A Year in Pictures: 2009

2009 Has been an amazing year. Full of ups and downs, good times and hard. I'm really excited for 2010 and all of the possibilities it holds, but I want to look back at 2009 and be thankful for the amazing year it was. I think JJ and I both worked really hard to set ourselves up to be really sucessful in 2010.

Some highlights from 2009 in photos...

JANUARY

We had a huge snowstorm dumping more than a foot in Bloomington. It was JJ and Pumpkin's first big snow storm. We didn't have shovels, so we resorted to digging our cars out with cookie sheets...

FEBRUARY

My co-workers and I decided to do a group Valentine's Dinner at a Japanese Steak House, then dessert and games and Michele's house. I absolutely love my former co-workers, job, and the YMCA. I am so lucky to have worked there!

MARCH

During the month of March, I wrote my cookbook. I am so proud of the way it turned out! I had so much fun making all of the baked goods to model with, and I'm so thankful to The Smiths for letting me use their kitchen for the photos!

APRIL

Easter was so much fun this year! With Becky in Switzerland and JJ in Iowa with the baseball team, I was pretty bummed. However, it meant that I was able to do the egg hunt by myself and look for all 4 dozen eggs. Kris and Dan tried to sabatoge me and cheat, but I was victorious!

MAY

May was an amazing month for both JJ and I. We spent Mother's Day in Cincinnati with my mom. The next weekend was my birthday, which was great. I had a fun party at work and then went out with some of our friends. The next weekend was the Big 10 tourney in Columbus, OH, where the IU baseball team went on to win the Championship. It was probably the highlight of JJ's career thus far, and I'm so glad I was able to go and cheer for the Hoosiers!

JUNE

In June I got the first copy of my cookbook, and continued to edit and re-write recipes.

During this time, we also found out we were moving to Jacksonville, so I began packing up. I had my going away dinner with my co-workers, and a wonderful going away party at work. It was so hard to say goodbye, I can't say enough about how much I love Bloomington!

JULY

In July, my family chose a weekend to all go home and have one last family party before JJ and I moved. My mom wanted us to go to the park and take some family photos, so here are some of the photos she took.

It was really fun spending time together, I miss my family!

AUGUST

As sad as it was to leave Bloomington, it was exciting to move to Jacksonville. JJ grew up in St. Augustine, and had been living far from home for 6 years. He rarely saw his friends during this time, so with his birthday being August 21, I planned a birthday party for him. I surprised him with organizing our Fantasy Football Draft to be that night.

SEPTEMBER

During September, JJ started working his new job, which he really enjoys. We also had the opportunity to spend a lot more time with his family. And enjoy the beach, pool, and lovely Florida weather!

OCTOBER

Wow, what can I say about October.... We got Charlotte and Belle, house-hunted and bought a house, I got my job with Folio Weekly, we moved.... it was an exhausting but AMAZING month!

NOVEMBER

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary 2 weeks early by going to a Florida State game, which they won in the last minute of the game!

We also drove to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving. We had a successful 10k on Thanksgiving Day, and a great visit with the family!

DECEMBER

December was quite busy! We had our second anniversary on the 1st.

We had our housewarming party on December 12.

We had a surprise 25th Anniversary Party for JJ's parents on the 19.

We hosted a Christmas Eve Brunch and Christmas Day dinner at our new house. My grandparents came for Christmas, and were our first official house-guests!

It was a great month!

What a wonderful year!

Here's to a happy, healthy, and wonderful 2010!

I'll see you EVERY DAY