What a beautiful year this has been.
It began as all years were meant to begin…on the slopes of Colorado. This was the 7th year in a row that Jeremy and I had been able to snowboard together and it was even better having my parents and Chris to ski with as well.
January 8th Jeremy celebrates another birthday in Colorado, but my family had to fly back to Decatur as we found out that Emo (my dad’s mom) died.
From Colorado, I flew to Chicago to attend a review course for my PANCE, and Jeremy drove back to Memphis to board a flight for Milan. I spent the next 4 days sitting in classes while Jeremy ate pizza and Italian food in Milan (and did research for the 2012 Harding Art program).
We met back in Memphis to get settled in our new apartment on the HST campus; but the next day, with wet laundry in tow, we made a last minute decision to go to Decatur for me to take the PANCE. Nine days later we found out that I passed and became a PA-C.
We spent the spring semester figuring out life in Memphis, meeting new friends, and Jeremy taking a full load of classes at HST. Jeremy was also able to teach some classes for the HIZ students in Searcy.
May brought weddings and nieces. Jeremy performed his first wedding for his sister and Jared. We spent several days with our HIZ group out at HUT, learning names and faces, preparing for the fall semester. At the end of May, we went to Decatur to welcome Emma Gunter Copeland into the world. She was 7 lbs of perfection.
For 7 weeks of the summer I worked with middle schoolers at the YMCA day camp. While I was busy with camp, Jeremy took two classes, preached at Iglesia, and continued to train for hiking Mt. Rainier.
I worked for 1 month in Knoxville in a temporary PA position there, before we began our 5 month stint of living out of suit cases.
After 9 months of training, the time finally came to climb Mt. Rainier. We summited 14,410 ft at 6:50 a.m. on August 5, and this summer then became known as “The Summer we Summited Mt. Rainier.”
After quick visits to Decatur and Searcy to see family for one last time, we departed for HUT on Aug. 17 with our HIZ group and then flew out of Memphis on Aug. 20 landing in Zambia on the next day.
For the next 3 months we lived in Zambia directing the overseas program for 26 college students. It was a dream job and we loved every minute of it. At the end of our time in Zambia we traveled 21 days through Tanzania and Uganda before returning to Searcy on November 27.
We caught up with family in Searcy then Decatur before beginning our road trip up to New York. On our drive we stopped to see Anna in Rome, GA, then the Curtis Family in South Carolina, then Caitlin in Virginia, then sightseeing in D.C. finally arriving in the Bronx, NY to stay with Seth and Rebekah for Christmas. While visiting the city we were able to see Phantom of the Opera and celebrate Christmas with the whole Daggett family on Christmas day in New Jersey.
We drove straight back to Decatur a few days later to spend the end of the year here.
What an adventure God carried us on this year. And as a new year begins, so does a new adventure.
