texas, it was still a fun time. What was not a fun time, was totaling my car (everyone was alright). At least we got a new car out of the crappy situation, I'm telling ya, God is in everything.
October was also the month Brandon and I started our jobs, and we've enjoyed it ever since.
november
We moved into our new house. We ate more than we should’ve and we bought too many things. We also took family photos and my sis sure did a great job of capturing this beautiful family of mine.
december
No snow, but lot of lovin. I had the honor of hosting Christmas this year and I had so much fun setting the table. With the help of Hearth and Hand by JoJo and Chip this Christmas, I sure was happy with the way it turned out.
This year was definitely a defining one. And we loved every second of it.
Cheers to a new year and new adventures.

LIFE UPDATE

Thursday, December 28, 2017

I know, don’t kill me.
I've been gone about 7 months! Jeeze! I suck! We’ve made quite a few changes lately and I honestly still haven’t found a good balance to life yet. And just when I think everything is falling into place, something new is thrown into our mix. It's C H A O S ! But you know what, it's our chaos, and it's beautiful chaos because we are living and enjoying our season right now in the day to day.
So here I am, not making any promises, but trying as hard as I can to get back to it. Please bare with me as I try to get my life back in order and feel normal again. Or what I think is normal now.
Does normal even exist anymore?

1// Lucas Wayne Spears
Lucas was born July 15th. He came at 37 weeks and a couple of days. Boy was ready to rock and roll and meet us all. He has been the sweetest addition to our family. We are officially outnumbered now, and still trying to get it all under control.
Sky is head over heels for her baby brother. She’s like a little mama. She likes to give him sugars every time she gets the chance. (And I mean like 40 times a day). Noah loves to talk about Lucas and include him in everything but choses to look at him but not try to hold him for now. It’s like he’s afraid to break him. He does make sure to let us know if Lucas needs us. He’s so sweet. We think once Lucas is able to sit on the floor and play, Noah will not let him rest.
He’s the happiest baby EVER! Even after an intense spit up, he’ll look up at us and say sorry with his eyes and follow up with a huge grin. Lukey Bear is 5 months already!
birth story coming soon

2// Texas
We moved! Two weeks after Lucas was born we packed up our life and headed toward an adventure. We put our life in a 26ft U-Haul and were on our way. This had been in the works for about a year but kept on the DL. We wanted to make sure Lucas and myself were cleared by our doctors to do it.
We decided to give our kids a better chance at education and more opportunities than the place we were living in could ever offer. There were a few things that needed to happen and a lot had to fall into place. We prayed for God to tell us weather this was what He wanted for us and that if it was not, to make it clear as day His plan for our lives… He opened the doors time and time again. Everything fell in our laps, and He made a way. We are still young and time is of the essence. Why waste time dreaming about a better life, when it really is all at our finger tips. All you have to do is J U M P ! And we sure did jump!
DFW = Home

3// Church
As soon as we walked into Gateway Church, the overwhelming feeling of content and peace filled our hearts.
I remember sitting in a chair in the far back and an overwhelming calm cover me. I'm crying as I write this remembering what I felt in that moment. My heart was grateful and steady. My soul was with peace. And God was present in that place. The service hadn't yet started and people where walking around finding their seats but what I felt cannot be compared. We knew this was now our home. I looked over at Brandon and he confirmed what I was feeling. God had met us there, that day and every day after that.
Everything about this place is amazing! The people, the music, the community, the word, the kids ministry, the love. In the short amount of time that we’ve been here, we have been so blessed by our church, and we don’t ever want to go anywhere else.
Gateway Church is one of the most successful and biggest churches in America. And now we know why.

4// Work Work Work
Jobs, we kinda need them. We moved without having them, so when I say we jumped, I mean jumped in faith. Jobs were one of the biggest reasons we decided to move. We both have degrees and weren’t feeling like they mattered at our current place. As we looked around, we noticed the pay increase as well as the upward mobility and were even more excited for the move. Brandon is working for Farmers Insurance and I am with TIB - The Independent Bankers Bank. We love it! Couldn’t be happier, seriously! We’re so blessed with the kind of people we get to work with and for. Both companies have proven to be the place where we want to be, and most importantly, we are grateful for what God provided. He spoils us!

5// New House
We just moved in to our new place and we couldn’t have been more blessed by our Father for this. We are not ready to commit to purchasing a house yet because we feel like we haven’t explored the area enough and my commute as well as school districts are a huge part of where we want to be. So we decided to rent for a while, which we both hate because it feels like money down the drain, but it’ll work for now.
We were wishing for a one story, 4 bedroom house but when we looked at the lease costs for a 4 bedroom, our legs went limp. So in our minds, we settled for a 3 bedroom and figured it would have to be a 2 story with the options we had discovered. We hadn’t even started actively looking when I came across THE house. All we wanted for a price that fit. 4 bedrooms, new build, one story, 2 car garage, low maintenance landscape, garden tub, huge closets and all in a great neighborhood with a playground and pool on a dead end street. AND, its down the street from daycare. We got the approval and desired move in date all within 3 days! It was all nothing other than God supplying for our family as he always has. He sure did blow us away with this one.
First thing we did when we moved in was put up our Christmas décor.
Priorities right?
Overall, we are so thankful for what God has done here. In everything, He has been there. In the hard and in the happy, He is faithful. We couldn’t have gotten through any of this without Him.
Along with this move there has been many struggles and because of that, we have depended on God more than ever. We feel closer to God, and closer to one another. I can confidently say, I have never been happier, our marriage has never been stronger and our kids have blown us away with their growth here. We rest assured that this was from God and we are where we’re supposed to be.

I don't mean to make this into a God this and God that post, but when I look back at all of what has happened in the past 5 months, all I see IS God. I see His hand in our lives. And I cannot share our lives without telling you that none of this would have been possible without Him. We are so blessed with the "upgrade" we have been given and we will be thankful and conscious of what He did and where He brought us from.
He is our rock and on the rock we stand.

Like I said earlier, we still haven’t found a good balance with 3 kids, new jobs and a new home in a whole new area. It will come with time, so until then, wish us luck and keep us in your prayers. We love you all and hope to be seeing you around here more often!

xo. Vanessa