As I mentioned in my last post, it is amazing to me that a decade is coming to an end...and what an amazing decade it has been in my life! My life has changed in so many amazing ways over the last 10 years and I wanted to take some time to look down memory lane and think about all that has shaped my life over the past decade. So grab a drink and some popcorn (or what's left of the Christmas cookies) and sit back and help me relive the past decade...
2000
Paul and I had been dating for about 3 years when we rang in Y2K with friends and celebrated our new engagement (Nov. 1999). We spent the year planning our wedding and moved in together in a one bedroom apartment after having a 3 year 'long distance relationship". I student taught in two local school districts (one great experience, one not-so-great) and graduated from Central Michigan University with my bachelor's degree in special education in August. We traveled to Puerto Rico for Paul's friend/roommate's wedding. I landed my dream job and began teaching students with Autism shortly after. I bought my first brand new car on my own with my first paycheck. I became an Aunt for the first time when Cody was born in July. I began to work on my Master's Degree at Oakland University. We began to look for houses and fell in love with one right away and signed the papers just days before the year came to an end - days after one of the biggest snowstorms ever hit our area.2001
We moved into our new home in early January amidst 2+ feet of snow. We became husband and wife on April 21st and waited until July to take our honeymoon. We visited our beautiful home state of Michigan and spent several days on Mackinac Island, saw the Pictured Rocks and visited Tahquamenon Falls during one of the coldest July's I can recall! We sat atop the highest point on Mackinac Island for the fireworks and saw at least 5 displays from at least 2 states and 2 countries! We got our first dog, Shadow, in October after he wandered into our yard and hearts.2002
Paul's dad sadly lost his battle with cancer and passed away on March 17. Paul and I went to Las Vegas and stayed at the Luxor for Spring Break. That summer, we traveled north to beautiful Traverse City's wine country. After two years of teaching at my school's main campus, I moved to an 'outcenter' program. We traveled to Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend for a family wedding.2003
We adopted our second dog, Nola, from the Humane Society in March. We returned to Las Vegas with friends and stayed at New York, New York and The Hoover Dam. We traveled to Toronto, Canada for a summer vacation and were in the middle of the huge city when the memorable Blackout hit! We cut our stay in Toronto short to visit friends in New York instead and found out the blackout had hit as far as Michigan and Ohio! When we returned, we did some home improvements and retiled our mudroom. We also fenced in our backyard and planted a Dawn Redwood in the backyard in Paul's Dad's honor.2004
We kicked off the year in beautiful Traverse City to celebrate Paul's birthday with the Winemakers of Chateau Grand Traverse. We got a taste of twins when our good friends welcomed their girls just 2 days before our wedding anniversary in April. We traded in Paul's old Buick Regal for a brand new Avalanche and Paul was excited to have a truck finally! After my classroom in Goodrich was closed, I began to teach in Flint at a wonderful elementary school. We did some major relandscaping of the front of our house that summer and converted our garden to raised beds and we remodeled our family room that fall. I graduated from Oakland University with my Master's Degree in December.2005
We returned to snowy Traverse City for the Valentine's weekend Snowshoe stomp and Wine and Chocolate weekend. June was a whirlwind month with lots of travel. It began when my sister got married on the beach of South Haven. We then traveled to Cancun a few weeks later and just days after returning from that trip, we went camping and tubing with a bunch of my friends for an annual canoe/tube trip. I started this blog in July! I traveled to Arizona with my best friend Lisa for a weekend. Our puppy Nola had surgery on her leg in December for a luxating patella.
2006
Our wine travels continued as we ventured into Michigan's Southwest Wine Trail to celebrate Paul's birthday. We were excited to discover in April that I was pregnant and even more excited to find out in June that we were having twins! We traveled to Traverse City once again that summer, this time with my sister and brother-in-law (we have not been back since!) but I was the designated driver as the other 3 enjoyed the wineries. Paul built a new staircase railing leading upstairs and worked hard to put together a beautiful bedroom for our twins. I joined our local Mothers of Multiples group that fall. We took a 'baby moon' to the Ann Arbor area about a month before we welcomed our babies. 3rd trimester complications resulted in an early arrival of Jacob & Sarah on November 25, but we were blessed with two healthy babies and they came home after 10 days in the NICU. We celebrated our first Christmas with children on their 1 month birthday.2007
Jacob & Sarah were baptized on January 21, their daddy's birthday. We walked in our first March of Dimes March for Babies in April. I turned 30 in May and celebrated my first Mother's Day in the same weekend. We celebrated countless milestones (many documented on this blog!) as Jacob and Sarah grew and developed. We took our first family vacation and spent the 4th of July in South Haven with my sister and brother-in-law. They got a taste of life with babies as they were expecting their first the next year. Jacob & Sarah celebrated their first birthday in November.2008
Sarah kicked off the year and began walking in January. We became an Aunt and Uncle again when my sister had her first son, Luke, on January 27. We celebrated my parents' 40th wedding anniversary in February. Paul and I took our first night away from the kids in March and went to Grand Rapids. We were very surprised to discover we would soon become a family of 5 when I became pregnant in April. Jacob showed some gross motor delays but just about the time we really started to worry, he began to walk around 18 months. We spent a late summer weekend at my sister's and took the kids to Binder Park Zoo where they got to feed a Giraffe and also spent a weekend on Houghton Lake with our friends Ben and Lisa. Jacob and Sarah went to Playhouse Disney Live! after being Mickey and Minnie for Halloween. Paul worked throughout the year to finish our basement and prepare 'Cupcake's' new bedroom.
2009
Our year started off with the wonderful addition of Adam Michael on January 13. I spent 3 months at home with our children before returning to work at the end of March. Jacob and Sarah got to see their first Hot Air Balloons over Memorial Day Weekend. We were busy all year through with play dates and family events and lots of trips to the Zoo and Children's Museum. We traveled to Chicago in June for a cousin's wedding and enjoyed a long weekend in the windy city. Adam was baptized in July. After 8 years in our house, Paul and I finally decided to paint our bedroom and make the space 'ours.' My sister and nephew spent a few days with us at the end of the summer and we spent a weekend with my them in Kalamazoo again in September. Jacob and Sarah turned 3 in November and we looked forward to celebrating Adam's 1st birthday in the new year!Who knows what 2010 will hold for us, let alone the next ten years! I know our lives will be full with our family as our children grow. Its really been a lot of fun to look back over the past 10 years and I can only imagine what I could write about on the dawn of 2020.
Happy New Year!
