Goodbye 2009

I have thought about this blog for a few days now. I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not...but it is now 2010. I've been a bit busy so the blog rolled around in my head for a bit until I had time to type it out. Here are some random thoughts about 2010 so far: it is a nice even number, it is now almost 10 years since I graduated high school (holy cow, where did the time go?...), and yeah that is pretty much it. For our household 2009 was a pretty stagnant year. There were some subtle changes, but nothing as big as in years past. I'm rather glad it is over and hope that 2010 is a little more lively for us (I'm probably going to eat my words in the near future and will be kicking myself for wishing this). As the eternal optimist that I am, I forced myself to come up with a list of the 10 best things that happened in 2009. Forcing myself to really sit and think about the past year and remember some of the happy moments. These are in no particular order.

1. Spending time in Alabama getting to know everyone here-whether they are new friends or old friends-and learning what makes Alabama so unique. (I'd say there's no place like home, but it still doesn't feel like home...which is odd for us b/c we've been able to make everywhere else feel like home.)

2. Moving into our own place again! Woooohoooo! It is nice to have a place and space of your own. Now I can arrange my boxes into several different rooms instead of just one small storage area, lol. (Seriously. I'm still holding onto the theory of not unpacking everything b/c it will just need packed up again. I think the earth will disappear if all my boxes ever get unpacked. j/k)

3. Katie graduated from Ohio University! So cool. Which also meant a wonderful trip home to see the clan. (Clan with a C not Klan with a K, ok?) Even if I did have to pay a $300 idiot fee it was still fun.

4. Since we've got a place and a space of our own we are enjoying entertaining again and having friends over. We still don't have visitors often because we have hectic schedules, but it is fun.

5. Combsy came to visit us in Alabama for his Spring Break! It was pretty cool. (We're hoping we can get a few more buddies involved this year...we'll see how it turns out.)

6. Remodeling. For the first time we are able to fix up and paint the place where we live. It is fun to transform the space you live in. I'm so glad to have walls some color other than white or off white. It is fantastic. We are enjoying the remodel process. So far we have been pretty agreeable about paint colors and decorative elements in the rooms. (So far...we'll see what 2010 brings, lol.)

7. Friday Nights! 'Nuff said. So, I'm a little verbose and 'nuff said won't cut it. I really love Friday Nights with the girls next door. It is one of the things I look forward to because they are so crazy. You never know what is going to happen. (I'm so blessed.)

8. Christmas Decorations. For the first time in 2 years I was able to put up my Christmas decorations. (Ok, so the year Biv Biv was deployed I could have put them up, but I was boycotting Christmas til he got home.) I really enjoyed having the tree up this year and the wonderful feeling I had when I could sit in the living room with just the Christmas tree on. Peaceful. (I enjoyed it so much our tree is still up...shhh...don't tell my subconscious 'cause I have a rule about decorations. The tree should be promptly stowed away prior to Jan 1st.)

9. Sibs Wknd @ OU! I was able to visit Katie at school for sibs wknd her senior year at college. It was so much fun! I really enjoyed our time spent together and I think she did too, minus that crazy cough/cold/plague like thing she had. (She sounded terrible.)

10. Refrigerator Art. Ok so this isn't so much an event, but it is fun. The neighbor children draw us pictures and we post them on our refrigerator. (I received a drawing from the half sister for my birthday, but that technically happened in 2010.) It is kinda fun to have something other than our magnet collection on our fridge. We rather enjoy our fridge art without the cost and patience it requires to raise our own children to create fridge art.

We'll see what happens in 2010. I know I have a few things I'm already looking forward to like a potential visit from Katie (Mancub, you better intern in Atlanta, ok?) and a visit from "the boys" for spring break. I can hardly wait for that. Is it March yet? (I know, I know it will be soon.) Also, I'm really hoping 2010 brings me a full-time job. I'm kinda bored with this part-time stuff at the moment (thankful I have a job, but just getting too much unpaid time). We'll see how it goes though. Biv Biv and I rather enjoyed our year together minus USMC interruptions...but...well y'all know ;)