2011 - Year in Review

2011 - what a crazy year.  Sometimes crazy-good, and sometimes crazy-bad.  A lot of life-changes happened, but the important things stayed the same.  My expectations for the year were so far off from reality.  

What can I say?  It was a roller coaster of a year, and at least it wasn't boring!

2011 was definitely the most exciting and crazy year since 2008 (the year I got married, moved into Luke's apartment, bought a house, renovated the house, and got our first pet.  Something tells me that nothing will ever beat 2008!)

Some BIG things happened in 2011.  Including:

~Ringing in the New Year without my hubby because he was playing in a band at a big youth conference in Colorado.

~Completely skipping town, leaving our jobs, cold weather, and everyday life behind, forgetting about our fertility struggles, and spending a week in Arizona with Luke's grandparents!  We saw it all: Green Valley, Tucson, Kartchner Caverns, Tombstone, Sedona, Flagstaff, and The Grand Canyon.  After a stressful, frustrating few months, we really needed that week.  I loved every minute of our trip. 

~During the winter, both of my cousins had babies: Hudson and Elin.  These were the first babies born into our family since we were all little, so it was very exciting.

~In the beginning of February I got an iPhone!  I hate to be so shallow as to say that it was a highlight of my year, but it really was.  I don't know how I functioned before, and it has really made life a lot easier!

~In February I also went to the doctor about my fertility issues and was prescribed Clomid.  I thought this was the answer to all my problems, but it turned out that the medication did not fix my problems.  This was a big turning point, but I'll get to that in a moment :-)

~Sometime in the early spring, Luke and I started a new endeavor: a Bible study for young marrieds.  We loved our group, learned some great things, and made some great friends!

~In April I got 10 inches of my hair cut off for Locks of Love...this was a big change!

~Also in April, our church building project was complete and Luke played his drums in the first worship service in our new sanctuary.  This was an exciting time!  This was also around the time when I started working on the library committee at the church.  this has turned out to be the perfect place for me to serve!

~ Sometime in the spring when I realized the Clomid wasn't helping my fertility problems, something snapped in me and I realized there was a reason we were having all this trouble.  Obviously it wasn't in God's plan yet for us to get pregnant, and I was done putting my life on hold.  So that's when I decided to apply to the University of Akron's SLP program.  God has blessed me through the whole process, and I am so excited to be in the middle of His plan.  Children will come in time.

~In May I got to do three exciting things regarding my sister: attend her senior showcase for interior design, watch her graduate, and throw her a bridal shower

~In June I got to be the maid of honor in my sister's wedding!  That was a whirlwind of a month with all the last minute preparations, but such a fun time!

~In July, Luke and I celebrated three years of marriage.  He surprised me with a weekend spent at Cedar Point.  We stayed at Hotel Breakers.  And I guess the weekend spent riding roller coasters is a great way to represent our roller coaster of a year :-)

~In August I started back to school at Akron!  I loved all of my classes, and really enjoyed the semester.

~Sometime in the fall I shared my fertility struggles on the blog.  It has been great to find other people to relate to, and it was a weight lifted off my chest when I finally shared everything with the world.  I'm really glad I made that decision.

~I celebrated my 27th birthday in November.  It was a great birthday, but a little bittersweet as another year had gone by without a baby.

~In December I fully embraced the Christmas season!  Finals were very early at Akron, and I had almost the entire month off.  I spent the month celebrating, substitute teaching, finalizing graduate school applications, and enjoying a busy Christmas with my family!

...And that brings us to the present.  See?  Lots of things happened in 2011.  We went through a tough time with our fertility struggles, we watched my sister get married, took a big vacation and a little weekend trip...oh, and I completely changed my career path and went back to school.  

Like I said, 2011 has been so crazy!  And I can't even imagine what 2012 will bring.  Will it bring a baby?  Or will it bring grad school?  Both?  Neither?  I can hardly wait to find out.  Either way, I am glad that I have God to lean on through all of it, and Luke, my family and friends beside me :-)