2009
September
My parents celebrate 25 years of marriage and take a trip to where they honeymooned. While they are gone my siblings and I plot a surprise party for them with family and church. They were duly surprised. :-)
December
My Aunt Donna went home to be with the Lord.
2010
I take on a full time management position at work.
March
We have a baby kitten born on our porch, she gets named Puzzle and we keep her.
May
Youngest brother Andrew graduates from high school, ending our years as a home schooling family.
June
We go on probably our last family vacation/graduation trip. Head to Massachusetts. Had a great trip. We got to see John Q. Adams house, explore Lexington, see the house of Louisa May Alcott (book loving me loved it!), see Plymouth, visit Cape Cod, and stop in Pennsylvania for a trip to Sight and Sounds. Was a great trip!
September
My sister Sarah heads to Spain for an eight month adventure as a teacher assistant. See her blog for the full scope of that adventure! (http://fromthevalleytothebasin.blogspot.com/)
Fall-Winter
Stressful time for me dealing with the stress of full time retail.
2011
March
I step down out of full time management and go back to part time. Life becomes much better!
I head to Spain to visit Sarah. First visit overseas for me! Spend a couple days in Spain and then head to Paris with Sarah. Great trip, but very crazy! Think lost luggage times 10 in weirdness. I have a post on her blog about that trip. You can read two long posts about it here:
http://fromthevalleytothebasin.blogspot.com/2011/04/semana-blancaaka-semana-amanda.html
April
Life at our local church undergoes some major changes.
June
I head back overseas and meet up with Sarah in London. We spend almost three weeks touring the UK. Get to see a lot of England and a few days in Scotland. BEST TRIP EVER!!!!!!!
Highlights--Attending Charles Spurgeon's former church for a service, seeing amazing historical museums etc. Stonehenge. Bath--I loved Bath. Jane Austen fans must go there! Was my favorite part of England. We get to see a Hamlet production, loved that too! Sleepy town called Woodstock, such a great place after the hectic London world. Chatsworth house--where they filmed the most recent version of Pride and Prejudice. Such a great place! We get to see the Bronte house, and get an unplanned walking tour group. Great time! Funny story involving an older gentleman taking us right up to the house because we were so concerned about missing it. Yorkshire--sorry, very lame and touristy, we should have skipped that! A couple of days in Edinburgh. Cool castle, fun Highlands tour and get to see the Loch Ness. Adventures of Sarah leaving her purse, but no worries, no one took it! That is a really surface view of our time in England. It was such a great time!
Sarah returns home with me, life goes back to normal in our household. :-)
Fall
Mom's sister Susan, has a return of cancer.
Parents take a trip with Mom's sisters and their spouses to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Dad retires from the fire house!
Sarah and I take a trip down to see our friend in South Carolina.
2012
June
My siblings and I take a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah to visit our Aunt and Uncle. Fun trip with our first real exposure to the western part of the US!
August
I am diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis--a two year journey which involves a blog or several posts of its own!
2013
April
Parents, Sarah, and I take a trip down to South Carolina to celebrate our friend's 30th birthday!
June
Mom's sister Susan passes away.
Most of the year
Life gets hard for me, I'm trying a diet called SCD to help with the UC. Losing a lot of weight and getting very sick. I stay with some friends in Nov/Dec to try to help. A stomach virus on Thanksgiving day puts me down to 92 pounds! Scary times.
December
Doctor is urging me to go to surgery
2014
January
Cold times in Ohio!
I finally get in to see another doctor, who is in to functional medicine.
He suggests just doing gluten and dairy free diet. Within 4 weeks I gain 14 pounds! Praise the Lord!! Since then, I have only continued to progress and am still amazed at the Lord's provision and care for me! A short snippet doesn't do justice to what has happened in the last year of my life!
March
I start getting into gardening
June
We get a new kitten and name her Ellie.
July
Our church gets to host a joint service for the first time with several local small churches joining us for an evening service. Great time of fellowship!
July
Our church gets to host a joint service for the first time with several local small churches joining us for an evening service. Great time of fellowship!
August
Sarah and I take a day trip with a friend to Lexington, Kentucky. Fun times exploring the Horse Park, seeing Mary Todd Lincoln's house, and eating at a place called Shakespeare & Company.
Sarah and I take a trip down to South Carolina to visit friends.
I know I'm probably missing some things, but that's a pretty good summary of the last 5 years. Dad is preaching more at our local church. I am still at our local craft store, 6 years coming up soon! I still hope for an Administrative job someday. We currently have three cats and one dog. 2014 has brought a lot of new friendships into my life and I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store for 2015!
Life is busy, but good, and God is GREAT!
Thanks for reading!
