2010 Year In Review

2010 has been a crazy, exciting, amazing year . . .

January
Garrett, Summer and I went to the circus
My mom and Grandpa came to visit.

February
Garrett started T-ball and ran a kids race

March
I got my Nike + and new tennis shoes. I got REALLY got serious about running and started logging my miles. More on this in a sec!

We spent a day at the race track for Koni/Grand Am practice laps.

April
Garrett learned to ride his bike without training wheels
Garrett played his first T-ball game
The kids and I picked strawberries at the strawberry farm
We had a bit of a life lesson when some of our friends moved away

May
I ran a "budget" half marathon
Garrett turned 4
Summer, Garrett and I flew to Colorado to see my little brother graduate from high school
We drove to Ohio with 2 kids and 2 dogs for a family reunion

June
We drove BACK from Ohio with 2 kids and 2 dogs
Garrett had his end-of-season T-ball party
Summer got introduced to boating, something she's STILL getting used to

July
I read and fell in love with the Twilight series, which also really renewed my love for a good book
Garrett's obsession for listening to audiobooks in the car was in full swing
We went to the Childrens Museum to check out Dino Island

August
Garrett started preschool

September
Summer turned 2
Brad and I went ALONE to St. John for an entire blissful week. Still can't thank his folks enough for making that happen!
Brad and I actually got to go diving together for the first time in forever

October
My mom came for a visit
Halloween was so much fun for Garrett

November
Summer started potty training and life ground to a halt
Garrett participated in Ocean Kids at UM
Garrett started writing his name
Brad and I ran a budget 5K with friends
We spent Thanksgiving with our "Florida Family"

December
We spent most of the month working on our Christmas gifts
Brad was away twice for work
Garrett and I watched a full lunar eclipse on the summer solstice
We started a journal for all of our science experiements
Best Christmas Ever!
We celebrated our 8th anniversary
Brad turned 32 and I turned 29

My thoughts for the year:

2010 will always be the year I became a runner. I started running after Summer was born in 2008, but I truely fell in love with it in 2010. I put up 475 miles RUNNING this year since the end of March, when I started counting. It has helped me grow in ways I never imagined (and shrink in so many other ways!)

My son loves school and has learned so much. He's already looking forward to kindergarten. He can not only write his name but will copy anything you give him. He has a love for science and music . . . and pretty much everything. I can not wait to watch these things grow in him in the year to come.

Summer isn't a baby anymore. She started 2010 as as a little person who could walk, but didn't have much to say. Now she's playing constantly with Garrett, talking about anything and everything, and is fully potty trained during the day. She loves to bake, is always asking "What's that?" and is totally a Daddy's girl.

We have lived well this year . . . we have eaten organics for the entire year thanks to ABC. We have financially improved ourselves by not using our credit cards and paying off our debts. We have worked hard and played hard.

On 8 years of marraige:
This was a tough year for us in the marraige department. We butted heads a lot and didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. I know that my work load this year has been a lot heavier than in the past, and that factored in largely by placing me under more stress. The best things in life are never easy, so we work through our issues and keep going. And even though we've had our fair share of disagreements this year, we're still very much in love. What more can you ask for after 8 years?

I absolutely can not wait for what 2011 has to offer. I can not wait to turn 30 and get on with what are sure to be the funnest years of my life. My 20s have been about the things that define me--becoming a wife, mother, runner. My 30s are going to be about enjoying all of those things to the extreme.

Goodbye 2010, its been a great ride. I'm ready to welcome 2011! And I'll be starting it off at a run!!