For other 2015 Recap posts:

2015 Recap (Part 1): Entertainment & Social Media Faves of the Year

2015 Recap (Part 2): 5 Lessons God Taught Me in 2015

2015 Recap (Part 3): 2015 in 12 Photos & Link-up

2015 Recap (Part 4): Top 10 Posts of 2015

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It’s hard to believe but it really is the last day of 2015!! To celebrate we are looking back over the year with “2015 in 12 Photos.” Normally Dwija hosts a similar link-up but she is busy making beautiful babies. I’m happy to step in and host this year. So join in and link-up so we can have a peek at your 2015. 🙂

January was all about extended family! My younger brother Jake was married to his sweet bride Amanda. (And now my new niece is on the way!) I’m the oldest of nine siblings (that’s me, second to the left) and all of us were able to attend with our families, including my sis Elena who is the lone non-Californian living in Virginia. In January we also celebrated Brian being cancer free. Woohoo! However, we also were dealt a blow when Brian’s father, an active Opa in the kids’ life, had a stroke. Although he is still with us there was a mourning of losing the Opa we once knew.

Being a native Californian, I always feel a little bad for my snow-bound friends lamenting the drudgery of winter. In comparison, I am a wimp. I think it’s cold when I have to wear a hoodie while I take a morning walk along the beach.

In March we were knee deep in Lent. It’s easy to have all these grand visions of sacrifices and mortifications that will please the Lord but in reality, it is greater sacrifice for me to shut my mouth when I want to complain about all the laundry or having to wipe a dirty behind in the middle of my meal. God has been trying to tell me, these are the little things that He loves and that helps my heart to expand.  I need to take a cue from Downton and let go of my will and say, “Yes, my Lord.”

April was my month of discovery. A simple weekend trip (my first alone trip in decades!) to the Catholic Women’s Blogging Conference in SoCal was a game changer for me! If you aren’t already a regular reader of the blog, get the details here.

April showers bring May flowers! There is something breathtakingly unique about seeing God’s creativity in nature. The beauty just draws you to Him.

Okay, this is technically not my June submission but I just love it so much! We are on our annual summer trip to Lake Tahoe. For the last couple of years my parents have been able to join us and it is a special time where the kids get to have their long distance grandma and grandma 24/7. I get to have my parents (I hate not living close to them!) and my kiddos and my sweet hubby all in one place (and built in babysitters for a date night.) What’s not to love??

There’s so much green and blue at Lake Tahoe but I love the light and shadows of this photo.

This was a quick iPhone snap after swimming lessons but it captured a bit of the each kid’s personalty. I love my little crazies.

August was my birthday month and it could have been depressing since I felt officially old but instead three of my siblings came up for the weekend to visit (insert emoji hearts) and then they babysat the kids so Brian and I could go out to a fancy dinner at Pebble Beach. (Insert kissy face emoji here.) It truly was one of my best birthdays EVAH!

In September we took our last hike at Point Lobos for awhile. Once school and the holidays starts our weekends get filled up. The view at the top of our favorite hike/walk is even more breathtaking in person.

October was the month of creativity. I participated in the 31 Days of Writing with 31 posts about Gratitude and I started the online Love Your Lettering course. Unfortunately, I had to put the course on hold after a couple weeks because I didn’t have the extra time but now that the holidays are (almost) over, I will be able to pick up my pens and pencils once again. (If you are interested, join me!)

Okay, I am cheating again! I have two submissions for October but seriously who can’t resist mini-sized padawans, stormtroopers and a care bear. (Remember those??) 😉

We take two trips a year. Summer in Lake Tahoe and during Thanksgiving week we visit Disneyland with my family in SoCal. We are very busy during the year so our time together to get away is very important to us. Plus, the fact that I love all things Disney make this trip a no-brainer. (Major kudos to my hubby that puts up with my amusement park love. He’d rather be home reading a book.) 😉

There was a time I thought I would never find the right husband and get married. God answered my prayer above and beyond my imagination with Brian. Then there was a time I thought I would never have a child. Along came my sweet Bella. Then there was a period of five years with two pregnancies lost in miscarriage and I thought Bella would be an only child. God’s mercy (and some medical help) changed that and boom came our three little guys in a row. This Christmas I am acutely aware of my blessings!

Can I add one more unsanctioned photo? Yeah, yeah, I know – THE RULES. But like the pirate code, it’s more like a guideline….

As I was looking through my photos, I came across this one of my sweet babies and their big eyes. How incredibly fast time goes by!! So enjoy the sweet moments of the day and hug your loved ones. As time goes by you will forget all the moments that made you want to scream and only remember the love, laughter and kisses.

Sending hugs to you, my friends. Have a very blessed 2016!!!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope or Katch (past Periscopes), GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉

Are you ready to link up?? Here are the rules.

1. Create a post with a photo to represent each month of the year. (As you can tell from my post, cheating is allowed.)

2. Add a link back here so others can play along.

3. If you want to use the graphic, here are two versions. I polled Facebook to see which was the fave but it was tied. Since I am prone to want to please everyone, you can take your pick. 😉 Right click and save the image to your computer or copy the html into your blog’s html/text page.

<a href=”http://revolutionoflove.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo_end_year_2015A3.jpg”><img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-8085″ src=”http://revolutionoflove.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo_end_year_2015A3.jpg” alt=”RevolutionofLove.com – 2015 in 12 Photos // logo_end_year_2015A3″ width=”640″ height=”457″ /></a>

<a href=”http://revolutionoflove.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo_end_year_2015A.jpg”><img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-8084″ src=”http://revolutionoflove.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo_end_year_2015A.jpg” alt=”RevolutionofLove.com – 2015 in 12 Photos // logo_end_year_2015A” width=”640″ height=”441″ /></a>

4. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for a month. Have fun! 🙂