Best of 2010

Over the summer we had a family reunion at Lake Owyhee, Oregon.  My whole family was there – parents, sisters, brother, nieces, nephew, brother-in-law, husband, kids – and it was so great.  We went boating, swimming, tie-dyed tee-shirts, saw wild life, saw amazing sunrises and sunsets and camped out all together.  It was so great. Definitely a highlight of our year. 

 

Portland to Coast 2010.  This was the 25th anniversary of the walk and my second time doing it.  I was on a team with three of my cousins and my mother-in-law.  It was great fun.  I wasn’t as prepared as I would have like to have been though.  I had been walking and was in pretty good shape when I got a nasty staph infection in my leg.  It was painful so for the six weeks or so before PTC, I didn’t walk much.  I’ve never taken so much medicine (or been so grateful for it).   The other best part of this is that Bryan and the kids, and his sister, her husband and nephew came out to meet us at the finish line and we stayed with his mom in Cannon Beach for a few days.  It was so relaxing and fun.  We walked on the beach, explored the cute town, rode bikes in on the sand, and explored the tide pools.

Time Out For Women, Portland.  I absolutely loved this.  It was the perfect time out and I came back inspired, uplifted and ready to be mom.  We heard several great speakers – Michael McLean, Mark Mabry (photography), Ardeth Kapp, Hillary Weeks, Michael Wilcox, Emily Watts, Merrilee Boyack, Kris Belcher, and Mariama Kallon  . My cousin and I hope to get to Seattle in April ‘11.

All three kids started school in September.  With the youngest in kindergarten it’s a welcome break. I’m not sure I’ll feel the same way when all three are gone for seven hours each day.  But for now, I get two and a half hours alone each day.  Since he’s goes to afternoon, Bryan and I try to have a weekly lunch date.  I am also able to help in the 4th grade class twice a month, and the 2nd grade class twice a month. I help in kindergarten once a month.  I also get to run errands alone, watch the occasional episode of Frasier in peace and enjoy some quiet time to get chores done.  I also am able to join WW and go to meetings.

I took a break from the blog.  Honestly, when I quit I really thought I was done with it.  It didn’t take long until I really missed it though.  Hitting publish on that first post back was almost scary.  I was worried that I would get to “into” blogging again, but I haven’t. I think I’ve found a pretty good balance, and the few months off was really good for me.

 

Summer road trip – the kids and I took a two week summer road trip.  We went to Salt Lake, then on to Vegas for two nights and up to Ely, Nevada for a day, then on to Nephi, Utah for one night, back up to Provo for a few nights, to Orem for one night and then on to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a couple nights.  We went swimming, played, walked, saw movies, went river rafting, played games, visited old (and new) friends and I drove more than 3,000 miles by myself.  As much fun as it was, though, I missed Bryan terribly and have decided that we wont be doing another two week trip with out him.

My parents came to visit after Christmas.  They came for six days and we stayed up way too late every night, we played lots of games, went bowling, saw True Grit, went swimming, ate good food, chatted, exercised and enjoyed each other.  I love my parents and I love when they come to visit.

I’m betting that there are other things that I will think of later and think “oh! I should have included that!”, but for now this is it. 

2010 was a good year.