2008 in review

I'm really excited about 2009. We're getting to meet our baby in pictures again next week and find out what baby's name is. I'm going to be in one of my lifelong friend's wedding in March and I'm super excited about seeing her marry the man of her dreams. We have a fun beach trip planned with my family in March that I'm looking forward to even though I'll probably resemble a beached whale. Then in May we get to meet our baby for the very first time in real life and become parents. We don't have much planned for the rest of the year since we'll base everything on how baby feels and how we feel with baby but I think we're planning some more football road trips and maybe even a fun trip with friends. This year just might be the year to start the couples trip tradition!

But despite all the fun that I'm anticipating in 2009, it's always kind of sad to see anther year come to a close. We're headed to Tuscaloosa today and then to New Orleans tomorrow for the Sugar Bowl. But before we left I thought I'd take a second to think back on my favorite moments from 2008. Since I didn't start blogging until the end of May I won't have posts for all of them, but that's something we can look forward to next year! :)

1. Finding out that we were pregnant. While the post on the subject is from October we found out September 18th that we were going to be parents. I'll never forget the look of disbelief and excitement on Jason's face when he asked me, "So, what's the result?" and I started nodding up and down in belief and said, "We're pregnant!" I've been blessed to feel relatively good so far and I really am enjoying being pregnant. We're now looking forward to meeting baby in 2009!

2. Our trip to the Masters in April with Kelly and Tripp was so much fun! We spent a night in Atlanta and enjoyed great food at Fogo de Chao and a Braves game. And then headed to Augusta for the practice round. It was fun that we got to take the camera in so that we could get some fun pictures like the ones below! Sitting where I am now thinking back I don't know how Kelly was such a trooper during that trip! She never requested any special circumstances, I never heard her complain about the walking or being tired, and I think I requested more stops along the way than she did! I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be near as much fun to travel with this April to a GOLF TOURNAMENT as she was!

3. Caroline's birthday! I was so excited last fall when Kelly and Tripp told us that they were pregnant. It was so much fun watching them throughout the whole pregnancy and seeing how excited they were. And then Caroline was born and things became even more fun! Now we always have entertainment when we get together. And Jason and I have especially loved the fact that she's the same age each month as baby will be next year. So now we know that by Christmas we'll probably have a crawler! What a beautiful blessing to Kelly and Tripp's life and to ours!

4. Our trip to the beach. This trip ended up being our "babymoon" but we didn't know that when we planned it! If we had we probably would have waited a little longer in the pregnancy to go since I was pretty nauseous the whole time we were there. Regardless, we loved exploring the neat town of Rosemary Beach. We even found the dresser for the nursery on that trip! It was fun to finally be able to tell people (since we didn't know them) that we were pregnant since our trip was the week before we went "public".

5. Art Classes! This year was a fun year for us because we met so many more people in Huntsville. This was best demonstrated for me when I went to two art classes with two different groups of girls. It was nice to get away for the evening and just relax and paint (even if I wasn't totally thrilled with the results!). I'm so glad that we've met all of these wonderful women. I look forward to getting to know them better as the years go on.

6. Rush. I know that it sounds odd to say that one of my favorite moments from the year was rush. I mean, really, what sorority girl in her right mind looks forward to rush?!?! But I was always the weird one that loved it. All of the parties and singing and love about Alpha Chi was fun for me. This year was my first year helping out as an alum and it definitely is a different world on that side. But it was a lot of fun hanging out with my aunt and later with my mom when we weren't in the house. And then it was all worth it when my cousin and four precious Decatur girls pledged.

7. Football season. I told Jason last night that I was so ready for this season to be over. But when I think about it I really am not ready. At the end of the season I'm always exhausted from all of the traveling and I think loosing the SEC Championship kind of put a damper on my enthusiasm the last few weeks (I know, I know, we're 12-1 and I'm disappointed??). In the midst of the season it's always so much fun. For my family we've always been big Bama fans. No matter who the coach is, what our record is, whatever, we're always at the games singing the fight song loudly. I mean, I didn't learn the fight song when I was 3 for nothing! This year was especially fun because my parents got their condo in Tuscaloosa which turned game day into game weekend and really enhanced the experience for us. And then there was the fact that we were ranked #1 for most of the season and won all of our regular season games. Something that we definitely weren't expecting coming into the season! So this season has been especially fun. Other than the rides on Marta during the Clemson game and the SEC Championship game I can't think of anything that I would change! :)

8. Starting a blog! I really didn't know what I was missing in blog world until I started reading blogs in May. I started reading some family friend's blogs and decided that I was going to start one once we got pregnant. That was taking a while so I decided that I might as well go ahead and start even though I probably wouldn't have much interesting to say! I've been surprised at how many people tell me they read/check the blog and the friendships that you can have over in blogdom. There are so many women out there sharing their heart's daily and inspiring me to get closer to God, closer to Jason, closer to my family, and closer to my friends. What a wonderful way to be able to express yourself!

Thanks for reading and for the impact that you make on my life! I could not survive every day without my family and friends! You definitely are the ones that keep me sane!

Happy New Year!