This weekend I got a friendly suggestion from my sister-in-law to start blogging again. Where to start? I was looking back at some of my posts and remembered why I started blogging in the first place. It’s a place for me to document/keep track/organize some of my favorite moments and favorite things.
So here are a few highlights from 2011: A Year of Firsts…
January 2011: I faced my fears and drove out to the middle of a lake and had my first ice fishing experience.
February 2011: My parents took our family on a trip to Mexico. There were 11 of us in tow!
Took my first trip to Vegas to celebrate a dear friend’s 30th birthday.
March 2011: Embraced the cold and attended my First Bockfest experience at Schell’s Brewery in New Ulm, MN with my sister, Ashley.
Imagine camouflage, flannel, blaze orange, snow pants, boots, and creative ways to carry drinks…
April 2011: Dexter obsession begins.
May 2011: Reluctantly traded my cruiser in for my first road bike but quickly realized it was a good decision. I realized how much I have to be thankful for when a tornado swept through the neighborhood I was teaching in leaving many of my students displaced.
June 2011: A friend visited from Atlanta and we soaked in Pride Weekend and the Delta Block Party.
July 2011: Friends from Cincinnati visited and I organized my first bike pub crawl across Minneapolis. I also took my first trip to Colorado to visit my little sister, Rachel.
August 2011: I applied for jobs like a mad woman, freaked out about it and cut 8 inches of my hair off.
September 2011: I celebrated 2 years of marriage. I found out my best friend is pregnant with twins (due Feb). I started my first grown up job.
October 2011: Dave and I bought our first house!!
November 2011: I turned 28 years young and began to settle into life as a homeowner.
December 2011: In December I realized the importance of family when I found out that my mom has cancer.
After ten days of agonizing over the worst case scenarios, we found out that she has a smoldering case of Multiple Myeloma. We think this means that she doesn’t have any problems and her cancer is not progressing, but has a 50% chance that it could in the next couple of years. If she does get a full blown case of multiple myeloma, her blood will create too much plasma for her body to handle and it will eventually break down her bones and they can become brittle and break easily.
She’s getting a second opinion next month, but it was a wake up call for my entire family not to take each other for granted. Make time for phone calls. Give more hugs and kisses. Tell each other, “I love you.”
