goodbye 2015 + a life update

(note: this photo has absolutely nothing to do with todays blog post, i just want to draw attention to how much benedict loves cats)
in case you are brand new here (or forgot this blog existed), id like to get something out of the way real quick: yes, i am completely aware that i posted a super long, exciting post about rebranding and then went AWOL for four months. no, the irony is not lost on me. 
to be completely honest, ive been trying to mentally write this post (and have had several different versions in my drafts) for a few weeks now, and i just couldnt figure out how so i just... didnt do it (yes, this is how i typically deal with things. yes i know its terrible). but today is the last day of 2015, and probably the most appropriate time to just come out and say it: 
2015 has not ended well for us. 
in the interest of catching everyone up to speed with whats been going on without descending into a bottomless pit of self-pity, heres a brief list of bad things that have happened lately in more or less chronological order: 
1. in early september we lost my stepdad to suicide. im not going to go into detail explaining how horrible this was/is for everyone involved because, well, this is something id rather deal with privately than publicly discuss, but yes, it was (is?) terrible. 
2. james didnt work at all for two whole months after that. this was entirely coincidental, and, while on the one hand it was helpful to be able to just stop everything and grieve as a family, we also need james to work so we can like, pay rent and stuff. 
3. my health got, like, way worse. right at the very convenient time of right after we were dropped from our health insurance. (dont worry, im not dying, im just in absurd amounts of pain for no reason. also, im probably too old for having babies).
4. jamess bike got stolen. you know, the thing that makes our whole "having one car" thing totally manageable? stolen at the also very convenient time of right when james started working again/got a second job at target. 
5. i had a really, REALLY rough semester. the first 2/3 was a lot of confusion and wasted class time and the last 1/3 was constant stress and insanity. and i was only in one class. 
6. james (briefly) worked two jobs while i was still in school and we were sharing my car and it drove everyone literally insane. also he had to work (at target) on thanksgiving/black friday, which was stupid. 
7. i spent months trying to figure out our health insurance situation, and when i couldnt get any answers i started the process with getting insurance from the state, only to find out at the very end that WE HAD INSURANCE THE WHOLE TIME (well, not the time when they sent us a letter saying "no more health insurance" and cancelled all my scheduled appointments, but all the other time. yes i just realized i described the worst m. night shyamalan movie ever). 
8. overall james had a terrible year at work (like, made about half of what he made last year), right when we decide that im going to go to school instead of having a job for the next two years. 
and
8. my car died. literally, completely died. TWO DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS. seriously. 
so yeah, that about catches us up to today. obviously, other stuff happened in there too and were all still alive and healthy (ok, the kids are sick with sniffles) with lots of friends and family around to help/make us feel better (also, christmas was great), so life isnt that bad. and i mean, things can only go up from here, right? 
good riddance 2015, and stay tuned for tomorrows post where i talk about stuff thats not totally depressing!