Reflecting on 2009

Wow, what a year! Many ups and downs.. and though the optimist in me would say, “It’s still a good year overall!” I’m ready to see it go and I’m looking forward to 2010.

Some of the Lows from 2009:

1. I completely failed at my attempt at container gardening by ignoring it too much and wasted who knows how much money on it.
2. I don’t think I’ve completed a single book I’ve started and I didn’t even start most of the books on my 2009 reading list (though ~I did start a few that weren’t even on there.)
3. I take that back, I completed 2 books, Dean Koontz, fiction, not really edifying or helpful in any way. Doesn’t count.
4. I got out of the habit of menu-planning, daily routines and all other manner of home organization and maintenance. We’ve been flying by the seat of our pants for most of the year.
5. In July, James broke his pinky and then two weeks later I broke my big toe. (In hindsight it’s actually kind of humorous. We were quite the pair there for a little while.)
6. Because of my forced inactivity, I gained weight, and now weigh more than I ever have, even 9 months pregnant with any of the three pregnancies, and it’s really scary.
7. We started having more problems with our really old rental house and its time here on earth is limited. On the other hand, we’ve kicked it into gear on getting into a different house, so hopefully we won’t be here much longer.
8. I miss my “old” church something terrible.
9. We navigated (and survived) the terrible threes.

Some Highs from 2009:

1. My hubby found his niche in affiliate marketing and it has grown to the point that it pays for our basic bills.
2. My husband finally found a really good in-office guy for his office in town.
3. James and I celebrated our 11th anniversary.
4. I found a “new” church that I really like (though I haven’t gone as much I’d like/have needed to.)
5. I organized my first event with our homeschool group – a science and art fair that was small, but successful.
6. I turned 30.
7. Princess got her first “summer job,” apprenticing on a project with my seamstress mother in law – who in turn taught her how to sew and also bought her her 1st sewing machine as a Christmas/Thank You gift.
8. Princess learned how to swim, really swim, and jump off the diving board, too.
9. Drama Queen learned how to ride a bike, how to read and lost her first (and 2nd-6th) tooth.
10. D.Q. also finally found her passion to do school work –her competitive streak, against her sister.
11. Little Prince turned four, developed a strong love of superheroes and suddenly became very independent – though not necessarily in that order.
12. All three of my kids grew at least three inches!
13. My uncle re-married and I gained a new aunt and some new cousins – love them!
14. We got to cap off the year with a good vacation down at my mom’s house with most of the family gathered there, even Hubs’ came down on Christmas Eve to join in the revelry.

See? Even the optimist in me could think of more positive things to write than negative. Believe me, there were plenty more. It was a hard year. But I not near as hard as the year before it, so I can’t complain too much. As always, God was by my side, he got us through it, he always will!

Some of my favorite photos from 2009:

I take LOTS of pictures so naturally there would be a lot of favorites. =)

Okay, okay, I suppose 2009 was a good year all in all. I just am feeling really excited about 2010, but I don’t really have a reason why.

What’s the best thing that happened to you in 2009? Share?

{All images are mine except for top graphic, Reflections at the Lobos Lagoon, used via Common License.}