Our Little Bit of Wonderful: Happy New Years | 2011

*** Happy New Year 2011 ***

I tried writing this post several times, but was unable to come up

with something satisfactory.

So, taking my cue from my home girl over at

Her Womb, Our Hearts

I decided to simply break it down for you by month.

January

*We had a houseguest who stayed through mid-March*

*Nick accepted a job at the elementary school, which turned out to be a step backwards, financially, but gave him better hours, and let him work with a special needs child*

*Both of us started our second semester at Central Wyoming College*

February

*I turned 24 years old*

*Nick and I took an early anniversary trip up to Billings, Montana, and stayed overnight at a nice hotel ~ it was lovely*

*I did my first family photo session with my gorgeous new camera ~ thank you, Kukowski family!*

March

*Nick and I celebrated our third anniversary!*

*I did my second family photo session ~ thank you, Newby family!*

*Because of the cut in pay Nick experienced with the new job, we could no longer afford our two bedroom apartment, and were forced to move out*

*Ed & Linda (Nick's grandparents) invited us to move back in with them, as they needed help, and we were short on rental options*

*We adopted Butters, an 8 week old Chihuahua/Fox Terrier puppy*

*Butters and I went on our first roadtrip to Livingston, Montana*

*Our houseguest moved into her own apartment*

*Nick had an accident at work and strained his back ~ he was unable to return to work, as it was very physically demanding, and was let go on a medical termination*

April

*Nick's cousin, Kristin, visited from Phoenix, Arizona, and we did two artistic photo sessions in the state park, and took a roadtrip to Glendive, Montana ~ Butters' 2nd roadtrip*

*Nick started working at Teepee Pool & Spa ~ a local hot springs public pool*

*I drove our ex-houseguest back to Livingston, where she regained custody of her one year old daughter, Avery, who Nick and I absolutely love*

May

*Semester ended at CWC ~ we both failed*

*Nick sold his soul to "Star Trek: Online"...*

*...while I spent five weeks in Rose Hill, Kansas, visiting my dear friend Tina and her family!*

June

*Butters and I flew home from Kansas ~ a first for both of us*

*Most of the Belleque clan descended upon Thermopolis for Ed & Linda's 50th wedding anniversary ~ it was great!*

*Nick's brothers, Sam and Andrew, stayed behind for another few weeks to visit*

July

*Nick turned 26 years old*

*I drove the boys to Mitchell, South Dakota to meet up with their mom, Cindy...*

*...and then continued down through Nebraska back to Kansas*

*Tina & Tyler's baby, Kiam, was born ~ and I missed it by two days*

August

*I did my third family photo session, and my first newborn photo session ~ thank you, Snowbarger family!*

*I returned to Wyoming for the rest of the summer ~ I really missed my Nicky!*

*I did my first official (paid, lol) photo session ~ thank you, Robb family!*

*Things slowed down significantly*

September

*September was pretty quiet ~ if anything interesting happened, I've forgotten about it*

October

*Nick and I manage to pull together a road trip to Mount Morris, Illinois, to see his family*

*We arrived in time to celebrate our adorable neice's first birthday ~ we love you, Cinda!*

*My camera broke*

*On our way home from Illinois, we experienced a flat tire at 4am, and discovered that our dealer sold us the wrong size spare ~ thanks to the generosity of Linda and Rob, we were saved!*

*By the time we got home, having both been soaked to the skin during our tire incident, fall colds caught up with us both*

*Nick's Grandpa Ed had to move into a local nursing home because of his deteriorating health ~ it has been a really difficult transition for everyone*

November

*Both of us were sick almost constantly throughout the entire month*

*We spent Thanksgiving with the Hansen family in Worland (half hour away from Thermopolis) ~ everyone was sick, but it was fun!*

*I set aside my fears, and applied with Captel (political call center were I worked in 2009)*

December

*I was told I'd have to wait until January to find out if I got the job*

*Both of us continued to fight one cold or flu bug after another*

*Nick's Aunt Tonya, her boyfriend Rob, and her two daughters, Lindsey and Jasmin, joined us at Ed & Linda's for Christmas*

*Nick and I took Jasmin to see "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" for New Year's Eve 2010*

This has been a particularly difficult year, as well as one

of great personal growth.

My prayer for 2011 is that it will be a year of reclaimation;