Friday, December 31, 2010

2010 Year in Review


I can't believe that it is over already but we had a wonderful year with some big changes! Here are a few of the things the we did and accomplished in 2010!

I completed my first quilt! I have now become addicted and spent all day today working on quilt #5.


We spent a few different weekends on the Oregon coast. Went on a few day trips, a few shopping trips, and a few family getaways!


Biggest news of the year: WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!! It was all God's planning and a huge blessing. It was also a big huge pain almost every step of the process. We have been living here now since May 3rd and are enjoying (almost) every moment of home ownership!


Along with the house came our first garden. It came and went quickly! The only thing that survived were these tomatoes.


We spent a wonderful week at the coast with most of the Wallace family celebrating my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. As my Dad says, "we had a family reunion and only one person got shot!" That should tell you how the week went :)



Andy started a new hobby of brewing beer. He takes over the kitchen for a couple of weeks at a time and is really enjoying the process. He even tried a pumpkin beer for the holidays!


I completed my first year of teaching! It was a wonderful year that I was both happy and sad to see end. These two women were a huge part of what made it a success. This picture was taken on a field trip to the Salem Public Library where the three of us and 20 pre-schoolers rode on 2 city buses to get there and 2 to get home with bus transfers in the middle. It was a miracle that we all made it back!


We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary! We took a trip to Seattle to celebrate. We enjoyed a Mariners baseball game, walking through Pikes place, and riding up to the top of the space needle.

We also took a second trip to Seattle with friends in September.

James and Makenna spent a whole week with us in the middle of summer! We jam packed the week with fun Salem activities ending with a trip with mom to the Portland Zoo. It was successful enough that I think it might happen again this summer.


Andy started a new job at Frito Lay. He has been there for 4 or 5 months now. He has really early mornings that took a while for us to get use to but he really enjoys the work.


We repainted and gave our back room a face lift! My favorite part of being a home owner is decorating!

The Oregon Ducks were number one in the BCS for the first time ever! They are headed to the national championship on January 10th. Andy is ecstatic and counting down the days!

That was our 2010! There were lots of changes but all for the good and we are looking forward to all that will come in 2011! We hope everyone has a safe and fun New Years Eve!




Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!! At 6 o'clock tonight I finally finished making my last Christmas present! I can't wait to show off how they all look after they are given tomorrow. I thought I would show what our tree and some of our decorations looked like this year. In our tiny apartment last year we had enough decorations to fill everything, this year we barley had enough for one room. I'm excited to see if I can find any good deals after Christmas!


We got to do Christmas lights outside for the first time


2010 Christmas Tree



This beautiful wreath was sold through the Women's Bible study that I attend to support missions in Costa Rica.


A few of the small decorations from inside the house:





I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Reply

Could we at least put up a picture of what it looked like when I was done. Or at least a picture of what I looked like when I was done. And I disagree, home ownership is more fun in the winter because it isn't a spectator sport.

Winter :(

Owning a house in the winter is not as much fun as owning a house in the summer! This is what our back patio looks like right now:


Andy has been on the roof blowing all of the leaves out of the gutters with a leaf blower for the last hour! He knows that he has to blow all of these leaves off the patio before he is done and then my patio should at least look decent again.

Quilt updates: 1 down, 1 to go before Christmas and still 2 after

Our Christmas tree and lights update is coming soon!