2011 here we come!

2011, here we come.

Yes, Stephen and I were asleep by 10:00 p.m. on New Years Eve. I told him he married a dweeb, so he has to take all that comes with it – including never really being able to ring in the New Year.

After the kids went to bed (and slept amazingly through all the fireworks!) we did, however, spend some time last night reflecting on all that 2010 meant to us. It was a pretty amazing year, as all my years have been with my husband, but here are a few highlights we came up with.

• At the beginning of the year, Stephen was preparing for his doctoral comprehensive exams. While he was reading for his tests, he got to “stay home” with baby Ruth. (it’s okay to chuckle, because I’m sure you’ve thought of that before…Baby Ruth…ha ha ha)
• In March, Stephen found out he was rewarded a Fulbright Scholarship that would bring us to Guatemala. It’s crazy to think we didn’t even know that we would be here this time last year.
• A week after Stephen was rewarded the Fulbright, he took his oral “comps” (cool doctoral slang for that crazy test I mentioned in the first bullet point) and of course, did amazingly well. To quote his advisor, he finished the test with “flying colors.”
• In May our house went on the market. Praise God, by June it sold. We were very blessed with this transaction, as the market continues to go down. Stephen often says, “I am sooo glad we sold when we did.”
• In July I was offered not one, but two jobs! I didn’t want a job when I put in my resignation after six years in the HS classroom. I am now employed by Wayland Baptist University doing translation work. I am really enjoying it and I would have NEVER expected this a year ago.
• In July our baby turned one year old.
• In August, we moved to Guatemala.
• In September, our sweet Ruth finally walked. For those of you close to us, you know this was a big deal.
• In October, we were feeling so settled into our new Guatemalan home, we hosted our first family visitors.
• By November, we had made enough friends here to host a pretty cool “Guatemalan Thanksgiving” party.
• This past month, we welcomed more family and celebrated our first international Christmas.

And now here we are facing another year. Excitedly. Expectantly. If I even try to guess what it will hold, I’m sure I will underestimate.