2008

2008 has been a very up and down kind of year. Here's a little review...

• Brian graduated from Pharmacy School after 6 years in St. Louis and moved back into the same zip code as me!
• The day after Brian's graduation ceremony his Grandmother on his mom's side passed away...did I mention she passed away just a little over a month away from our wedding?
• June came in a hurry...
• Just days before the wedding...Brian decided it would be a good idea for him to take his Pharmacy Boards. As we were packing for the wedding and honeymoon he was trying to study for his boards. He got through his boards and was relieved, although now he had to wait for his results.
• June 21st was the best day of my life, so far anyway. Brian and I finally became husband and wife. It was a perfect day and we could not be any happier with the way our day went. After the wedding ceremony and reception we made our way to the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia. We spent seven wonderful days in a tropical paradise. We went dolphin and whale watching, sailing (which we discovered was not for Brian), sight seeing, shopping, and just enjoying each other's company.
• During our honeymoon Brian found out that he passed his boards by looking online. As we returned to the states and to reality, Brian awaited his Pharmacist license. Once he received his letter and license, he immediately started doing training at Wal-Mart to be a pharmacist who travelled from store to store. He was based in the Branson store, thank goodness, because they needed someone and he was there.
• In August we bought and moved into our very first home! Our house is just minutes away from our best friends...not to mention a short drive from both sets of parents.
• In October, Brian started his new job through with the Public Health Service. He loves his job. He works Monday thru Friday and the lastest he works is 5:30 in the afternoon.
• In November, Brian's other grandmother passed away...just days before Thanksgiving.
• We celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a married couple! Both sets of parents came to our house and we had a "pot luck" Thanksgiving. My parents brought some things, his parents brought a few things, and I made macaroni and cheese.
• In December, we celebrated my 24th birthday and our first Christmas as a married couple. Brian spent his first week oncall the week of Christmas, so we hosted Christmas for our families. Both sets of parents and my Opa came up on Christmas day for lunch and presents. We had another "pot luck" meal with our families, which was pretty darn good.
• Now here we are just hours from 2009. 2008 has been a year of ups and downs...good and bad things, but everything that happened has brought me much closer to my husband and the rest of my family.

Random Thoughts

• Babies are everywhere! I know so many people who are pregnant or just had a baby. It is definetely helping my baby fever...yes I know that it isn't all cuteness with babies...they cry, they poop, they eat, they spit up...but they are so cute and such bundles of joy...
  
  
• I love having time off from school. It was just what I needed. The only problem...I don't want to go back. I have enjoyed being at home with my puppies.


• I love being married. My husband is a great guy and I am very lucky to have him.



• I am actually jealous of my husband. Why am I jealous? He has a job that he loves. His job is unique and he has some interesting stories from it. Don't get me wrong...I love my job. I love the look that comes over a student's face when they understand something. It is a very rewarding job, but the politics sometimes outweigh the good. I know he faces politics and such in his job, but he almost always seems excited to head to work. I have noticed it more in the past couple weeks because I have been off.



• I have become a little addicted to sewing. I know, who would have thought I would become that much of a "Susie Homemaker" (as my friend likes to say?) I even enjoy cooking and being a hostess.

Merry Christmas

Awesome MySpace Comments & Myspace Layouts

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that joy and happiness finds each and every person this Christmas season. Emjoy being with your families and remember to cherish each moment you have with the ones you love.

I love learning new things on blogger! I knew I could add "gadgets," but tonight I discovered that I could add things like picture of the day from different places. There are so many other things that can go be added! I'm so excited...now I just have to find the time to actually be able to sit and look through them.

I apologize if this is a bunch of rambling, but I have a lot on my mind and feel that I should get it out. I'm not even sure why I apologized, I don't know that many people even read my blog anyway.

• It is strange to me that my Oma has been gone for 3 years. Some days are better than others, but the good days had been outweighing the bad. At least until my husband lost both of his Grandmothers within 6 months of each other. I wouldn't say that my days have been all bad, but going through the funerals for those two amazing women made me think back to what I went through when Oma passed away. All of those emotions I had then were back, and full force. I was an emotional wreck. I tried as hard as I could to be strong for my husband, but I broke down just watching him. It was heart wrenching to see him break down. He is a strong person though, I must say that.
• I have gone back and forth emotionally on where I am in my career. Am I happy? Yes and no. I love teaching, but all of the paperwork for my department is stressful. The stress builds up and affects my personal life. I get so stressed out that I can't enjoy spending time with my husband, our families, and our friends because I am constantly thinking about things I need to do for work. Am I where I want to be? Yes and no. I love teaching. I really don't know what I would do if I wasn't teaching. I love helping the students that I teach. I love seeing the "I GET IT!" moments. Those are the moments I live for as a teacher...then there's the paperwork and the stress of my department. I have been told on a couple of different occasions by the same person that my paperwork from last year was awful. What do they expect from a first year teacher with hardly any background in that field and with VERY little training or guidance? I wouldn't expect it to be anywhere near perfect. I did the best that I could with what little knowledge I had. I felt that for my first year I did a good job of keeping my head above the water, and that was my goal.
• I have been thinking about other options I have for next year. Nothing really sounds good. I guess I will just have to keep thinking about my options and go with what feels right. Sometimes I feel like I just want to switch departments and sometimes I feel like not teaching at all.

Just thinking

In just 2 short days I will have been without my Oma for 3 years. It is extremely hard to believe that it has been 3 years. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday, and other times it feels so far away. I still miss her, a lot. I think about her a lot. I miss seeing her smiling face and hearing her German accent. I still wish that she was here, I wish she could have been at the wedding. I know that she loved Brian and was so happy that he and I were together. I know even though she wasn't there physically, she was there in spirit. She was watching over us and making sure that we were having the best day we could possibly have. I also know that she wasn't alone in doing that. Brian also had two grandparents watching over us and helping to make sure we had a great day.

It's also hard to believe that in the past 6 months I have attended two funerals. Both funerals were for very important women in my husband's life, his grandmothers. His grandmother on his mom's side passed away that day after he graduated from college, and 1 month before our wedding. His grandmother on his dad's side passed away the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It was a blessing for her, no matter how hard it was for us. She was ready to go, and had been ready to go for some time. Even though she was ready, the family never is ready to let go of someone they love. I know that these wonderful people are gone from physical viewing, but they will forever be watching over us and helping us through the tough times that are to come in our lives.