Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

"Worrying about the future only robs you from enjoying the present. The future will take care of itself, it's the present that needs our constant attention. Learn to enjoy what it really is -- a gift."

I started this post shortly after bringing the new year and it is insane to think that the whole month of January is already come and gone! Needless to say life has been hectic, crazy, and interesting to say the least (nothing out of the ordinary or what we have come to know as our lives!) However, the post remains relevant and seems only appropriate to post it and start off a new year...2011!! Here's to new dreams!!

To say that I am happy to have said goodbye to 2010 would be a mild understatement. The year that had potential to be the best year of our lives, started out to be the greatest year aside from the year that we got married, ended to be one of those years that anyone would want to look forward to saying goodbye to! Earlier before the holidays, I had a conversation with Jay that consisted of being ready for New Years and the fact that we have had an, overall, shitty year. After a few moments of pondering he agreed with "yeah, we have had a pretty crappy year". I had to find a little bit of humor in this reaction from him.

While I am glad to say that the year is over, I don't want to underestimate the fact that the whole year was not filled with misery. There were highlights in the year, 2010:

1. Ashleigh turned 6 in January
2. Our good friends welcomed their first child; Kale was born February 6th, nearly sharing his birthday with his dad who turned 30 the following day. My parent-in-laws share this birthday month along with me.
3. We learned that we were expecting our first child in March.
4. Our nephew, Alexander, turned 4 in May
5. Our nephew, Brady, turned 2 and and our friends daughter, Brylee, turned 1 in June. We met our daughter, while far too soon, and got to hold her and love her for a short time. Angel Chlorine Cheryl Kern was born at 20 weeks gestation at 12:57 pm on June 16th and his still very much and will always be loved and missed!!
6. Our nephew, Colten, turned 5 and my dad turned 50 in July as well as celebrating Jay's parents wedding anniversary.
7. Jay turned 30 in August
8. My mom & dad celebrated their wedding anniversary in September
9. Jay and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary with our first Nascar race and road trip to Talladega, AL in October as well as wishing my mom happy birthday on our wedding anniversary. We tried to celebrate this month despite this was to be the month that we should have been having our first child and bringing our daughter into the world only a few days after our wedding anniversary.
10. We survived our first holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas knowing that we should have been with our daughter in November & December.
11. Our god-daughter, Meliah turned 1 on Christmas Eve and we got to spend our first Christmas with her and her wonderful parents!
12. We finally got to bring in a new year and put a tough year behind us, with what we can only hope will be filled with new dreams, aspirations, goals, highlights for everyone!

It is impossible to put into words the gratefulness that we have for so many people in our lives. The love and support that we have been shown we will be forever indebted to them for all of it but will forever be appreciative and grateful. We can only hope and pray that the new year will bring better things to our family and friends, that 2011 will have good things to come for many!!