A Look Back at 2015

Hello Sunshine! Happy New Year! Twenty-fifteen was a challenging, life altering year. A year of exhilarating ups and mind-blowing downs. As a symptom not much blogging happened. I did manage to post 26 times and had my best blogging year yet. I will walk you through my year sharing our favorite posts, the most view post of 2015, with a little life in between.

January
At the beginning of every year like most people, I try to set a few goals I would like to accomplish. I forwent the one word theme. I started the year out by organizing our files. Something I appreciated all year long.

My youngest son celebrated his birthday with an epic knight pajama jam birthday party. A really simple party that the kids still talk about. We setup our tent in the living room with twinkle lights, had breakfast for dinner, the kids watched a funny movie, a chocolate donut tower for a cake, and an epic foam sword fight!

February

My most viewed, top blog post of the year was my hall closet makeover reveal. Living in a small home every space has to be functional and serve multiple purposes. I had to work around a major obstacle but found a perfect solution to our dilemma.

In family related news, my youngest won 3rd place in his packs pine derby race! This was his first year in Cub Scouts and we had a blast at the derby.

March

On Sunday, March 8 my husband had a stroke. He had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) which is another way of saying 'mini stroke' caused by a lacunar infarction. Words cannot adequately express how we felt during this time.

We are still finding our way through this ordeal. He is fine and doing better every month. We are almost one year out! I may share his story someday soon. When he was in the hospital I shared this on instagram.

We are so grateful to all our family and friends who came to visit, prayed, called, and to those who helped with the children, which is no easy feat! I wanted to say a special thank you to my blog friends who thought of me and my family during this time. It's a wonderful thing that this blog has awarded me friendships with amazingly talented women scattered across the world, some of which I have never met in person.

April
In April, I participated in the Home Depot Patio Style Challenge. It was a complete honor to have been chosen and a dream come true. To read more about our patio style challenge head on over to the Home Depot Apron Blog.

I couldn't do a patio makeover featuring a dining set without a colorful tablescape and my favorite flowers, tulips. As part of my challenge I did a tutorial on how to repaint a concrete porch.

Summer
During the summer we got to spend 5 weeks in Houston. The kids and I explored the city during the day, swam in the pool in the evening, and ate all sorts of delicious foods. I decided to do a photo series to document our time in Houston and our one day trip to San Antonio.

August
In August, I participated in another Home Depot Style Challenge. This time around it was all about Halloween meets my front porch. This was extremely fun for the kids and I and completely took me out my comfort zone, in a good way. To read more about my Halloween style challenge head on over to the Home Depot Apron Blog.

September
September is my favorite month! It's my birthday month and the month I started this little ol' blog of mine. It marked 3 years of blogging, I just can't believe that. I started a new job outside the home and met Eddie Ross! He's fabulous and his book it beautiful!

October
I made my first blog paycheck in the month of October! I was elated! I got to meet John and Sherry Petersik from Young House Love. They were so nice and I got a chance to set in on a talk they gave about their new book.

One of my favorite craft projects last year was my polka dot treat bags. I thought they turned out super cute and they were easy to make!

November
I shared a new recipe, the first one of the year, pumpkin puree to kick off the fall holiday season. Delicious and pure!

December
Back in November I started refreshing our living room, as part of the refresh I built a leaning blanket ladder. In honor of the last day of fall I did another photo series featuring my son's cub scout camping trip back in October.

I tried my hand at canning and shared my mother-in-laws cranberry sauce recipe. My holiday home tour came later in the month and highlighted our pared down Christmas.

2015 is now a wrap! I am excited to see what 2016 has in store for us! I want to thank you for your support of ChippaSunshine. Wishing you a wonderfully blessed, happy, and productive new year.

What is your favorite memory from last year? See ya soon!