January - let's review the goals I had a year ago at this time. I was starting my 5th year at Thompson Hine but getting bored with work. I was thinking about getting training for another career and all I needed to do was find a school online (or near Dayton) that had classes on meteorology or surveying. (Yes, seriously.) I was also hoping that we'd get pregnant this year and that Jason's cabin in eastern Kentucky would sell after being on the market for over a year. Little did we have any idea of what this year would bring. (Quick answer - none of the above.)
February - we celebrated a low-budget Valentines day with dinner and cards. Jason somehow surprised me with flowers he bought at Krogers the night before and then delivered to my building on his way to work. A week later my law firm had layoffs and several of my friends lost their jobs. I was grateful about still having a job but it scared us pretty good - how could we make 2 mortgage payments and 2 car payments on Jason's salary. I suddenly appreciated my job a lot more.
March - Jason and I went to Gatlinburg to celebrate being married a year. (We won't technically have an anniversary until 2/29/2012.) We found a great cabin at the top of a mountain with complete privacy, wood-burning fireplace and hot tub. And then we got snowed in. :)
April - not much happened in April. We helped with our church's huge Easter egg hunt and I was in the Easter choir. I also went to the Dayton tea party downtown - I just stayed late after work. It was cold and I just wanted to go home. It was great to see so many people in Dayton who want change, but so many seemed angry (at people who weren't there) and some of the children holding up signs kinda bothered me. Freedom of speech and all that. I worry about future generations for so many different reasons.
May - this is when our lives turned upside down. Our house was broken into May 20th and my laptop (along with many pictures) was stolen, Jason's ipod touch was stolen, and all of my gold jewelry, including a lot of my grandmother's jewelry, was stolen. I'm heartbroken and try not to focus too much on the loss. It's just stuff I guess.
A week later Jason and I were at church and I was questioning why God lets bad things happen to people who try to help other people. (I'm still wondering about this.) I asked God for some direction, some answers to prayer, and I just felt like God was telling me that we're moving to Olive Hill, KY (where Jason is from) and we're going for the people there. I wasn't sure I heard right and didn't say anything to Jason. But then later that evening Jason said he felt like God was telling him that we needed to move back to Olive Hill. We decided to pray on it and make sure we had heard right.
June - a friend of mine, Jenni, won tickets to the Art Ball at the Dayton Art Institute ($300 tickets) and asked me to be her date. I happily said yes. We had a wonderful time sampling incredible food, wines, and dancing the night away. I so wish that we had the money that I could take Jason next year. Maybe someday - but I have a feeling that Jimmy Buffet tickets would take priority. :) By the end of the month we knew that the move to Kentucky was a "when" and not an "if." We just wondered about the timing.
July - I had started running in June and had my eye on running the Air Force Marathon 5k. I surprised myself from going from barely being to run for 60 seconds to running for 8 minutes straight within 6 weeks. On my birthday I wore strappy sandals with a heel when it was raining. I ended up with a high ankle sprain and was on crutches for about a week. I couldn't run for 6-8 weeks and really struggled to get back on track with running. I'm still hoping to run a 5k in 2010.
August - we traded in Jason's boat of a car (Crown Victoria) and got a used Ford Escape. We love it! The next day we took it down to Riverbend (Cincinnati) to see Jimmy Buffet. We figured out it has a little quirk of locking the doors when you haven't hit any buttons (it's happened 3 times now) and ended up locked out of the car. Our experience with Riverbend security was horrible and I'm still not sure we'll go back there next year. (They won't let AAA into their parking lot and they treat you like a drunk even when you're not.) Keep in mind I was still wearing a brace on my ankle and wasn't in the best mood at 12:30 am while we were still waiting for someone to let us into the Escape. Anyway...
September - this was the month we were putting the house on the market. We fixed pipes, we repairs cracks and chips, we scraped and repainted, we cleaned and decluttered and put almost half our stuff in storage. Friends took in Jason's two kitties (boys that were just over 2 years old) and Dad and Claire took my big fluffy kitty, Kinzie. We had the carpets cleaned and finally had our first Open House. And... nothing. Jason was hopeful about getting his old job back working for the state (commonwealth) of Kentucky. It looked like he would but then... nothing. The "when" of the move was still up in the air.
October - my favorite time of the year with the cooler temperatures and the leaves changing colors... and Halloween. :) Few people were coming to look at the house, so we decided to bring the kitties back home. There was a bit of readjusting to be done with the cats getting used to each other again and so much of the furniture missing. We were very happy to have the fuzzies back along with all the fluff and chaos.
We decided to go "goth" for Halloween. It was the first year that we didn't have to plan our costumes around events involving children. So we decided to do something a little on the scary side - something that wasn't us. It was fun and we shocked a few people - but isn't that the point? :)November - I went to Honduras for the 4th time. It was definitely the best trip I've been on - because it wasn't as hot as the summer months when I've gone in the past, and also because I got to really connect with the people there. I really want to work on my Spanish so that I can talk with them a little better next year. Several weeks later we went to Columbus for Thanksgiving. Dinner was at my step-sister's, Stacy's, house. My dad, step-mom - Claire, Amy - my other step-sister, and my step-mom's parents - Grandma Doris and Grandpa Bob, along with some of Stacy and Neal's friends had dinner together. It was a great time of getting together with family.
December - a very eventful month! Jason and I finished a cake decorating class and plan on taking the next course in January. I knew I wouldn't get a bonus this year and it was doubtful that I would get a raise. And then we found out that Jason would be laid off in January. So we decided to do no more Christmas shopping (we had already purchased gifts throughout the year). At first I was upset but the season turned out to be a lot less stressful. Though we're hoping we have the opportunity to splurge on the ones we love next year.
We started off the Christmas season with the holiday home tour of the historic South Park neighborhood. It was a chilly day but the homes were warm and welcoming. I also took a balloon animal (and other such sculptures) so I could be a clown at the Vineyard's annual Christmas party. We serve a sit-down dinner to 1400 people and give gifts to over 800 kids. Jason was one of the servers and this year I put on some festive clothes and Sparkle (the head clown of our group) do my makeup. I ended up twisting balloons for over 4 hours and loved every minute of it. I'm looking forward to learning more about ballooning, and clowning too I guess. :)
Our choir at church (the Dayton campus of the Dayton Vineyard) decided to do a cantata-style performance this year. We had books with 3 parts (soprano, alto and men), CD's with our parts, and a choir director. After two months of practicing we had one performance, and it was awesome. Christmas eve I had the privilege of singing harmony for the worship team. Christmas songs have to be my favorite songs to sing harmony too. What a treat! After the 7pm communion & candle-light service we headed to Olive Hill to spend the rest of the holiday season with Jason's family.
It was a busy but great Christmas season. We are so loved by our family and friends and we are so blessed to have so many positive, up-lifting people in our lives. We had one last blessing - a few days ago I got an email stating that there would be bonuses and raises after all. We trust that God will truly provide for us in 2010, no matter where we live or where we work.
One last thing. We get asked so often - what about the move? It will still happen, we're just not sure when. Our house is still on the market, and Jason is still looking for jobs in eastern Kentucky. When he gets a job, he'll move to his cabin and I'll stay in Dayton until the house sells. If the house sells, we'll go ahead and move. But with the housing market and job market being what it is, it doesn't look like the move will happen anytime soon. Ultimately though we keep in mind that God is in control of this and when he wants us to move, the timing will be perfect and everything will happen right as it should. I'll definitely keep you informed when it finally starts to happen. :)
