Our STORIES: 2010

the TOP 2010 moments

If you know me, you know I am all about the history. I'm so not a "what if..." girl. This time of year, you WON'T find me making predictions or resolutions, but I will sit down and tell you all about this past year. I will get excited and pull out my pictures and scrapbook pages and point and say "this is when..." and probably drive you out of your mind with the cutesy details. Well, if you are not one to enjoy the regression and the reflection of a year gone by, then consider yourself warned. Read no further if you cannot handle reliving the past twelve months, because this family sure had a heck of a year. And it felt like yesterday, that we were trying to adjust to writing twenty-ten on our checks and letterheads. But here we are, ready to jump into a brand new year, and where am I? Living in the past, of course!

Check out MY favorite TOP 10 events of 2010:

#10: BIRTHDAYS - We celebrate them every year, but this year we watched Aly and Brandan gain a couple inches in height, and we took trips to celebrate banner years. There's nothing better than watching how time treats us and allows us to expand our horizons.

#9. Seasons - I recently mentioned my love for the RIGHT NOW time of the year. This year has been great for weather: bright warm Spring days, hot Summer evenings, colorful Autumn afternoons, and snow-filled mornings in the Winter when you send the "now old enough" young man out to shovel...hee hee.

#8: WITL (Week in the Life) - This was my first year attempting Ali Edwards album project. I begged my family to endure my camera for seven days straight. No hands blocking my lens, no temper tantrums, no fussing that it would be too much...this was the best birthday present that I ever asked for! I was able to document an entire week of our "normalcy" --- and I can't wait to do it again! When else do you get to write down things like how you broke your toe on an iron grill rack, or what it is like to go on a third grade field trip with your daughter's class when you ARE a third grade teacher? I am thinking that I may choose a different time of year to see how that effects the way things happen around here in 2011. Maybe I will try a summer week, when I am a SAHM, or a week in the Fall. Hmmmm....I don't want to start planning here!

#7. Friends - We are so blessed to have SO many. We look forward to Saturday movie nights with the Rangels. The kids have such excellent friends in Cristian and Alex. I don't know what I would do with out my daily phone calls with Elsa and Ceci. Chato has even started texting this year, because his friends text him!! Facebook has really made an impact on me this year, too. I get to chat with great high school friends that have moved on to start families of their own and share smiles of how daily life is treating us. Friends are AWESOME.

#6. Scrapbooking - I've been scrapbooking since my friend, Ceci introduced me to it back in 2005. Since then I have more than overdone it. In 2010 alone I scanned in 98 layouts. My 2009 album was completed this year and had so many pages that the three ring binder wouldn't even close. I just separated it into three smaller albums (and realized my dislike of post bound albums) just so they would fold shut! I've got plenty to work on in the coming months - most of it things that are being posted here in my favorites list! The good thing is that scrapbook.com and my favorite Hard Core Critique group girls keep me going on new ideas and inspiration all the time. I try to post my most current work in MY GALLERY throughout the year. But my scrapbooking wouldn't even be possible if it weren't for....

#5. Photography - My newest passion lies inside the lens of my Nikon DSLR camera. My family and friends have had it with my intrusive lens, but come to accept the fact that I bring my CAMERA everywhere. I am learning. I am loving it. I just need a bit more time to spend with it ALL the TIME. If it were up to my friend Nichole and I, we would find a way to make a living being starving artist photographers. But even my photography leads the way to...

#4. Blogging - Can I tell you that I spent a fraction of the past year writing down our stories and recording them here? Now can I tell you that only 38% of our year was recorded in the (now) 141 posts over the course of the entire year? The month I posted the most was May with over 18 documented days, and the fewest was just 7 - still more than once a week, I am guessing. It's most likely that I have pictures attached to tell the stories, and it is very rare to find a post without some sort of photography involved. But then again -- I LOVE to write -- or you didn't realize that yet? :) Some of my most favorite posts of the year were May 14th and October 10th. Okay, so maybe if I could have one resolution in 2011 - it would be to figure out how to make a paper copy of this BLOG. It is nearing four years old in April! Whew. Wow. Definitely a keeper.

#3. House Construction - I know, i know...I haven't updated the construction at Mom & Dad's lately. You would hit me upside the head if I took pictures of the heating duct work and the electrical work (oh, wait...I did take pictures of that!) Now that the structure is up, the tediousness has begun. This winter has brought slow, cold days...but we are definitely eager to see the completed process. It was exciting to see all of this come about, and I am sure (not making predictions here!) that 2011 will really give us something new to look at!

#2. Being Back on the Farm - This was one day that I won't forget soon. Being able to walk down the gravel road of my ancestors' farm, and stick my feet in the cool creek waters was definitely one of the highest points of 2010. I did it so much as a child that I took it for granted. Today, being able to make the trip once a year reminds me to breathe it all in, and...

...watch the kids faces as they learn to love it even more!! There is nothing better than your bare-feet hanging off the back of the tailgate on this Kentucky farm. Our family had more smiles on this day than I could count. I know everyone see it a bit differently, but I loved being "home" and know my grandparents had their arms wrapped around us on this day...
So.....
That leaves us with one thing left on our TOP TEN things for 2010...

#1. Fifteen day in Central Mexico - This was the first trip we planned on a whim. I mentioned to Chato that we should take a week when school was out for the summer. Within a couple of days we purchased tickets. We closed out the school year and flew out four days later. This is the first time we got to go (as a family) to el Feria de Ocampo. We traveled through the heartland, enjoyed days on end of family and food, and lived each day one at a time.
It was absolutely the best.

I can't imagine what 2011 has in store for us.
There were quite a few things that just missed the list, like our trip down Route 66 and St. Louis or the endless backyard BBQs, but we have them stored in memory...and I am pretty sure they will be coming to a scrapbook layout near you soon!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!