Looking back on 2010

I'm a little late, but better late than never.

All I saw on facebook New Year's Day were statuses that said "Good riddance 2010" "Never been happier to say goodbye to a year" etc. I had a really great year in 2010 though. I credit it 100% to the Lord and his plan. I had to trust a lot and take several leaps of faith that I think he assured us was definitely his direction.

So, I'm not thrilled to see 2010 gone, but excited to look back on all that He gave us that year and what is to come. 2010 was not without hurt and trials, but looking back there were truly wonderful things that did happen.

It started off fun and scary in January with a new internship and a lot of unknown lying ahead, but the hope of graduation, a new job and maybe even a family.

In January we celebrated in Florida for my cousin Lane's wedding shower (these are my sweet cousins, I'm so thankful to call them family):

In February we got A LOT of snow for Alabama with several snow days out of school :)

In March, my college roommate married a wonderful man and we celebrated at the beach!

We did a lot of rock crawling since Ben's buggy was up and running (a celebration in itself!).

In April, Chris graduated from boot camp in the Army!

Also in April, I went to a women's retreat in Destin with my aunt and cousin, a lot of fun! I also wore this dress A LOT after looking back at my pictures. :)

Then I turned 27! TWENTY - SEVEN!

In May I went to my first hot-air balloon festival. Hot-air balloons are one of my favorite things, so this was FABULOUS!

Also in May, we were lucky to add a member to our wonderfully large family when my cousin Lane got married. (This is our other cousin, Jake)

In June, Ben and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary in Chattanooga, TN. SO Much Fun!

In July, and most of the summer, we spent a lot of time just sitting.... in the river.

I also visited a good friend at the gulf and spent the day at the beach in the middle of the oil spill. (I saw no oil, apparently I caught it on it's 3-day vacation back out into the sea.)In August, I graduated with my Master's degree in Counseling!!!!
(And got my FIRST counseling job!)

Still in August, Chris and Emily got married!

August was so busy....
Ava turned 1!I must have taken a break in September from life after all of August's activities, but in October, my grandmother turned 80 and we had a huge celebration for her.

In November, I spent most of the month on the couch, but I tried really hard to get Christmas card pictures, and all of them failed miserably. This was one of the better ones (in that dress again), but we had to cut out the dogs because they wouldn't behave.

In December, we celebrated a beautiful white Christmas with all of our family together.

And in December, we got a picture of our sweet baby:

Yep :)

There's more to it, but I'll leave you with pictures for now, so if you could try to not announce it on facebook, that'd be great!

Silence

Gosh, 2.5 weeks since my last post.... Where have I been?!

Honestly, I've been right here, doing a whole lot of nothing except working and figuring out how to do my job.

I just haven't had much to post about lately to tell you the truth.

My life has been very and wonderfully boring. I've had 2 weekends in a row of pure nothingnesss, which was also to recover from one terrible sinus infection. But at the same time, it has been wonderful to do nothing. (PS - I'm pretty sure progesterone is the result of my latest sinus infection as it has happened every time I've taken it this year! Have any of you had similar issues with that?)

Some wonderful news: I heard that my certification to be an official school counselor was mailed to my school district a few weeks ago, and although I have yet to see it, I'm still very excited! Yesterday I was supposed to be officially hired by my school system now that the state has granted this certificate. This is amazing because that means I can finally get master's pay instead of substitute pay! Praise the Lord! That is a HUGE difference. It will still be a few months before I'll see it, but I'm very excited to be able to plan a new budget with 2 incomes.

So in the meantime, I'm a very boring, very happy person. I mailed in my application to become an ALC (Associate Licensed Counselor) several weeks ago, but I realized this morning that I didn't send any money. Most places won't give you anything without that check so.... I probably won't hear from them until they see a couple hundred dollars from me. Oops! I haven't minded the break either though. Once I get my ALC, I will begin weekly supervision sessions with my old professor until I have clocked 3000 hours counseling. Then I will be an LPC, Licensed Professional Counselor. Woo! So that is the long term goal. 1 or 2 years down the road that is.

This weekend Ben and I are going to the Auburn game!! Auburn vs. Clemson :) I'm very excited!

Country Livin'

When Ben and I got engaged we (I) went house hunting. I found our perfect house, but couldn't get back to it. The roads were windy and most of them did not have street signs. God knew we should live there because when we asked a realtor to show us around, she brought us to the very house (frame) I picked out.

