Year End Wrap Up

I saw on a couple of my friends blogs that they wrote a sort of Christmas letter and I thought that was a great idea! I obviously didn't have it done in time for Christmas, but figured it would still work! This year has definitely been full and has gone by sooo fast. Jared and I feel extremely blessed for the family and friends in our life and look forward to 2010!

January: January was a bit of a whirlwind and it is hard to remember all the ends and outs of what we did. I switched to 4 10 hour days and got permanent long weekends, yay! We started contemplating the idea of selling our house and browsed the housing market to see what was out there. We did a lot of home improvements including new carpet, painting, organizing, etc. Which is a blessing to have done since we decided to stay! We also had several vet appointments to figure out what was wrong with our black lab, Lucy.

February: This is a month we would have rather skipped over. Although the highlight was Jared's surprise of an amazing Valentine weekend, filled with a scavenger hunt of sorts (to buy a dress, get a back massage, get my hair cut and colored) where we spent the night at Hotel 43 downtown and ate a yummy dinner at Chandlers. After Valentine's weekend our month went downhill and we had to put our 4 year old puppy to sleep after a battle with Lymphoma...no fun and something that was extremely difficult for us.

March: My birthday month! I don't remember a whole lot from March other than my brother and sister-in-law coming to visit. We had a great time with them and apparently that was the highlight of our month!

April: Since we decided to stay in our current home we refinanced in April to get a lower interest rate and house payment. We also bought a new refrigerator and put our old one in the garage...which I love! April also brought out the adventurous side of me, as I went on my first snow shoeing trip. We stayed the night at a yurt and had a great weekend with close friends. I am still embarrassed to post pictures of the weekend as I wasn't feeling good and think I look absolutely horrible :)

May: Jared turned 28 this month! We also continued the home improvements by redoing some of our landscaping out front, thanks to much help from my parents. My parents were able to come out for a week and it was wonderful to have them here.

June: Starting at the beginning of summer Jared's job cut back due to the economy and closed the office on Fridays. Although the pay cut hasn't been ideal, having 3 day weekends together has been fabulous! Nothing else significant is really standing out from June

July: This was a big month for us! On July 3rd I woke Jared up at 5:45 am to tell him that I was pregnant...I just couldn't keep the excitement to myself! It was such a surreal, special moment. We also got to visit our fabulous friends in Colorado and go on a mini vacation to Glenwood Springs with them. At the end of the month my parents came to visit again so that we could surprise them with the good news in person. Our first ultrasound was at the end of the month, where we got to hear our precious baby's heart beat for the first time and see them all bundled up. July seems like so long ago, but time as literally flown by!

August: Both Jared and I had our 10 year high school reunions in August. Jared didn't go to his but I flew out to Oregon for mine and had a blast. It was so good to see old friends and catch up with the people I spent almost my entire childhood with. Pregnancy was going well and we finally spilled the news and no longer had to keep secrets.

September: Football season started, which basically consumed our weekends. I feel like Jared is lucky that I like college football! We got to go to Boise State's opening game against Oregon, which was a blast (although I thought I was going to die walking up to the top of the stadium!) Jared's job was supposed to go back to 40 hours/week, however, that ended up not happening...so we have gotten to continue the long weekends together.

October: October seemed like a busy month. I spent most of the first half trying to get over a head cold which turned into a sinus infection. We went to Bear Lake, Utah with Jared's parents for a long weekend and had a great time away with them. We also welcomed a new addition to our family...a 6-month old black lab named Addie. We got ready for Halloween by going to the pumpkin patch with my niece and carving pumpkins with our good friends Justin and Annie. Jared and I hung out with friends on Halloween, but we were the lame ones who didn't dress up! We had our 20 week ultrasound in October and decided to wait to find out if our little one is a boy or a girl!

November: Most of November was spent at Dr. appointments to check my cervical length, preparing for baby and celebrating Thanksgiving. My parents came out for Thanksgiving and we went up to my in-laws for a yummy turkey dinner. It was so nice to have both sides of our family together. We also completed the baby room with the help of my parents which was a HUGE blessing (especially given my restrictions now). Starting in November I feel like my life (and blog) has pretty much centered around my pregnancy!

December: December has been an interesting month. Jared and I celebrated our 6th anniversary by laying on the couch! We had planned on going up to McCall for the weekend for one last get away without a baby; however, due to an unexpected 5 days of complete bed rest spent the time at home instead! I have cut back to 20 hours at work and modified bed rest for the times when I am at home. Jared and I just got back from Oregon where we got to spend a week with my family to celebrate Christmas. Due to all the appointments, monitoring, traveling and celebrating, December has truly flown by!

I think it is fun to reflect on the year and all that the Lord has done in our life. 2009 has been full of many changes and blessings. We are excited and nervous to embrace all that 2010 has in store, which includes a new chapter in our life together...parenthood. Through all that we face I find in encouraging to be reminded:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Happy 2010!!!