Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Years | 2011 | A Year in Review

*** 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
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;
a year of redeeming what has been lost,
discovering what has been hidden,
and forging that which has yet to be made.

May God bless you as you journey into this new year!

~ Alena

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