2009 in Review! (long post)

2009 has been a really crazy year for us. Lots of good, and certainly a lot of not so good, but all in all, we're feeling blessed and we're moving into 2010 with a lot of hopes and dreams. The baby is born in April, I graduate in May, Mark graduates in August, we open a chiropractic practice! What an exciting year ahead!

2009 started out well. We really didn't do a whole lot in the first part of the year.

We had a few foster dogs. We still have Abbie, but she is our last foster for a long long time. I have officially taken a break with the rescue and will not be fostering or doing anything else, so I can focus on our family.

Hamilton aka Hammy or Hamster

Abbie the abbigator or destruct-o as we lovingly refer to her as.

We went to Paris, France in March. It was amazing, so wonderful and a great bonding opportunity for Mark and I. I am really glad we did this before the baby was born.



We bought a car from my good friend Lisa and drove it home through Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and into Missouri. This was another trip that I can't even begin to describe. Life changing! We had an amazing trip, saw the Grand Canyon, Historic Route 66, Painted Desert, the studio where Buddy Holly recorded all of his famous songs, Muleshoe, TX, Amarillo, TX, Oklahoma City, OK and home. It was so fun. We fell in love with Flagstaff, AZ and the food in the southwest was better than anything!

The Grand Canyon

Possibly the best meal I have ever eaten in my life in Flagstaff, AZ.

Painted Desert

This is outside of the painted desert in New Mexico.

Albuquerque has amazing food too!

Mark about to explode holding a guitar in front of the microphone that Buddy Holly used to record, and his amp.

The biker bar we ate at on Route 66 in Amarillo.

We went on a road trip to Memphis by way of Arkansas in the summer time. It was blistering. We saw the Sun Studios, Stax Museum, Graceland and Beale Street. We also ate some amazing BBQ.



In line at Graceland



We found out about the baby in August and found out she was a girl in November:



We went to Michigan later in the summer to spend some time with the dogs and family. Beans, Slappy and Pokey had a great time on Lake Lansing on the boat, and Ill never forget that day!



We lost a friend this year. Ryan Goodman was killed on his construction site leaving behind two young girls and a loving wife. We were very saddened to lose such a great guy.

We also lost our beloved Beans. I am still not comfortable talking about it because my heart is broken but he was a great, though troubled friend.