Year in Review

I started this lil' blog 364 days ago... and here I am, closing out the year with post #293. Crazy!

2009 was truly a year in transition. We spent 2008 thrilled to be engaged and planned our wedding like crazy. We shared the happiest day of our lives that November, and spent 7 glorious days in Mexico, soaking up the sun and staring at our wedding rings. And then, broke from the wedding and honeymoon, we rung in 2009 together on our couch, excited about what the year would bring, but unsure as to where we were going.

What did 2009 bring us? In no particular order:

• A bigger house! We moved from our 1 bedroom (plus den) apartment in Baltimore to a 2 bedroom townhouse. We feel like real adults with an upstairs and downstairs (real adults who are afraid to have a mortgage, anyway). We even did some redecorating and building.
• A midwest road trip. It's funny how we were in such a hurry to get out of Indiana, and for our vacation this year, we chose to drive through Illinios, Indiana, and Missouri. It's funny how that works out. And Chicago is still my favorite city.
• I spoke with many, many, many, many cashiers who have too much to say.
• I got contacts. I'm 27 and have been wearing glasses since freshman year in high school. A little late to the game, I guess. And funnily enough, I still wear my glasses a lot.
• I went to San Diego by myself. I truly hate traveling alone, but it was nice to have a minute to miss my husband. And miss him I did... who wants to be standing with her toes in the Pacific sand alone, on the complete opposite side of the country? Not this girl, that's for sure. Oh, and I met the guys from Deadliest Catch.
• We went to 2 weddings - my brother-in-law and our friends from college. I love getting dressed up!
• I started working part time at the mall. A huge kill yourself, but the discount is killer. And the extra $100 a week is pretty nice, too. It was supposed to just be a summer thing, but now it's a "till I'm too pregnant to be on my feet for 4 hours" type of thing. No, I'm not pregnant. That's a 2010 type of thing.
• A blue lobster now lives in our house. I now play mom to a dog and a lobster.
• Marley May turned 5! She's been our girl for the past 4 years, but honestly, I can't remember our life without her. I'm pretty happy to say that her grey hairs are minimal (like, maybe she has 5 on her chin?), and thrilled to say (knock on wood) that she's healthy and happy as a clam.
• February Photo Shoot.
• We celebrated our first anniversary! We went back to the Loews Annapolis, took some pictures, had a great dinner, ate year old cake.... it was great.
• Started wedding album on May 15. Was able to narrow down photos to 80 for wedding album on December 15. Should receive it sometime in the spring. Approximately a year and a half post-wedding.

But 2009 wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. We talked a lot about where we want to be in the next few years, and we still haven't come to a consensus on if that's in NJ or MD. We looked at our finances and even though we've made so much progress on our CCCS accounts, sometimes it seemed like it was never going to end. There was lots of talk about jobs and careers and the kind of life we want for our family. And all of these tough conversations have truly made our marriage stronger... even though at the time, there may or may not have been some tears. But we did find our "roadmap" this year. We know where we want to go (though the NJ/MD debate is still up in the air) and how we want to get there. And we have some big plans for 2010.

This year we found our bearings. Next year we'll really begin our journey. But tonight? We're going out in DC to celebrate with our friends. We're doing it big this year, because who knows... next year maybe we'll be at home with a little one asleep in our arms.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year! I have my goals for 2010 ready to go tomorrow, so see you next year!