2009

As a first year blogger, I have found so much joy in documenting the things that have filled my year, both at home and abroad. I thought I'd celebrate the New Year in this space with a look back at some moments from the last year...Enjoy!

The canning was lots of work, several days on my feet in the kitchen, but it is always worth it when the pantry is full of the preserved tastes of summer.It is the coolest piece of furniture I've ever seen let alone owned. I still can't believe he turned an old gym floor into my desk...such a good man!I loved watching them play in the yard together and slowly become friends. I felt lucky that such a unique one decided to grow from one of the seeds I'd planted, I looked at it daily, sometimes twice a day. He found a way to be productive in his stress and had the added benefit of becoming physically stronger and ready to help others when he went to Egypt with Habitat.
Could I ever take too many pictures of my lovely little egg layers?

In the first month that I had the job, while it was still warm outside, I made a point of having lunch with him as much as possible.
I lost track of just how many times I posted ads on craigslist for him, I guess we are reaching a point in our marraige where we each tend to take care of certain tasks and there's no real need to ask why.

I'm sad that I don't see more of her, but I did enjoy the short visits I had this year.
I do think of him as a child, and I am just about past caring what that looks like to other people.
They have been a good addition.
Once it stopped raining, the views at the Gorge were amazing.
It was smaller than I'd thought it would be and the nose is most definately gone.
Wow. Surreal moment of life.

For some reason they remind me of large cats and I love their fancy get-ups. It was a pretty place, full of leaning buildings. Walking through Anne Frank's house was surreal and humbling. Also, the cool air felt good after the heat of Egypt.

I met one of my goals for 2009!

It was actually not that hard to make, I'll do it again next year.

Even though we were in paradise, it was hard to relax. That was a tough season of life.

When we hit 7 dozen, it was definately time to sell some.

Half the fun for me was in the planning.

In a matter of a couple of days we went from being prepared for the worst all the way to having much more than just a glimmer of hope.

It felt like we'd never be done with the entire car buying/selling process, but it all turned out the way it was supposed to.

Standing in front of a booth full of things I'd made, wondering if people would actually want to give me money for any of it, now that felt weird.

Probably the prettiest dinner time view we'd have all year, I'm glad I realized that at the time.

I was so glad when the clouds parted for those couple of crucial picture taking minutes...I'm bummed that we didn't think to take a picture together in front of it.

Those couple of hours spent driving around before we had to catch our flight were probably the best part of the whole long weekend for me.

All I could think as he landed was "oh crap my camera's covered in snow now!"...later I was glad I got the shot and that I didn't get plowed over when he landed.

It was a beautiful day for 3 reasons: the sun was out and it was gorgeous, she was able to pick up on it quickly and had a good time, and I had the chance to teach something I love.

It was the perfect bag for that trip.

It was nice of him to offer to spend a big chunk of our stop over day in the garment district looking at fabric stores.

It felt like a huge accomplishment at the time, little did I know just how many more I would still do!

Wow, I came home and the suprise was that he'd built it for me...it was a very sweet gesture.

Getting that fence up was a huge accomplishment and a commitment to growing it ourselves in the years to come.

It was hard to remember that they weren't pets, but babies of all types have a way of catching my heart.

It's my little piece of creation.

My first give-away, my first apron.

It was a happy birthday set in a difficult season of life.

They have taught me to nuture, to protect, to be patient, to get past the "yuck" factor, and that sometimes you shouldn't try to make predictions about or have control over nature or life in general.