Looking Back

I can definitely say that 2010 was a CRAZY year for me! I learned a lot, had some interesting experiences, made a lot of new friends, started a career, and fell in love all over again. Here are some things that I learned this year:

-Trust God no matter what. He knows what He's doing, and in the end He's going to make things work out for you.
-Be patient. Good things come to those who wait.
-Don't be afraid to tell someone how you feel, good or bad, because in the end you have to do what's best for you.
-Love freely. Love who you love, when you love them, for whatever reason you love them. And if you can't stop loving someone, trust that God's got a reason for that.
-Apply for a million jobs until you land the right one.
-Have faith.
-Hold tight to your family, through good and bad. A wise woman once said "We'll get through this. We're a family, and that's what families do."
-Look for the little joys. They are what make life worth living.
-Yell when you need to. Cry if you have to. But don't ever go to bed angry.
-Forgive. Simple to say, hard to do, but essential to getting through life.
-Listen to your instincts/heart/conscience. Chances are they probably know what's going on.
-Say "I'm sorry."
-Find something to be thankful for every single day, even if it's something trivial. You'll be more aware of your blessings if you do this.
-Reconnect with old friends. It's worth it.
-Don't let the little bothers bring you down. It's not worth it.

I love this verse, and I think it completely summarizes 2010 for me:
"When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider:
God has made the one as well as the other."
-Ecclesiastes 7:14-17


And now it's on to 2011! God's got BIG things in store for us, and I'm so excited to see what's going to happen.
Also, H and I have started a new blog for 2011. It's mostly me doing the updating, but it's to chronicle everything we have going on this coming year. This blog will obviously still be my priority; the other blog is a photo blog--1 picture a day for 365 days.

I pray that God blesses you and your family this coming year! See you in 2011!

Christmas

Well, Christmas was simply perfect this year. H came home and stayed at my parents' house and got to experience all of our Christmas traditions. We went to church Christmas Eve to hear Mindy and my mom sing in the choir, opened presents together Christmas morning, and spend a lot of quality family time together. Christmas day we went to H's mom's house to do presents with her and have dinner. It was a wonderful Christmas-- there was snow, traditions, and family time! My sister didn't go into labor like we'd hoped, but there's still time before New Years! All in all, probably one of the best Christmases I've had.

Got some pretty sweet stuff, too. Mom and Dad got us new knives, a hand mixer, and a rolling pin for our kitchen, among a bunch of other stuff. Mindy got H a wine kit and got me a bunch of cute decorative stuff for the apartment, H's mom got us some body products (Olay for me and Axe for him) and gift cards, and my best friend and her boyfriend got us amazing candles from Bath and Body Works for the apartment. Christmas is definitely not about the gifts for us, but I LOVE to see people's faces when they open the presents that I got them! :) It just makes me happy to see people enjoy what I get for them. Hahaha it's one of my favorite parts of Christmas get-togethers!

So now I get to enjoy having no work all week. Thank gosh, too, because I desperately needed a break. This year is so incredibly overwhelming with work and all the "experiences" I'm having there, and we're only halfway through with it. I thought I was desperate for summer vacation when I was a student, but being a teacher and craving summer vacation is way more intense!!! So tonight I'm enjoying staying up late on a Monday night since I don't have to be up tomorrow. I just have this horrible feeling that this week is going to go by way too fast, though.

Less than 100 teaching days left this year!

365 Days Ago

One year ago today, I was receiving my bachelor's degree from BGSU.

One year ago today, I was convinced that I would never be in a relationship with H again.

One year ago today, I had no idea what God's plan for the next year of my life would be, and I was terrified about what would happen.

In 365 days, I have begun my career. I am with H, and we are planning our future family together. I am expecting my first nephew. I have seen what trusting God with your life can do. And I am not disappointed in the least by how amazing He has been to me!

I'm excited to see what the next 365 days will bring! God is so good!

Why I hate being sick

I'm stuck sitting/laying on the couch surrounded by used kleenex and bottles of medicine, and from my couch I can see the laundry that needs put away, the dishes that need done, the trash that needs to go out, and all the little things that need to be put away. And I don't have the energy or desire to do any of it.

I hate this.

Snow day!

Presents all wrapped and under the tree!

Got my first official teacher snowday today, so I spent it wrapping the last of the presents and making cookies (those pics will be posted in a bit). Now if only it could blizzards for just ONE more day...!

Christmas shopping...

is done 3 weeks before Christmas! Here's hoping it all ships in time for Christmas!

Christmas Prepping!

Spent the day doing Christmas prep: buying gifts, wrapping presents, and making/decorating cookies! It was perfect :)

Making cookies

Being silly while we decorate  :) (He makes me smile)

Decorated cookies!

Presents!  Love my penguin wrapping paper

Our family Christmas picture <3

Exhausted

I feel ridiculously exhausted today. I'm hoping that I'm not coming down with something, but I've got a headache, I'm phlemmy, I'm feeling a little achy, and even after a night full of sleep I'm absolutely fatigued and exhausted.

I don't have the time (or desire) to be sick right now. First, it's only 1pm and I still have another 6 hours of work to get through. Second, I'm saving my PTO days for Carter's birth next month. And finally, I've got too much to do right now with curriculum stuff due to actually spend time resting and getting better.

I desperately need:
-medicine
-hot tea
-my jammies
-a warm blanket
-tonight and tomorrow to go quickly
-a hug

Christmas Time

The apartment is looking very festive, and it makes me super happy. The lights from the tree and the windows gives the house a warm glow, and it's very much putting me even more into the Christmas spirit! I love it--it's such a great feeling, and H and I are having such a great time decorating and starting our own Christmas traditions.

Our homemade stockings from 2008--still using them, only this time they are hung up together!

The wreath my mom gave us. It's perfect---it's the right size for our door, and it matches our tree perfectly.

Our beautiful tree! You can see the window lights/decorations in the background, too. It all makes me so happy :)

I bought cookie ingredients tonight, too. I'm making 5 different Christmas cookies to share and gift, plus gingerbread cookies--H and I have a tradition of making gingerbread cookies and decorating them together. It's one of our favorite traditions together.

Oh, and it snowed today! :) I'm absolutely feeling the Christmas spirit this year, and I love it!