2010: Year in Review - Winter and Spring

Winter 2010:
This winter began with an unusually warm and dry January. I remember one Saturday I went out shopping for the day with Luke and JC. We were walking outside with just light jackets on, and the sun was shining beautifully. January is never this tame! For that reason, I think I was a champ this year in dealing with my usual winter blues that sets in in January.

See? This picture was taken in the middle of January, and there was barely any snow!

I also began my violin lessons in January. I found that I loved it, but the violin is definitely much harder to learn to play than the flute or piano, the other two instruments I play.January apparently left all it's crazy weather for February. During the first weekend of the month, we were blasted with a snow storm bigger than any I had ever experienced before. It hit on a Friday night while we were enjoying an evening at my grandparents', eating pizza with them and my cousins. It got so bad that night, that JC had to spend the night in our attic room because his car got stuck in the church parking lot, and he couldn't drive all the way home. The next day, once it had stopped, we had the time of our lives, sled riding and riding the 4-wheeler through the 2 feet of snow.
The blizzard actually continued off and on for 2-weeks, and my long President's Day weekend was sandwiched in between 3 glorious snow days, giving me a total of 7 days off. This time, which everyone began calling "Snowmageddon," became the highlight of my winter.

Valentines Day happened during "Snowmageddon." Luke and I spent it at home. I made him dinner, and we enjoyed chocolate fondue for dessert.
And I can't forget another big thing that happened during February: we finished the renovations of our attic room. This also helped me get through the winter months, because it was our warm, cozy haven.
Our winter ended in a weekend serving at 30-Hour Famine at our church. Luke and I agreed to be leaders at the last minute this year, both leading a group of high-schoolers. It was an incredible weekend, and the kids were just awesome! That was the weekend when the snow began to melt, leaving all traces of winter behind.
This winter was much better than the one before, and I barely felt an ounce of the winter blues. I was so thankful for that!

Spring 2010:

The spring brought a lot of fun new things with it, including a writing class at church. I enjoyed this class so much, and looked forward to it every Tuesday night. I'm so glad I decided to take it!

Another new thing I tried was to judge at a Destination Imagination Tournament. DI is a national program where children work on problem solving, creativity, and lots of other awesome things! I got to judge middle-school-aged kids while they performed an "Instant Challenge." I was unsure about it going in, but I'm so glad I agreed to do it! It was a great day spent at Youngstown State University (even if I did get lost in the parking garage on my way in. *cringe*).
The end of March was fun, and it included the Trans-Siberian Orchestra spring concert. It was an amazing evening!
April was filled with all kinds of fun things and new adventures, including: a fabulous Easter spent with family,

A new obsession with couponing,

A fully-landscaped house,

And a very fun date night to the drive-in movie theater.

In May, Luke turned 26, and we celebrated with our families with cake and presents.

Also, a few days after Luke's birthday, we watched our church begin demolition of the old building. This marked the beginning of a few new adventures in my life: starting the "Building Update Blog" on my church's website, and later, serving on the building campaign committee by writing the newsletters, and other various tasks.
We ended the spring with an AMAZING weekend getaway where we visited Cedar Point one day, and traveled to Cleveland for some fun the next. This is one of the highlights of my whole year. Luke and I had so much fun together this weekend! I just love going away with him and leaving everything else behind. It was a perfect way to end the spring!
On Thursday I'll be posting the next part of my "Year in Review" posts