Remembering 2008

What a busy year this has been! I keep thinking things will start to slow down and they never do. At least there was no major life changing event this year, like there has been the last 4 years. In 2004, I graduated from college and had to move on to 'real life'. In 2005, Rich and I were married. Morgan was born in 2006 and Blake was born 15 months later in 2007. 2008 has been a year of finally settling into family life with nothing really new happening to us...sort of....

*We started this year with my parents preparing to move to Germany. They have lived in the same town their whole lives and in the same house for 30 years. It was really strange to have them move and even stranger that it was as far away as Germany! Dad left in February and, after taking care of a couple loose ends, Mom left in March. It was really emotional for me, since I did everything with Mom, but after a little while I got used to not having her around.

*We were finally able to take family vacations this year! We took 2 camping trips with Rich's parents and brothers in August and September and had a wonderful time! I hadn't been camping in quite a while and as tiring as it was, it was also refreshing just to get away as a family.

*I was able to lose the weight from having the kids this year, which feels wonderful! I won't mention any numbers, since I am quite embarrassed that I let myself go so much during the pregnancies, but I'm almost back to my old self. I just need to get into shape now! :-)

*I feel like Rich and I are at a new place in our relationship. We have basically stopped looking back at what we missed out on by moving so fast with our family and have started looking forward. I think we are excited about the future of our family, our financial goals and just our life together. It's exciting! :-)

*I was able to travel to see my parents this year and experience Germany! I feel so grateful to my parents for the opportunity and to Rich and his family for taking care of the kids and the house while I was gone! I'll never have an experience quite like that again and, despite missing Rich and the kids like crazy, I am so happy that I went and I had a wonderful time!

*Rich and I found a church that we are really fond of. I'm not sure what was holding us back from going for so long, but we finally started going in October (thanks to Shelby for the invite!) and love it. I feel like it will be a wonderful place for our whole family to learn, worship, and fellowship with other Christians. I am hoping to find a place there where I can use my talents and get involved, as well.

*I have to admit that I also got hooked on giveaways and blogging this year, too. Sometimes I wonder if I drive Rich crazy talking about it, but it has been a lot of fun! I started the year hardly knowing what a blog was to actually blogging on a regular basis and signing up for giveaways on other blogs and I love it!

All in all, it has been a wonderfully busy year. Things just seem to be looking up and I can't wait to see what the new year brings for us!