What A Year!

I have heard this over and over - 2011 was a doozy of a year! We were no exception to that. It has been one of our hardest years yet. As we have looked over this last year though, James and I both feel we have so much to be thankful for!

* James got his dream job that he has been working towards for three years and is having a blast, even with the long hours.

* We live in a great, energy-efficient house in a wonderful neighborhood. We love, love, love our neighborhood! In the metroplex, it's hard to find neighborhoods that feel like a community, so we are extra-thankful to live in such a wonderful place.

* Our second niece was born!! We are loving having Maci in the family. :-)

* My older brother and sister-in-law (Mike & Lissie) are expecting a baby in April. They've had a long hard journey to get to this point and we are so thrilled for them!

* Mike and Lissie's house didn't burn down in the horrible wildfires that swept across New Mexico this past summer. I'll never forget the night that we got a text saying the fire was cresting the mountains by their town. It was scary for us and we didn't even live there! We prayed harder that night than we had in a long time! I know everyone was relieved to hear that the fire didn't touch their town (or the nuclear lab where Mike works!).

* The terrible two's have been hard, hard, hard around here - Ian has had a few issues that have made them a bit more complicated. BUT we are in the downhill slope of all of that and are thrilled with how well Ian is doing.

* I have two more classes and a thesis left in my master's program and then I will be done! Even though going to school, working, and having a two year old is the hardest thing I have ever done, I am so glad I have had the opportunity to go back to school.

* We have new (to-us) bedroom furniture that I just love. No more mismatched window curtains! I will post pictures sometime soon. :-)

* While my Grandpa's passing was really sad, I did get to see him a couple of months before he passed away. Since I don't make it out to Colorado all that often, I was really thankful for the opportunity to get to see him before he went.

* When the transmission went out in my car, we had to get another car right away. Although our brand new 2012 car is missing a few features I wanted (automatic lights for one!), I love having a reliable car with such good gas mileage!

* We have had some wonderful times with family and friends that we will never forget! We have been so blessed in so many ways in that regard.