A look back at 2010

2010. No pregnancy. No new babies. No Wedding Day. No wedding reception/anniversary celebration. No emergency room visits. No ambulance rides. No car accidents. It sounds pretty boring compared to all our previous years as a family, doesn't it? Maybe, but it was still a good year. A year in which we grew together as a family. A year in which we were constantly reminded to trust God as he is ultimately in control. The year started off with us moving to a new apartment. It was just down the street from our old apartment, but a much better deal. The year ended with us getting ready to move out of this apartment. No big deal. We are used to moving by now. I think I have moved
every year since I graduated high school and moved out of my parent's house. This time though that' where we are moving back to. Yes, as a family. Why? Because we would like to make a big dent in our student loans and this is the best way for us to do that quickly. As long as we find jobs in my old hometown of course. We are working on it.  We have actually been throwing this idea around for a long time. Not only because it is a good idea financially, but also because it is hard to find a job with a mission board while in debt. This will be a good thing. As we were only throwing around the idea for a while and praying about it, God gave us a big push to put it into action. Jason lost his job in December, and we figured it was now or never.

Speaking of Jason losing his job, here's a recap of his year:
The most exciting thing he experienced this year was his first visit out of the country. He was able to go on a trip with the seminary to Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic this summer all while earning credits for his masters and visiting tons of Martin Luther historical spots. Although he claims he missed me a lot, he had a great time. Even though he traveled during father's day and our three year wedding anniversary, it was a wonderful chance for him to experience a new culture and learn about such an exciting time period in Christian history. My favorite part was when he came home with Kinder chocolates, a little teddy bear for Eve, a wooden toy moose for Kylie, a French flag just for fun, a pretty painting from the Czech Republic and my favorite: postcards from all the cities he visited with fun and personal messages for me to read.

Shortly after his trip, Jason found a new job as an admissions coordinator for an online school. It sounded perfect until we realized too late just how the turnover rate was. We weren't surprised when he lost his job in December although still disappointed. But now it has given us a big push to do what we had been praying about for some time: making serious progress on our student loans. And through it all we have been blessed to see that God still takes care of us. Always.

My year was very simple. This was the first year I was able to be a stay at mom the entire time from January to December. My last subbing job was in December 2009 and I decided I didn't want to return after Christmas break. It was a good experience overall, but not very rewarding. I definitely prefer
teaching/support positions where I see the same kids every day. And of course seeing my own kids every day is even better. 

This was the first year I didn't have a baby to take care of, just two active toddlers. It's been a little sad since there is nothing sweeter than caring for a little baby and I miss it. Still, it's been fun. My favorite part has been watching the girls learn to interact together. Most of the time. There have been some fights to break up, but also lots of positive interactions. I've loved being a stay at home mom because I've been able to pick out lots of fun things for us to do. We've spent countless hours at parks, fountains, the library, the zoo, wading pools, nature walks and various play dates.
Now that 2010 is over and we are moving, it is time for me to go back to work. I'm still working on finding employment, but I'm excited about it. I'm not even worried about leaving my baby girls behind because Jason is going to be able to stay home with them full time while working on his schoolwork (He is taking online classes and commuting to the seminary once a week.) That's our plan. I just need to find a full time position for it to work. Jason is going  to make a fun stay at home dad; our daughters are lucky to have such a great father.

Now on to the girlies:

Kylie spent most of the year as a two year old, but then she went ahead and turned THREE in December. I think that officially takes away the baby/toddler label and just leaves her as a "kid". A kid who says things like: "but mom" in four long drawn out syllables if she doesn't agree with my choices. A kid that needs clear, logical reasoning for everything. A kid who asks a lot of "why" questions and is trying to figure out the world. A kid who remembers everything and who is quick to remind me of the promises I've made her. Although she definitely likes things done the exact way she wants them done, she's just such a sweetheart. She has a great imagination and a very active body. She still won't sit still to watch a movie more than ten minutes but she will let me read books to her for an hour.
Eve, on the other hand, is our "little lounger" as we call her. She will lounge on the couch and watch TV for hours if we let her. She spent most of the year as a one year old, as she had her first birthday in March. She's turned into a very assertive toddler this past year. Last year, I thought she was the easiest baby in the world. As a toddler, she's not quite as easy. Cute as a button, but a complete mess at time. She's a mess figuratively and literally: Not only is she ornery, loud and crazy but she is also the messiest eater I have ever seen. No meal is complete without Eve wiping her hands in her hair and
throwing what she doesn't want on the floor. But she's just so loveable, gives the best kisses and hugs, is a really good sharer and asks me all the time to "cuddle" (one of her favorite words)   

So now on to 2011. This should be interesting.