Week in Review #16-26 and/or Year in Review

I haven't done a Week In Review post in ten weeks. My blogging activity has indeed diminished over the last two and half months. Not stopped, but crawled. It's been an incredibly busy time with every minute filled. But it seems fitting to do a review post on the last day of the year. So this is a morphing of missed weeks and looking back over all of 2011. Major changes came to the Moss family in 2011, plus a lot of fun and a few bumps in the road:

• January:
• Trip to Wisconsin Dells with Jeannette's family to start the year. Very fun.
• Found the condo and began the process of going for it. 
• Began teaching for my 6th semester at Moody, teaching Bible Intro for the first time and Hermeneutics again.
• February:
• Officially put in an offer on our condo, WAAAYYYY lower than it was listed for. And they accepted!!!
• Baylee is playing soccer at local park district
• Family goes with me to California on a work trip. Jeannette and Baylee flew out together in the early AM. I flew from a conference in VT to Chicago, picked up Jaxon, then flew to LA, going literally coast to coast in a day. We were there for 8 days, splitting our time between LA and San Francisco. In LA we saw Hollywood, went to the Oriental theater, and finally tried In-N-Out burgers (which are not very good). In San Fran we walked the piers, had our first fishwhich (which tastes amazing), and went to Alcatraz. 
• After a year of sojourning around New Life locations we officially start attending New Life Lincoln Park.
• Received my one year review from Logos with steller comments and a job well done. 
• Survived Snowmageddon.
• March:
• Jeannette turns 29+
• Family heads out to Iowa for a weekend. Conference I was working at was a youth leader's conference, so it was awesome to be back in that environment. Highlights of the trip was being able to see our friends D and Jill. D was able to help me present at the youth conference, and we all celebrated Jeannette's birthday.
• While at a conference in South Carolina for work I got to meet my ministry hero, Josh MacDowell. On the outside I was professional, but on the inside I was like a junior high girl meting Justin Bieber. 
• April:
• Officiated the wedding of one of my old youth group students, Jonny Synal and his new wife Amanda.
• Trip to New York for work and Jeannette gets to go with, just us!!! Saw the Green Day musical, which was phenomenal. 
• Easter with New Life Lincoln Park
• Closed on the condo!!! We are now officially home owners for the first time!
• May:
• Finished up 3rd year of teaching at Moody
• Family trip to the family campers in southern Indiana for Memorial Day weekend. Many fish caught, Jaxon goes fishing for the first time!
• More trips to Menards and Home Depot then thought humanly possible as work on condo continues.
• Meet Francis Chan at a conference and get to spend a little bit of time with him.
• June:
• Officiated funeral for Jeannette's cousin George Torres.
• Family comes along for work trip to Indianapolis. Went to a pretty cool pizza/game place. We all got to eat with my coworker from Logos, Rebecca Quinn, at the Spagetti factory.
• July:
• Jaxon turns 2!!!
• Stitch turns 11 (or 77, however you want to look at it)
• Family comes along for work trip to Cincinnati. Not too impressed with the city of Cincinnati's 4th of July fireworks (incredibly lame). Went across river to New Port Kentucky for shops and their aquarium (which wasn't very impressive either). Stopped by my sister Susie's house south of Indy on way home.
• Incredibly busy travel month with Logos - in 6 different states in 4 weeks.
• Covered for Pastor Mark speaking at Lincoln Park, speaking each Sunday AM.
• Family comes along for my work trip in New York, we're there for 10 days.
• It rains 7" in one hour in Chicago, we get water in the condo. [grumble grumble]
• August:
• New York trip continues. Kids get to see Times Square, take a boat ride to see Statue of Liberty, spend a day in Central Park, and eat lots of New York style pizza. While at the conference I was working at I was able to meet N.T. Wright.
• My boss from Logos, Pete Heinger, comes to Chicago for a week. We attend the Willow Leadership summit, have meetings with various other churches, and eat lots of Chicago food.
• FINALLY get to move into condo! We are now officially residents of the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago.
• Jeannette and I celebrate 12 years of marriage.
• Start my 4th year of teaching at Moody, teaching a section of Spiritual Life & Community and a section of Hermeneutics.
• Officiated wedding of my step-brother Robby & new sister-in-law Val.
• Meet with Pastor Mark and am asked to consider becoming teaching pastor at Lincoln Park.
• Baylee begin attending North Shore School in Roger's Park.
• September:
• 37th birthday
• Family comes along for a trip to Ocean City, NJ. Get to play in the ocean and explore the boardwalk. Before flying out of Philadelphia, we eat a cheesesteak from Pat's and visit the Rocky statue. Baylee and I run the steps.  =)
• Had a meeting with some pastors in Lowell, IN. Was able to drive by and see my old neighborhood and house I grew up in.
• It's announced at Lincoln Park that I'll be stepping in as teaching pastor.
• October:
• Chipotle Cultivate fest in Lincoln Park.
• Jeannette and I see Carrie Fisher perform her production of "Wishful Drinking"
• Annual DA BEARS road trip with the guys. Travel to Detroit and watch the Bears get humiliated. Before the defeat we ate lunch at American Coney Island hot dogs and got to meet the owner, who told us tons of stories about the history of the place. 
• Family comes along for work trip to Florida. We go to a Gator park, which is actually pretty cool. Spend day at Disney World and evening at Disney Hollywood park. Baylee gets to meet Rapunzel and Jaxon gets to meet Buzz. 
• Worship team at NLLP puts on ROCKTOBER and it is a huge success.
• November:
• Get into a car accident the day before having to leave for Hawaii. No one hurt, other guy's fault.
• Get to go to Hawaii for a work trip. Only on the island for 49 hours, but all 49 were amazing. One appointment was cancelled so I was able to spend an afternoon at Pearl Harbor, which was a powerful and moving experience.
• Officially step in as teaching pastor at NLLP!!!! Have a leadership training/lunch with over 50 in attendance.
• Meet Mark Driscoll at a conference and get to spend a little bit of time with him.
• New Life celebrates its 25th Anniversary with a huge event at the Stephen Center in Rosemont. Over 3000 in attendance. 
• Week long trip to Canada for work with Josh McDowell. Spent an entire afternoon just he and I at a Starbucks. (See previous Josh comment about Justin Bieber). In Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton all in one week.
• December:
• Baylee turns 5!!! Has birthday party at Chuck E Cheese with friends from school and church.
• Attend the Logos Christmas party at the headquarters in Bellingham, WA. Jeannette is able to come along. We spend a day in Seattle before making the 2hr trip to Logos. Great time with the team and hearing about what is ahead for the company.
• Finish up 7th semester of teaching at Moody.
• Tired of dealing with stupid fake front tooth, begin process of getting an implant.
• NLLP records Christmas CD
• Preach first Christmas at NLLP. Very proud of the fact our team did Coldplay's "Christmas Lights," Michael Card's "Immanuel," and Mumford & Sons, "Awake My Soul" as part of the service.

These are the highlights. Going to think through and process stuff later. 

But for now, there is so much to be thankful for and I'm incredibly excited for all that 2012 will bring.