Last year I did a review of 2008 with a photo from each month out of my Flickr account. I'm going to do the same thing this time. Enjoy!
January was pretty quiet; I did a lot of crafting (like the embroidered elephant tea towel I gave to my mom as a late Christmas present) and we decided to start looking for our first house.
In February, we found the house we wanted and got a great deal in what I think must have been a pretty smooth buying process. With the closing date set for mid-March, we started packing!
March was a very stressful month. Since the closing date on our new house was set for mid-month, we had to finish packing everything up and get moved into our home by the end of the month. But we also hosted a wedding shower for some friends of ours at the rental, which was probably not the smartest planning on our part! The shower was great, though - a "calendar shower" where guests gave gifts according to an assigned month of the year. I made a sweet and savory snack for each of the four seasons.
Nathan had knee surgery at the beginning of April to repair torn cartilage, from which he healed very quickly. He still has some trouble, but I'm just thankful he came through the surgery as well as he did (the second knee surgery he had in two years). And while he was still recovering, Spike came to live with us! He was a feral cat that the parents of one of Nathan's coworkers had semi-taken in in Knoxville, Tennessee. Because they discovered he had FIV and was a very attention-hungry cat, they knew he needed to be an indoor and an only pet. Having just bought a house where we could have pets (unlike our rental) we decided to take him in. This picture is from our first hour with him; shortly after this, he disappeared under our bed and hardly ate for a week. But he began coming out to see us more and more, eventually learned to play, and now he is the center of attention at our house. We are constantly asking eachother how this is the same scared little cat that came to live with us not so long ago.
May was a fun month; we visited my sister and her family one weekend, and then we traveled to Eufaula, AL for a very swanky wedding, in which Nathan was a groomsman. It was a great trip and an unbelievably nice wedding/reception. Eufaula was a really coool place to visit - it is an antebellum city with lots of historical mansions. I would definitely visit there just for fun, which we should get the chance to do since our recently wedded friends have settled down there.
All I remember about June is working on our house, since we were moved in enough to really start tackling projects. The biggest completion (and most important, of course) was finishing up my craft room/office in the laundry room. Right after we moved in and I painted, my dad helped me convert the closet into my craft desk space, with extra shelving and lighting. It is my favorite place in our house! I love having my own messy space where I can hide out and work on whatever I want without making a wreck of the dining room table or living room anymore.
In July we celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I also had one of my coolest days on the job yet -- a mock ribbon-themed wedding that my editor and I pulled together and got to photograph and a gorgeous chateau on Monte Sano Mountain. Nathan's cousin and my friend, Brittain, was the bride, and our friend Katie was the bridesmaid. We had a sweet little flower girl and the most amazing wedding cake you've ever seen. It came together beautifully (and you can actually see the wedding spread in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Sew Beautiful).
In August we took our first real beach vacation together to Gulf Shores, AL. Our friend Jared's (then-girlfriend) fiance Alison invited us to stay with some other friends at her family company's beach house. It was beautiful and private and relaxing. We had the best time - it was the only true vacation with Nathan and friends that I can remember in a long time! We also realized that it was also the first time Nathan and I had gone to the beach together. I so hope we get to go back sometime.
September took me back to the Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio for a work trip -- have I mentioned I love my job? Tons of inspiration and a really great kick-off to fall. I heard they are moving the fair this year, so who knows if we will be able to attend again; I would hate to miss it.
My big sister turned 30 in October. We celebrated with a weekend girls trip with my Mom to Kentuck Festival, an awesome arts festival in Northport, AL. We had a great time, even though it was absolutely freezing! The picture is of us at the fair, where my sister and I carved out a mold for an iron paperweight that Sloss Furnace fired for her.
November brought lots of football games, football parties and big Alabama wins. Roll Tide! This picture of my parents' pug puppy Ozzie pretty much sums up his excitement about the Iron Bowl. We can't wait for the BCS National Championship game this Thursday.
December was kind of a stressful month because I was sick almost the entire time. I had a bad cold that turned into a nasty bout with Bronchitis. I missed several days of work at home with a high fever and I've still got some lingering cough and side effects. My energy level was nonexistant leading up to Christmas, which made getting ready for the holidays tough. By the time our 9000 Christmas events were over, I was actually pretty relieved. But all said and done, we had a great holiday and I got way too many nice gifts. The biggest of all - Nathan got me a new Motorola Android phone, which I can't put down, and my mom gave me/us the finished quilt she's been working on for over 2 years as a wedding gift. It's gorgeous and I am constantly underneath it!
We put up all the Christmas decorations yesterday -- the house looks huge to me without all that clutter. After some dusting and redecorating, things will finally be back to normal for 2010.
Awesome recap on the year!
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