So Long '09

I am happy to close the door on 2009. Reflecting over the last year, I must say that it was one of the most challenging in my life. We survived a job lay off and some furlough. We lost our baby. Dave's grandma died. Dave's great aunt died. We faced our own relationship ups and downs. But we've survived it all. We've learned a lot about each other and ourselves this year.

Despite our trials, we had a lot of good times in '09 (in chronological order).

• We watched President Obama be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States.
• Cooper Joe was completely housebroken (except for the occasional accidents).
• Our friends, Erin and John, had their first son Jack and Melissa and I went to visit them in Chicago.
• We took our first full-family vacation (minus Gracie-the-cat) to the home of the largest turkey.
• Dave and I went our own mini-vacation to a B&B in Lake City, Minnesota.
• Dave completed his second marathon.
• My dad had his first book published!
• We went camping!
• I went to the North Shore with my mom and sister, Rachel.
• We got pregnant.
• I went to California to visit my sister, Stevie, and we met Jay Leno! (which apparently I never blogged about because I can't find any post about it...but it was awesome!)
• Our niece, Lillian, was born.
  
• I'm three classes closer to my master's degree!
• We celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with our families, the people we're most thankful for. 

I'm looking forward to an awesome 2010. A new decade. A new chapter in our lives. I'm looking forward to this fresh new start. In fact, I took today off work to get our house super clean and organized, so I can start the year off clean in every way. Big things are going to happen in 2010. First, I'm going to pass the math placement test so I can continue towards my master's. God-willing, we will get pregnant this year. But I also want to go on a mission trip to Haiti in June. Dave will be graduating. I'm seriously thinking about running a half-marathon this spring too. We'll have to see how it all works out. There are many adventures to be had this year -- it's just a matter of time to see which ones they will be.

Happy New Year to you all, my friends!

J.B.