Saying good bye to 2011

Well, 2011 was a hard year on my family and me.  We had to deal with a lot of problems that were surprising and caught us off guard but we made it thru the tough year and are excited to be starting a new year with bring our baby boy into the world. 

Things that were good for us this last year was getting to go to California for a month to see my family, thank you to all who made that possibly especially my dad and Julie.  California was so nice to visit and to see everyone there was awesome.  I still miss our weekly runs to In n Out, Kari, and loved going to the outdoor malls with Julie, and walking on State St.  I am very home sick these days and feel like home is farther away than it was before, but so goes life when you are married to a service member.  I especially miss the cold weather and snow of the Mountains.  Our next blessing of the year was finding out we were expecting our second child and then finding out we were having a little boy.  We are super excited to be having one of each and Ty already can't wait to be able to buy him the loud car toys and police toys.  We also celebrated Makenzi's 1st birthday which was tons of fun, thank you Mike and Sheryl for throwing Kenzi's princess party. We also celebrated our 2 year anniversary this year I know doesn't seem like long but we are so happy to have each other and really do complete each other as well.  2011 also saw us move to North Carolina's Coast where we found a nice house to rent while we spend our time here which will also be Gabriel's 1st home.  

All in all though we had a financially tough year with many unexpected issues. We have learned a lot and have started saving everything we can, we are couponing as well as saving all our change in a jar to help start savings accounts for the kids. Its amazing how things add up.  Anyway, we are trying to get back into the swing of paying bills, rent and buying groceries which has been a little difficult but its getting there.

We are looking forward to what 2012 has to offer and know that even with the strain of being apart for most of this new year we will have a better year than last.  I especially am looking forward to reaching my goals and to seeing my children grow and reach mile markers of their own.  It will be an amazing year of growth, love and tons of family time.

I think everyone can agree that 2011 was harsh on us and we all want to see 2012 be a better year than 2011.  So here is my positive thought out to all of you that you will all have a wonderful 2012.