It’s New Year’s Eve and I am sitting on the couch with my little boy, watching the two countdowns on tv…
First of all, who knew Carson Daly was still…famous? Poor Dick Clark looks really awful, and the crystal ball looks so SMALL! Why don’t they make a larger one? Times Squae is so busy that the ball looks kind of sad. Both of the shows are just awful. I was hoping to watch one of those looking back on 2011 shows, but I can’t seem to find one. Anyway, I can take my own look back.
In our personal lives, 2011 was full of beautiful events, like two of my close friends becoming mothers (and several others finding out that they would be…) Lindsay’s Tessa was born in May and my darling Lisa welcomed her beautiful Cassidy into her family in November. I have felt so fortunate to experience this journey alongside my friends who have babies as well, and especially to watch Lisa adopt and complete the journey toward parenthood has been so gratifying and humbling. My cousin Dylan broke his leg this summer during some extreme sports. I got my friend Niki back from NYC and cousin Bree back from Chicago. I was so thankful for the safe return of my brother’s best friend, Collin, from Afghanistan and to see the end of his tim with the Marines. My cousin Erinn got engaged to her boyfriend Andy which I’m so excited about!!
2011, for us, started beautifully. Josh had recovered from his accident and we were comfortably settled in our new house. We had a cruise to look forward to, and we were ready to enjoy ourselves with the hard work of the house behind us. Josh tuned 28… The cruise was fantastic… Josh again dominated Vision Quest… We found out we were expecting the most wonderful gift… I spent 16 weeks having horrible “morning” (all day) sickness… We traveled to Laughlin for the River Run… I turned 27… We found out our baby was a boy and tried to pick a name for him… We traveled to Big Bear… Josh went on a mountain biking trip in Colorado… Korey went to Palm Springs with her mom and grandmother… We renovated our kitchen and living room… We traveled to Colorado to see Josh’s cousin Justin marry the wonderful Michelle… Our little Jacob joined us, spent three days in the NICU, and then was thankfully returned to us in much better health… We celebrated Christmas and New Years at home to keep our little one safe, reflecting almost constantly on our many blessings this year.
Some notable “news” items in 2011:
- The Occupy movement
- The NFL threatening an off season
- The Royal Wedding
- The Kardashian wedding
- Steve Jobs’ passing
- Charlie Sheen had a meltdown
- We saw the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 and opening of the memorial
- Arnold Schwarzenegger was revealed as the ultimate adulterer
- Casey Anthony was surprisingly found not guilty
- Planking and Tebowing sweep the nation
- Osama Bin Laden was killed
- Japan suffered a horrible earthquake and tsunami
- The death of Amy Winehouse
- Hurricane Irene and the earthquake that was not in California!
Tonight, Josh, Jacob and I celebrated New Years’ Eve in our pajamas. We ate a nice dinner and watched a movie, and then toasted with sparkling cider. (Now Josh is sleeping of course! hehe). We have so much to reflect on and it’s so hard to really absorb the fact that we are parents. Weird!!
A lot has happened this year! It’s really hard for me not to look to the future with much hopeful anticipation while this little being squeaks and twitches in his sleep next to me. I have a mental list of “I can’t wait to’s” that is much too long to post!
Have a safe night, my friends, and I look forward to posting in 2012! Love to you al!!
A good link: the top photos of 2011
Josh and Korey 