New Year!

Once again, it has been WEEKS since I have last blogged so I will recap a bit.  A month ago, my best friend's house burned down to the ground.  Her, her fiance and their children barely got out with their lives.  I panicked when I first heard the news with sheer horror running through my mind.  After I spoke to her and found out everyone was safe I was so relieved.  But I still can not stop thinking about the whole thing.  Their lives have been turned upside down as they try to make it from day to day.  They are doing exceptionally well, considering the circumstances.  I am amazed by her strength and resilience everyday.  I can not believe how well she is doing and how strong she is being.  I am pretty sure I would be a complete and total wreck.  But they are slowly rebuilding their lives and I have a feeling 2011 will be their year.

Mills' parents came down the weekend before Christmas and stayed for 4 days and that was awesome.  Mills was so happy to finally get to spend some time with his parents.  He had only seen them twice since last January and both times were very short.  I however, have got to spend a lot of time with his parents over the past year.  They are good people!  They have done so many favors for me I will never be able to repay them.  Anyways I rode back with them to Indiana the Wednesday before Christmas.

I am so grateful I got to go home for Christmas and spend time with my family (especially my grandma).  I stayed 5 nights at her house.  I have always been very close with my grandma and enjoy spending time with her.  I treasure these times even more now than ever before.  Even though I am so happy I got to go home and spend Christmas with my family, this certainly wasn't the best Christmas I have ever had.  Since I just talked about my friends house burning down a few weeks before Christmas, I don't really have much reason to complain. I mean, it wasn't terrible but it wasn't GREAT either.  I missed Ryan and was sad that we had to spend our first Christmas married...apart.  We haven't been apart on Christmas in probably 6 years.  Then I had a few other small mishaps (car troubles, injuries and family squabbles).  I lost the keys to Ryan's parents car and ended up spending two days and $300+ trying to get a new key made.  Note I said "trying" because they were not able to make a new key.  That's another story in and of itself.  Anyways I was totally bummed b/c I had to spend all of my Christmas money on that stupid ass car.  I borrowed the car to save money and ended up spending way more money that it would have cost to rent a car and I sent the car back to his parents all jacked up! 

I am sort of glad Christmas is over.  It always stresses me out.  It has since I was 8 years old and my parents got divorced.  In the few years I remember before the divorce, Christmas was the best day of the year.  I can still remember a few of those perfect Christmas' and the toys I got and the feelings I had.  But after the divorce, my Christmas' were split spending half the day with my mom and half the day with my dad.  I didn't like Christmas anymore.  It just sort of made me sad.  The worst was probably when I got my license and I had to drive myself back and forth on Christmas Day throughout High School and College.  I remember spending those lonely moments in the car driving from once place to another thinking that no one should have to do this on Christmas Day.  Anyways, I still have to split my time around the Holidays between my mom's family and my dad's house and it still stresses me out.  I am relieved when it is over.  That is sad.  I wish I didn't feel that way, but I do.  My family in general sort of stresses me out.  Sometimes I feel like I have the most disfunctional family in the world.  I know that I don't, but it feels like that at times.

Anyways, I am glad it is a new year.  2010 was a tough year.  Getting married was definitely the highlight!  But I sure had some challenges and hard times.  I am ready to start a new!  Start fresh!  I hope 2011 has great things in store for me.  It hasn't exactly started out as planned.  I have spent the past few days in bed sick with the flu/cold.  Yuck!  Just my luck!  I hope to get healthier in 2011.  I feel miserable right now with my weight and my general heath.  I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.  And I am going to do something about it!  I hope to find a job that I love and that makes me happy in 2011.  I hope to do more volunteering in 2011.  I hope to do more traveling in 2011.  I hope to become a better photographer in 2011.  I am going to make all of these things happen. 

Ok, time to go to bed.  Nite, nite! ;-)