a looong reflection...

It's the first week of the year 2010 and as I sit here staring at the computer screen all day at work, I find myself reflecting back on this last year...
2009 was a bit of a hard year... Jake has been in school every month. Spring. Summer. Fall. It's all for a great cause... he should be graduating in June. So this next year will definitely be more positive in that aspect. Maybe we can actually enjoy a summer together! Who knows.. real life will be starting then... but it's not like we haven't both had full time jobs this whole time. That's real life.. paying bills, etc. Finding a job should be interesting, though, for Jake. He's planning on joining the Airforce and we're really hoping that works out. Because we don't exactly have a plan B at this time. Airforce is the most difficult branch of military to join. And although he has a great GPA and is super intelligent and ridiculously goodlooking {he has to make the uniform look good afterall}, the Airforce may not be recruiting officers for what he's interested in. Just hard to tell right now... with the economy BS and all. He won't go in if he can't be commissioned as an officer, though. So at that point we'll set up a plan B. Let's hope he can get some more info in the next couple months. When he tried speaking to a recruiter, they told him not to come talk to them again about going in as an officer until he has his diploma in hand.. buuuuuuut we kinda need more info nooow. So he'll do his Jake thing and get the info outta someone. :)


Anyways... this is supposed to be a reflection post, not a 'what 2010 will be all about' post.


So... 2009 WAS positive in a handful of ways and I will list them below:
1. Jake and I have grown so much closer. The first year of marriage was different... and getting to know the pros and cons of it can be a rollercoaster. This was our second year and we were able to focus more on building eachother up and being supportive. It's amazing how selfishness can just vanish sometimes.. when you love someone enough. :)
2. I really feel like I've grown into my own photography style over the last year. I took a photo course at the college and then had the amazing experience of taking an online workshop with Sheye Rosemeyer. Not only did I learn so much about myself and my love of photography, I also met so many wonderful and inspirational friends from around the world. They have helped me along the way as I've made decisions of where I want to take photography in my life. We have developed a relationship where advice is instantly available and never denied. I will forever be grateful to them for helping build up the confidence that will allow me to create a business out of what I love.
3. My neice, Blake, and my nephew, Carter, were born in September. It is incredible how these new little baby bodies just instantly magnify the love right out of you! They are adorable and I've been so grateful to be right here in the same town during their first months of life.
4. Also, on the same subject- watching my brother and SIL become brand new parents was a wonderful experience. I've had two older siblings that had their first babies years ago, so I've been surrounded by them for quite a while. But watching my brother Luke, hold his baby boy.. and knowing that his life would be devoted to that child forever... is something I will always remember. 
5. Our trip to Arizona. Just Jake and I. It was the only camping trip we did this year {which is sooooo not like us} and it was so much fun. We left after work on a Friday- it was Memorial Day weekend, I think.. so it took us a while to get there. We stopped in Flagstaff for dinner and then kept on going into the Coconino National Forest. By the time we got to where we were going, it was around 11:00 at night. We drove around for 2 hours {!!!} trying to find a camping spot. The idiots we are forgot about the fact that it was Memorial Day weekend and the place was packed. Not to mention it was POURING outside. We even got Jake's truck stuck in the mud and had to push it out in the middle of the night. But guess what?! Just when we thought we were going to be sleeping in the cramped truck, we pulled into one last campground and there was our campsite. A FREE campsite, too. Weird. Had a perfect place for our tent and a picnic table and a short little walk to the bathroom. It was great. The weekend was uphill from there. We had such a great time. Except for me waking up in the middle of the night on the second night to Jake looking out of the tent door with his gun in hand.. that was a little scary. I literally thought there was someone trying to kill us. I was looking around for anything I could use as a weapon after Jake was bludgered to death by the murderer... which of course didn't happen. I guess Jake thought it was a bear or something. Paranoid much? I guess it was bear country, afterall..
6. Sorry this has turned into a novel.. I'm having fun..
7. This year was kicked off with the birth of my bestie Rayni's baby girl, Aurora, in January. I can't believe she's almost one! She is such a gorgeous, happy baby. I have loved watching her grow over the last year. My other bestie Kirsten's baby boy, Connor, was born last month. We were able to go visit them and meet the handsome little fella. It was a beautiful thing to see Kirsten and Ben with their baby boy. He's so loved already!
8. Chase and Shalesa's brand new baby girl, Elliette! {yes... twas the year of BABIES!} She's breathtakingly beautiful and can be seen here and here.
9. The friendships we've made over the last year are irreplacable. We will definitely miss our friends here once we move away... but one thing I've learned over the many years of my life {i am 25.. that's a lot of years..} is that it is possible to keep friendships going whilst long distance. If they mean enough to you, you'll make it happen.. and you mean enough to us, guys!
10. Going to Philadelphia to see my aunt, uncle and cousins. Such a rad trip! They are the coolest family and definitely took care of us while we were there. We love Philly and will be going back one day.. hopefully soon! We also took the train ride into NYC for a day and that was amazing. What a beautiful city..
11. Spending some good, quality family time with... er.. the family. :) I love having Jake's parents and siblings so close by. Seeing them every Sunday is so comforting and I am going to miss that later this year when we {HOPEFULLY} move. One of those things where I can't wait to leave, but it's going to be SO hard to leave family.  And I love having my sister and my other awesome siblings here, too.. Mandy is my BEST friend and has helped me through a lot of the rotten times this year. I'm so grateful for such an amazing family!
12. So I'm realizing I could probably go on with this for quite a while.... and it's made my day better just reflecting back on the positive things 2009 really did bring. Even though there were some hard spots, I know I was never alone.. and one thing that was absolutely never lacking last year was LOVE.


I am looking forward to all of the lovely things 2010 will bring, though...


bitter...
sweet...
whatever gets handed to us, hopefully we can take it in stride and move forward in life with love in our hearts.


Wishing you all peace, love, and happiness in 2010!

And because posts are always better with a photo,
here's a tie between my favorites of 2009: