So Long 2009... Hello 2010!

And so here we are again reaching the end to another year. I can't believe that 2009 is already passing us by. Unfortunately I didn't lose the 20 pounds I had previously promised myself last January... nor did I invent a product that would make me millions by this December. However - As to my knowledge I haven't really gained any weight and I still have plenty of food to eat, a nice warm bed to crawl into every night and clothes on my back so I'd say I'm ahead anyway. At least that's what I'm going to tell myself.

Here are some of my highlights from the past year.

The big 24.

Reaching the age of 24 was a little weird for me being as that was the age my mother was when she had me. For the first time I kind of felt like an adult. Yes... I know what you're saying "24 is SOOOOOO OLD" but I had always said I'd like  to be around the same age as my mom when we started trying for children and now it's like... HELLO 24 is SOOOOOO YOUNG!!! I guess it's true that you always feel like a kid at heart.

Putting our house up for sale.

This highlight has been a pretty frustrating one. We love our house. We love the quietness of the country, the acre lot we look out upon each morning, the many renovations we've accomplished ourselves in the past four years, but let's face it... WE NEED MORE STORAGE & SPACE!!! With Casey's new hobby of hunting and my lifetime obsession with clothing, furniture, pictures, you name it... we have outgrown our three bedroom, two bath abode. But obviously it is not the best time to sell with the market the way it is these days and so we have come to the realization "If it sells it sells, if it don't it don't."

Trusting in God.

This year also proved to be a year of faith when my Aunt Amelia was scheduled to have open heart surgery in Cleveland this past October.

 Last year she found out that she had an aortic anuerism and a leaky valve which had probably been there all her life. It was only by the grace of God that this was revealed to her before she had serious complications. At first they said that they would only watch the anuerism to see if they would need to operate... but during the summer her tests showed that the anuerism had grown and that surgery would be necessary. They sent her to the Cleveland Clinic (Which I can not say enough good things about!) It is like the Disney World of Operations let me tell you. Men in red coats making sure that you have exactly what you need, know exactly where you're going, etc. MY DAD WOULD BE GREAT AT THAT JOB!!! Anyways, the surgery was anticipated to take somewhere around 4 hours or so. 3.5 hours had passed and all the sudden the doctor came in to tell us that everything went as routine as could be and that the valve was repaired, the anuerism was gone, and that she was as good as new. All of our months of worries and fears had been taken away. We are so thankful that God watched over our family this past year.

Welcome Home Courtney.

On December 19th my dearest Courtney (my brother-in-law Blake's girlfriend... soon to be fiance "hint hint" right Blake?) finally graduated from WKU as a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Economics YOU GO GIRL!!! WOOHOO! And best of all, she is finally back to the ville so now we can finally be sisters and hang out all the time. We are so very proud of you Courtney and wish you the best life has to offer you! "Blake, I love you and was only kidding... no need to throw anything at me the next time you see me.

So, who knows what will happen in the year 2010. Maybe our house will sell, maybe it won't. Maybe I'll lose the 20 pounds and maybe I'll gain 5. I just hope that all of my family is still here and healthy this time next December. As far as resolutions go I'm only making one which happens to be one I make every year... TO BE MORE ORGANIZED!!! We'll see how that goes.

I love each and every one of you and wish you from the very bottom of my heart a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Love, Elizabeth