happy new year.

2011 was certainly a gift. God blessed us richly in many ways. He also taught us many new things as we faced trials and hardships and difficult questions. We are trying to love better and live in thankfulness.

The Top Ten of 2011 (in no particular order):
1. Celebrating our second wedding anniversary with a day off work to spend together.
2. Enjoying our first full year in our house...and loving all of the projects and work we've been able to do on it.
3. Beacon joining our little family. He's definitely a lively puppy, but we definitely love him!
4. Rob starting his internship with Spectrum Hospice and getting confirmation that this work is his life passion.
5. Volunteering as a middle school youth group leader again. It sure is good to be back.
6. Starting in the Masters of Counseling program at Spring Arbor University and achieving a 4.0 semester.
7. Being proactive in learning about our finances and starting to practice being stewards with what we have.
8. Starting a new job at Compass College of Cinematic Arts - so blessed to be able to love going to work.
9. Celebrating with our friends: a wedding, a baby, two babies on the way, new jobs, new houses, new dogs!
10. Being intentional about spending more time with our families whenever possible.

A Couple of Our Goals for 2012 (in no particular order):
1. Send more cards to friends and family near and far - we think about them often and want them to know.
2. Update the blog more often - so we can look back on the things we've done and stay in touch with friends.
3. Continue to learn how to budget our finances and be stewards of the gifts God has blessed us with.
4. Be intentional about spending time with people. It's easy to be busy and get caught up in hours at work and good grades in school and taking care of the house, but we want to work on building genuine relationships.

We hope that 2011 was a year of learning and growing for you just as it was for us and we pray that 2012 will be filled with hope and that our eyes will be opened to seeing the world the way Jesus sees it: with love.

So, Happy New Year from the Bergmans. We hope you're enjoying your celebrations - whatever they may be. At our house, we're thankful for a low key night: Bananagrams, popcorn, Root Beer, watching the Rockin' New Year's Eve party on TV, and being a-okay with going to bed by 12:05am! Cheers!