What a wonderful wonderful year.

I have to say- 2011 was an absolutely fabulous year. A year ago today, Grant and I spent a wonderful time hanging out with several of our dear friends in Portland Oregon, ringing in the New Year over tasty home made sauerkraut and amazing lemon cake and plenty of wine & laughter. Grant and I called it quits early in the night and went back to our friend's to crash because I was so tired, missing midnight entirely as we prepared for the flight home the next day. Little did I know then, all that tiredness was the very early warning signs of being pregnant! I spent most of my honeymoon thinking about our recent wedding and desire to try for a baby in the coming 2011 year, not realizing I had succeeded in getting pregnant on our wedding night. January 15th- many tests confirmed that my dreams had come true- I was pregnant!

What followed was a very beautiful year including:

The last semester of my 3rd year at Citizen Schools & the joyful graduation of the students I had taught for 3 years as they headed off to high school, but also the sadness of closing down our program in Austin.

10 wonderful, beautiful months of pregnancy- each day bringing a new experience and sometimes a new challenge as I discovered how amazing my body truly is. I have never felt more in sync with my body as I did during pregnancy- feeling my little girl grow in me was absolutely mind blowing at times & miraculous. After all those months, finally she was born on Sept 12- each day since has been an absolute blessing. She is now 15 weeks old and growing so quickly!


Grant and I celebrated our one year anniversary a couple of weeks ago- it has been such a wonderful first year of our marriage- I am so grateful to him for being such a supportive and loving husband & best friend- & an amazing father to Alchemy.


We have spent the past 2 weeks working very hard in our house to rearrange and deep clean everything in the hopes of resetting up everything in a more family/baby-friendly way. It has been hard work, but by the time our guests arrived for New Year's we were mostly done. There are still some finishing touches that need to be taken care of, art to hang etc.. but I am very very satisfied with how it has turned out. The whole place has a much warmer feel to it & our bedroom with the addition of the crib set up has become very family oriented, which feels wonderful.

The photo challenge has been really great to be a part of and very challenging for me technically- I feel like I have gotten some good shots and some that I would have done differently. It has been good using my camera every day. I am hoping beyond this 30 day challenge I will continue to try to take a new shot daily. A friend and I want to create our own lists and keep it going- I hope we will.

30 Day Photo Challenge

7 minutes to go before midnight and the New Year- I am happy to be here with my daughter asleep in my lap, my husband and a friend of ours hanging out in the living room behind me over stout beers and good conversation. Gone are the many other friends who stopped by to celebrate with us tonight, the homemade eggnog and mulled wine, the tasty food and the fast pace of the day leading up to our evening celebration. As I approach the new year I hope that it can bring me as much happiness as this past one has. This year Alchemy will turn 1! It feels like just yesterday that I gave birth to her, I can't believe she will be 4 months old in 10 more days.

Perhaps this year I will set some resolutions/intentions for the year to come, but those will take more thought that I can give them after wine, eggnog and the busy day with only 2 minutes left!

Happy New Year everyone! Welcome 2012- may you bring joy and love to us all.