Our house is half-way between two cities: Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Ben works in Tuscaloosa and at the time I was in Birmingham. 30 minute drive either way. I love where we live. It is just far enough from the city that taxes are lower, houses are a little cheaper and we're in the country. But, it is close enough that I can drive 15 minutes to the grocery store or 30 to a mall.

One fabulous thing about living in the middle of nowhere is there is no fast food! If you want to eat out, it has to be a trip. There isn't any running to the corner to pick up a sandwich or order a pizza.

In fact, if we want to order a pizza we have to meet Domino's at the nearest truck stop. Yep.

So we don't eat out often, Dave Ramsey would be happy.

However, we're getting big time!

We're getting a Loves Truck Stop. We probably don't NEED another truck stop, but they didn't really ask me one way or another, so up it goes.

Well... I was driving by the other day and saw this sign going up....

Great...

I would certainly prefer it to be a Chick-Fil-A and a Jimmy Johns if it HAS to be fast food, but I am not happy about fast food moving into our neighborhood one bit!

While I'm at it, I'll also enlighten you to some good and bad things about country livin':

We have 9 lakes! (This is one of the smallest ones, but it has a cute picnic area and fishing area for kids)No one tells you you cannot have roosters....... (No, this is not MY rooster)

....or move into your Home Depot shed if you please. (The real one in this story is not nearly this cute.)You can have whatever mailbox you desire. (Just in case you thought this was my latest purchase... again, not mine.)

You don't even have to clean the mold off of your house!

Or clean up your broke-down swimming pool.

(Ben would not let me take pictures of these... he was worried I'd get shot. Use your imagination!)

You can see the stars at night and hear the frogs & crickets when the sun goes down.

Its usually 5 -10 degrees cooler!

Ben can work as loud, as early or as late as he wants to on his buggy and no one gets upset.

So, as long as I don't develop a new love of McDonalds or Subway (doing great so far) then my country livin' shouldn't be interrupted too badly.

I've dug my hole & Sunday Questions

Remember the other day when I said if peanut butter caused acne then I was going to dig a hole and get in? Well I just so happened to be reading about milk (and some seriously gross things about it I wish I hadn't read) when it said "and peanut butter"... this caused me to then google that link... (now I'm fully aware that you can find proof on google for ANYTHING, but still)... and there were several people who said it was peanut butter that causes their acne. ugh. I don't think I'm ever going to figure this out. Its so overwhelming and all I want to eat is chocolate cake glazed donuts from Dunkin Donuts! Yum :)

Anyways... Happy Sunday!

We've had an uneventful weekend around here. I worked Saturday at my parent's store and went to my nephew's last basketball game. He's such a cutie, he made one free throw and it made his weekend even though his team lost. Went to publix today to fill our empty cabinets and spent WAY more than I had planned... I think I may have to up my food budget.

How much do you spend per week on food? For how many people? I'd love to know.

I've read people who easily live on $25/week/person, but I just can't get there on this diet. Meats and veggies are WAY too expensive. Also, we eat every single meal from home, so add that in too.

AANNDD... Getting to know YOU Sunday!

The questions..

1. Would you rather bungee jump or sky dive?

Nope! Neither. I used to REALLY want to sky dive. So much that I almost booked it and was very ready. Then I decided I liked my life too much and didn't really want to die.

2. When using a public restroom to you squat over the seat or sit?

A little of both. I will hover if I think it is necessary, but I'd rather sit. If the bathroom is too gross I will just leave and find another one. (This makes long trips with me A LOT of fun... just ask Ben.)

3. Favorite flower?

Star-gazing lilies or lilacs! Even tulips :)

4. Pedicure or manicure?

Yes please! I love both. Especially when they come along with a mimosa or two.

5. How many siblings do you have?

2 brothers. One older, one younger.

6. Do you pee in the shower? (gasp!)

Hah! NO! And I never peed in pool either. I can't believe people do that. I remember being in college when a bunch of my friends and I went to an apartment pool for the day, coolers and beer in hand. After my 3rd or 4th trip to the restroom that day I realized that NO ONE else was going, and they were all downing beer all day. I asked someone and he was like, 'just pee in the pool.' YUCK.

7. Bikini, tankini, or one piece?

I like a regular bikini top and a skirt bottom, I don't know what that is classified as.
Victoria's Secret is my favorite place to buy bathing suits. Much better prices and they fit better than department store suits.

8. Where do you hate to shop at, but go there anyway?

But go there anyway?.... hmm.... I crossed Walmart off my list a LONG time ago, and don't go there at all anymore. I can't think of any place as bad as Walmart.

Play along! Click Keely's picture above.