a year in review

I decided to take a look through our photo album to reminisce about the past year. you see, i like to take lots of pictures. i feel that pictures are the best way to document memories. when i am old and grey i want to a bookshelf full of photo albums with nothing but all the sweet memories i made in my life.

so here we go...

New Years Eve- Bill and I didn't make any plans. We just finished our 1st Christmas as a married couple, and it was a busy one. Working in retail, that is our busiest time of year, not to mention that football season is still going. Also, we had family in town visiting, so NYE was really just a time to relax and enjoy each others company. We went to a restaurant near our apartment called Maguires. We didn't have reservations so we sat in the bar. It was fun. Then we just watched the countdown in our pj's. I don't think we stayed awake much longer...

Valentines Day- Another 1st in our marriage. Our 1st married V-Day. I bough Bill tickets to go see the Dallas Stars play. The NHL hockey team for Dallas. It was WAY more fun than i had imagined. I would never sit and watch hockey at home on tv, but being at the game was pretty intense. They play at the American Airlines Center which is in Victory Square downtown. This is also where one of the local news stations has their studios. So after the game we went and stood by the windows, like many do after hockey and basketball games. We waved at the camera and had our 3 seconds of local fame. :)

Deer Accident- On a trip to LR to visit friends and family we were driving home one night after being out with friends and we were hit by a deer. I know this sounds opposite of what you would imagine, but i'm being serious. For those of you that know Rahling Road in LR, AR, you know what I'm talking about. We were in my car, Lil Red. It all happened so fast, that it was sorta a blur. All I know is I saw the deer out of the corner of my eye, I ducked my head, and BOOOM! Ran straight into the back passenger side of my car. Thank goodness Bill was driving, because I was freaked out after all of it. So... $1000 deductible later, my car is shiny and new.

One Year Anniversary- We celebrated our 1st anniversary on April 19th. We had just purchased our 1st home (i'll get to that in a sec.) so we didn't really want to make a huge deal and purchase each other big gifts. But, Bill surprised me and decided to get granite countertops installed in our new kitchen! Happy Anniversary to me! We celebrated by eating at one of our favs, Cantina Laredo, then attempted to eat some of our wedding cake. Not so good, but loved seeing our cake and remembering our wedding day. I got Bill a framed copy of my bridal portrait. I think it might have been a little more for me, than him, but whatev.

New House- Thats right, Bill and I are homeowners! After a long search we finally found the house we loved. We closed on the house one month before we had to be out of our apartment. This gave us plenty of time to get whatever painting and other work done at the house before we had to move in. Boy it was a lot of work! We spent every night after work, every day off, basically every waking minute that we weren't at our day jobs, working on the house. We mostly did a lot of painting. And the big project, the kitchen! So to save money on the counter tops we did all the demo of the old ones ourselves. And, if you're gonna have shiny new counter tops you can't have Formica back splashes and dinosaur age appliances. In goes a new back splash and thanks fam for helping out on the new stove top! We are really enjoying our new home, and loving fixing it up.

Girls visit- My BFF's finally came to visit me in Big D. They all made the trip because we were going to a friends wedding. Its always fun when we all get together. Bill says I get about 50 decibels louder when we're all together. That just means we are having a good time. The wedding was fun too. Its time to come back friends!

Lucy- We have a new member in the family. Lucy Dog! We adopted her from the humane society. We're not totally sure what breed she is, but its definitely some sort of Australian Shepard mix. She is our child. She needs lots of attention and she gets it. She will be 1 in February. We love having her around!

Cowboys- wow, i've gotten to do a lot of amazing things this year with the cowboys. I was able to take many tours of the construction of the new stadium. I was invited to the years of service luncheon and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new stadium. We got season tickets again this year. This has been too fun. Getting to be a part of history is amazing. Working for the Cowboys has provided many perks, and Bill and I both are so grateful for all of it. I also moved to a new store. At the end of August I moved from Firewheel in Garland to Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. This is good for many reasons. Its a bigger store with more inventory. Its a higher traffic mall, not to mention nicer. And, its closer to home. Its been a lot of fun working at the new store.

Destin Vacation- Bill and I took a trip to Destin, FL in July with his family. It was so nice to get away and relax. The beach is my favorite place. We had great weather throughout the entire trip, enjoyed some shopping, and of course, the great company.

Southwest Classic- I am a sucker for traditions, and here a new one starts. The Texas A&M Aggies and the Arkansas Razorbacks are playing in a 10 year match up called the Southwest Classic. It is played at Cowboys Stadium every year. This year was the 1st match up. This tradition is especially meaningful because my cousin is an Aggie, and my family are Hogs. Such a fun family rivalry. We hosted a tailgate this year, and for the next 9 years too. Tons of food, fun, and friends. The only downfall this year was the rain. But that didn't stop us. We hope that it gets bigger and better every year. I can't wait. Oh yeah, and the Razorbacks stomped the Aggies. Sorry cuz!

Halloween- This year Bill dressed up as Billy Ray Cyrus and I was Miley Cyrus. This was totally last minute, so our costumes weren't quite the effort as last year, but still fun. We went out with a couple we met at one of the Razorback watch parties. Lots of fun!

Thanksgiving- Holidays seem to come and go a lot quicker these days. This one is no different. I am so concentrated on the day after Thanksgiving that it is hard to enjoy the holiday itself. I planned the managers tailgate again for the Thanksgiving day game for the Cowboys. It wasn't quite the effort as last year either, but still a fun time. Cowboys won, so all is good. We had thanksgiving dinner the night before with my dad, step mom, aunt, uncle, and cousin. Black Friday was a success as well. We opened at 6am and it was steady all day long.

Christmas- We just enjoyed a lovely Christmas with family. I won't go into much detail because I just wrote about it in the previous post. I can't believe this was our 2nd Christmas as married couple. Soon enough it will be 20 and we wont know where all the time went.

Shew... what a year! 2009 was a good one, but I am looking forward to all that Twenty-Ten has to offer. Thanks to all that made 2009 great, and here's to a happy 2010 to you all!