I am not quite sure if I am getting old and my memory is starting to go or if this has been a pretty boring year. I have sat here racking my brain trying to think of all the great (and even not-so-great) things that happened with our family in 2008.
Probably the most exciting and time-consuming event was my sister’s wedding. We love our new brother-in-law, niece, and nephew!! They are a great addition to our family.
We were devastated when I lost my job over the summer, but felt so blessed when I found a new one a few months later.
This is the first year probably in my entire life that I did not go to the beach. The last time we were there was Labor Day 2007, which feels like forever ago. That is why one of my resolutions is to slow down a little and take more time for ourselves — a beach trip will definitely be in our near future.
The family Savannah trip – The only place we did get to visit this year was Savannah in mid March for my Granny’s 76th Birthday. It was one of the greatest trips ever! Savannah has long been a special place for Jonathan and me, but now it is special for my whole family. He wants to move there so bad he can hardly stand it!
THE Driver’s Permit — In October, Phillip got his driver’s permit. That makes him a grown up now — didn’t you realize that? Me either! He is doing a great job, however.
Jonathan left the fire department – After 20 years as a volunteer fireman, Jonathan hung up his turn-out gear for the last time this year. I think, more than anything, he just needed a break. I actually hope he will decide to return in a few years.
The Confection Company grew tremendously — In this failing economy, 2008 was actually a really great year for the Confection Company. We added a lot of new products, did several new shows, and now have the excitement of moving! I predict that 2009 will hold even more surprises!
Another year and no baby — This is probably the saddest part of my year for me personally. Each year around this time, my mom tells me that this will be “our year” and “it’s going to happen…I just know it will,” but each year she is wrong (usually just about this; she is usually right about everything else), but I am praying will all my heart that this will be the year she is right and we will find a way to bring a new little one into our lives.
Since Jonathan and I have been together, we have had a difficult time finding a church where we can both be happy. A nice blend of the churches from our past. Little did we know that a church unlike any other we have ever attended would fit the bill! Brick City Community Church has been a blessing to us both and I hope 2009 will allow us the time and resources to become even more involved.
Well, it seems like the last few months have been so busy and crazy that I cannot find any time to blog!! I have missed it terribly. So many of the things going on in my life right now are not things I thought I should put out to the rest of the world!!!
I have spent the last week and a half frantically looking for a new job. I have been a medical transcriptionist since 2001 and really thought I would probably do that forever; however, I am losing my largest contract on the 31st of this month because the doctor is going out of business. I have cried until I have no more tears to cry! Working from home has been such a blessing. Jonathan has no idea what it would be like for me to leave the house to go to work. I have been a work-from-home transcriptionist since we met.
I have a few offers – one is a pretty far drive, another is still a stay-at-home transcription job, but the pay is less than half what I make now and I really don’t have a great feeling about the company. I faxed an application yesterday for a job that I really, really want, but have heard nothing – so, of course, I have convinced myself it isn’t going to work out!!
I would love a new transcription job, but they are becoming harder and harder to find — much of our work is being sent to India and other offices/hospitals are using electronic medical records. So, at this point, I am just looking for a job!!!
On a brighter note, we are now down to less than a month before my sister’s wedding. We are all so excited. Each weekend is another “wedding event,” which so far have been lots of fun! This weekend is full of wedding activities.
Another exciting happening around here the last few weeks is that our “baby” started driver’s ed last week! He finishes the classroom portion tomorrow and then…they will let him behind the wheel for his on-road portion. He’s definitely not the little boy he was when Jonathan and I met!
Hopefully my next post will be titled “I got a job!!!!!”
I have been such a bad blogger for the last month!! Things around here have been crazy and I have actually had some trouble with my blog. Somehow some posts (and comments — and they were great comments that I hadn’t responded to yet!) are missing and I have just been really irritated with it!
We are now down to less than 2 months to go before my sister’s wedding, and the festivities have begun!! This past Saturday was her first shower, and it was great! I was really excited about this one, because my “Mt. Airy family” was coming. My aunt and uncle (my dad’s older brother and his wife) hosted a Jack and Jill shower at their home with a big cookout afterwards. Besides my dad and his older brother, most of their family lives in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, aka Mayberry. Yes, the real Mayberry. I love to visit there. As a child, I would beg to move there. It is just a different kind of place. Things really do seem simpler somehow. And my “Mt. Airy family” is fabulous! I love every one of them so much and we rarely get to see them. Melissa & John received lots of really great gifts, and John was able to meet a lot of our family.
By far, the best part of the night was the pickin’ session at my parents’ house afterwards. My uncle Dennis (who is married to my dad’s baby sister, Carolyn) is the best acoustic guitar player I have ever seen — and I don’t just mean in person. I have never watched anyone on TV who I thought compared to him. I could sit and listen to him play for hours. He is absolutely amazing. Some of my fondest childhood memories include Dennis and my uncle Gary playing into all hours of the night. Luckily, he is passing his gift along, and has taught his son, Jeremy, and his nephew (my cousin), Mitchell to play. These guys are really doing great and have put a whole new twist on their music sessions.
Luckily, I had my little Flip video camera with me, and I was able to capture some of the moments of the evening. The quality is not great, because I didn’t actually intend to use them for anything (so turn your volume up and ignore the laughter), but the song is funny — especially if you have filled up your gas tank today. So, below is a parody of Bill Clinton (on the left) and George Bush discussing the gas situation.
It is late on Sunday night and I am dead tired. I need to make caramel-chocolate apples today and Carolina Cake Truffles, but something so much more important came up instead!! Something that I have waited for years to do…I went wedding dress shopping with my little sister — my one and only sister — my only sibling! For as many years as I can remember, I have looked forward to the day Melissa would be the bride and not the bridesmaid. With two weddings under my belt (the first of which I hope the entire world has already forgotten about!), my mom, sister, and I have done a lot of wedding dress shopping, but it was so nice to go this time and take the pictures, hold out the trains, and really look at my little sister all grown up! For those who know Melissa, she doesn’t show near the emotion that I do. In situations like that, she is much more reserved. So, I think when I am with her in these situations I too try to reserve some of my emotion. In this case, I fought back tears several times. When she tried on one particular dress that I really thought would end up being the one, I could have stood there and cried like a baby, but I fought it with everything I had! When she returned to the dressing room, I slipped away to the bridesmaids’ dress section and had my own little moment and returned in time to ohh and ahh over the next georgeous gown. Unfortunately, she didn’t find the “it” gown today, but hopefully next time!
Fortunately, however, there was no time to try on bridesmaids’ dresses — darn it! I am hoping I can keep putting it off as long as possible until I have lost as much weight as I can in this short period! I don’t think the homemade chocolate chip cookies I just ate really helped that too much though!
