It’s time for End of the Year Recaps. Join me today and tomorrow as we review over 2017 and share the good, the bad and the funny. Both posts will be a link-up for you to share your own thoughts, memories and top posts of 2017.

Today – 2017 Recap (Part 1): 2017 in 12 Photos (hashtag #2017in12photos)

Tomorrow – 2017 Recap (Part 2): Top Posts of 2017 & Link-up

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I love End of the Year recap posts but the photo year in review is my favorite! Dwija over at House Unseen hosted the link-up in the past but has passed the baton to me. So let’s get to it!

(Note: I cheated on some of these by making the “one” photo into one collage instead. Feel free to do the same if needed.)

January is the month of fresh starts and new resolutions! I chose my saint and word of the year.

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In February we had our first really big winter storm – our fence and neighborhood trees fell, power was out and schools were closed for the day but within a few days we were back to our normal California weather.

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In March Lent was in full swing. It was a time for prayer, reflection and penance.

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In April we celebrated spring and Easter, although I was missing my FIL on the anniversary of his death. Instead I tried to look for the positive and be thankful for my blessings. (This shot was for a photo challenge that made creative use of a cloud.)

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In May, Bella and I went on our annual mother-daughter trip to our favorite place to visit. I absolutely love our girls’ weekends together. And the boys love the guys’ weekend with their daddy.

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The travels continue with a family trip to Lake Tahoe once school was out for the summer. We’ve been visiting every summer for nearly 15 years. It makes it even more special when my parents are able to join us. Family memories galore. 🙂

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In July Brian and I took our first overnight date in 15 years! We’ve never left the kids alone so we made up for lost time at Pebble Beach. The view from our room’s deck was amazing.

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In August the kiddos were back in school. We now have grades 1, 2, 4 and 10! Meanwhile, mama got back to writing more.

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In September, I was on a plane headed to Minnesota/Wisconsin to attend the Blessed Is She Team Retreat. It was a much needed time to spend time in prayer and to reconnect with my BIS sisters. They amaze and inspire me. I sometimes still feel like a fangirl when I am with them. The only downside was getting back home. There were plane malfunctions, numerous delays and general pain-in-the-arse circumstances that delayed my arrival home by almost 24 hours. Well, at least I finally made it home in one piece. 😉

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In October, Bella celebrated her 16th birthday with a girls weekend at Disneyland. We met my mom and sister (Bella’s confirmation sponsor and fave aunt) and had a great time together. I couldn’t help but think about the first time I took Bella to Disneyland 12 years ago. My hope is to one day I’ll be the grandma going to Disneyland with my daughter and my grandchildren. 😉

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In November, eight of my nine siblings and their families met in SoCal for a surprise 70th Beach Boy themed birthday party for my dad. We were able to catch up with family and meet new cousins/nephews/nieces. We also fit in one more trip to Disneyland before the year’s end. (Can you tell we are a Disney family? LOL.)

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December came after a year of gratitude and joy. I am so thankful that we are all in good health, that Brian’s cancer screening came back clean, that my mom is doing well, that my little nephew Joseph who was seriously ill has recovered from surgery and is thriving. Plus, I was able to make a number of trips to see family and loved ones and have made lasting memories.

With the pain we went through last year, especially with my father-in-law’s passing and my mom’s cancer, it was a blessing to have a respite year filled with thanksgiving. This year there was a theme of togetherness and spending time with loved ones. Being reminded that life is fragile has encouraged us to make the most of the time we have together.

So to close off the year we enjoyed a relaxing Christmas and on the 28th Brian and I will celebrate 18 years of marriage. God is good. All the time.

Thanks for sharing some memories of this year. I look forward to seeing your own memories so link up below! If you aren’t a blogger feel free to share your favorite memory of 2017 in the comments. 🙂

Sending hugs to you, my friends. Have a very blessed 2018!!!

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, 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, right click and save the image to your computer or copy the html into your blog’s html/text page.

<img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-10221″ src=”http://revolutionoflove.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017in12_logo_640-1.jpg” alt=”” width=”640″ height=”424″ />

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 until January 31, 2018. Have fun! 🙂