Strength

I don't make New Year resolutions, but I do have a word for the year. Strength. This upcoming year is going to take a lot of strength on my part so I figured it would be a good word and a good thing to remember as the year progresses. Another word that I have for this year is, determination. There are many reasons why I have picked these two words for this upcoming year, and really too many to go into right now, but hopefully if I am able to stay focused on the present then these two words will enable this year to run its course smoothly and eventually dissolve into 2012 without incident.

Hopes for the New Year

Here it is December 31st 2010, the last day of the year... it just doesn't seem possible. While 2010 was a year of changes and epic adventures for this woman who up until this year lived her entire life with her entire family within a 15 mile radius of her. This has been our first full year in the Army and I have to admit they haven't let us down yet. We have had the pleasure of living in three different houses in three different states. Two of those houses were and are at a military establishment and we have loved each of them. The people we have met have been great and we even had the pleasure of forming lasting bonds with a few extra special ones. I feel that I have grown into my own in 2010 and I have begun to depend on myself rather then my family. I guess you could say I am my own person now. While 2010 was a fabulous year 2011 will be a year all in its own. Full of its own challenges and firsts. We will experience things we have never experienced before and we will rise to whatever occasion God or the Army sets before us. 2011 will see us all grow a year older and a year stronger, the kids will begin new sports they have never played before, and I will set goals for myself that I never thought of setting before. Our lives will be forever changed in 2011 and I can only hope and pray that all of those changes are for the good. So here we are, at the end of my last post for 2010. I wish you and your family the best and may you all be blessed beyond belief in 2011.

Bring it on 2010!!

Everyone is doing great and we are loving KS being home, and so sad to see him go in the next couple of days. My Christmas posts will be up next week so until then here is my New Years post.

2009 was a great year, a year full of surprises and life changing decisions. In 2009 we celebrated our 27th, 24th, 6th, 4th, and 1st birthdays. We became an Army family and we learned that we are all a lot stronger than we thought we could be. We had our first ER trip, thank goodness it took us 6 years to have one! Overall it was a wonderful year everyone was healthy and KS and I's marriage became stronger with every passing day.

2010 will bring so many changes for our family KS will be gone for months. We will have his BCT graduation, his AIT graduation, and hopefully his Airborne graduation. Then we will PCS (permanent change of duty station) for the first time to who knows where. I cannot wait to see where the Army takes us in 2010. Colin will be starting sports for the first time and Kiale will be graduating kindergarten and starting 1st grade in an unknown school. Colin will be finishing up K-4 and starting Kindergarten. Our precious Cayleigh-Grace will be blossoming and growing into a full fledged toddler and 2 year old. My husband and I will be celebrating our 9 year anniversary of being together and our 7 year wedding anniversary. I am not one to do New Year resolutions but I am one to set goals to accomplish throughout the year so here they are, in no particular order.

Finish the 3 quilts I have started.
Finish Holly's duvet cover in time for her birthday on the 17th.
Start and finish Dixie's Apron and throw blanket so I can give it to her on her birthday.
Start and complete Mom & Dad's, Alanna, Dezi, Lindsay & John, and Cammie's quilts by Easter so I can give them to them then.
Make the duvet cover for my bed.
Make new throw pillows for the living room.
Start some sort of Bible study and actually keep up with it.
Get the house 100% ready to sell or rent when we move.
Purge all the stuff that is sitting in the garage (anyone want some FREE furniture?)
Landscape the yard.
Get out of debt as much as possible, if we sell our house get 100% out of debt.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year, have fun and God bless!

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009!

2008 has been a wonderful year for our little family. My husband and I have become closer as each day progressed throughout this bountiful year. Our relationship has grown in leaps and bounds and I feel as though we are closer in love and friendship than we have ever been. Its amazing every time he walks through that door my heart flutters as if I was back in high school during our dating years. He is such a wonderful and amazing husband, friend, and father. I thank God every day for giving me my soul mate and giving us the strength to get through some tough times that we have had through the years. I just cannot get over how amazing my husband is, he would do anything for us. He is just wonderful and I love him dearly.

2008 has seen my children grow both physically and mentally, as well as in number. Kiale and Colin turned 5 and 3 this year. Kiale started his second year of school, and Colin began his first. They are such amazing kids, I know I am kind of bias on this, but they truly are. Kiale also participated in his first "team" sport, soccer. I loved watching him play throughout the year it was so neat to watch his skills grow with each practice. I was amazing to actually see him learning and then applying what he learned in the field. Both of the boys love school, thankfully!! I was so worried that they would not enjoy it, but they really do love it. I hope, although I am not counting on it, that they will continue to enjoy school all throughout their lives. I would love to see them grow up and become "successful" although my opinion of "success" defers greatly from the normal definition of the word. In my eyes them being "successful" just means that they are happy and providing for their family. All I want for my children are for them to grow up and be happy. If they do that then I will feel as if I have succeeded in parenting them.

Most of 2008 was spent with my body undergoing the miracle that is growing and delivering a sweet baby girl. Our Cayleigh-Grace, or my Sweet Grace as I have been calling her lately. My pregnancy was not without its ups and downs with her, and was by far my hardest of my three pregnancies. The weekend after Christmas I had some pretty severe bleeding, and we thought we had lost her, but thankfully God smiled upon us and let us keep her. It turned out that I had had a placental hemorrhage, and after a total of 5 ultrasounds throughout my pregnancy we found out that she was going to be perfectly healthy. We were blessed with her birth on September of this wonderful year.

As I have said 2008 was and amazing year, and I hope 2009 will be just was wonderful, but that is in God's hands. I along with so many others will be praying in the new year... as long as I can stay awake long enough, and if not God will hear my prayers a bit earlier. I am really looking forward to 2009, I will be turning 24, my husband 27, and our sweet children will be turning 6, 4, and 1. Kiale will start kindergarten, Colin will start K-4, and our sweet Cayleigh-Grace will learn to roll-over, crawl,and walk. It will definitely be a year of firsts and much more. I cannot wait to see what 2009 will bring us. Hopefully closer to each other, and closer to God. If I did the whole New Years Resolution thing it would be to have my family become closer to God as I know we all really need to.