Hello, 2009.

The New Year is here! And the beginning of a new there really two things to do: look back on the previous year, and look ahead to the new one.

Last year was absolutely incredible, and probably the biggest of our lives. To start, Brendan started his job at Smith Kessler. And a year later, he's settling into what we hope to be a promising career. I'm so proud of the progress he's made there in such a short amount of time.

In addition to jumping into a new job, Brendan also kicked the year off in a new place and new town. Wow. All I can say is we've come a long way since last year as far as this one is concerned. I remember our first trip here in 2007 when we were looking for a place to start our new lives. We kind of took a leap of faith because I'd only been to Charleston a few times and never with the intention to move here. When you're looking at a place as somewhere to move, it's totally different than just going there to visit. I'm not going to lie, our first trip down here to scout out an apartment was not all rainbows and butterflies. In fact, it was raining and dreary, and regardless of how I felt about it, it was our new home. Brendan had already signed a contract with his future employer.

So there we were, driving around Mt. Pleasant, somewhere unlike any other place I've ever lived, trying to find something. The thing about this whole area is that it's flat and there are no signs littering the roads, letting you know that there's a lot around. To someone who's never been here, driving down the road feels like your just driving through a bunch of pine trees with random sweetgrass basket stands and an occasional marsh here or there. So one can imagine that when I expected it to be like the hustle and bustle of the quintessential suburban Charlotte, I was really disappointed.

But God always knows what best for us, even when we beg to differ. Two weeks after that discouraging trip, we were back down here checking out this place on Daniel Island I'd found on Craig's List. Talk about a change of heart. There was no doubt in our minds that this place was for us. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just come visit us.

We came down on a weeknight and the office, not even located on Daniel Island, was closed, so we didn't expect to even get to see inside of an apartment, but just wanted to check out what we could. And wouldn't you know that this nice lady was out walking her dogs and saw us looking in the model and invited us up to look at her apartment. We were sold. And that's one of the huge things that happened last year.

After that, I graduated. Do I really need to say anymore? That alone would have qualified 2008 as the best year of my life.

And then, as if that weren't exciting enough, wedding bells were ringing in no time. Our wedding was an absolute dream and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Of course Hawaii was equally as awesome.

Ok, before I go on, maybe I should back a little bit. I spent a large part of 2008 finishing school, and while doing so, had some of the most fun of my life living with my three best friends in Charlotte. I really cannot think of a better time. I think about it often and feel so incredibly lucky that I had those nine months before I really dove into adulthood.

Speaking of adulthood, it really sunk in when I got my job at Amazon. I love it and plan on being there for a while. All of those arduous college years definitely paid off.


As the year closed, we welcomed a new nephew, Hayden Reed into the family, who's the first nephew and grandchild of this generation. We love him to pieces and are really enjoying watching him grow.

So 2008 was a huge year marked with oodles of mile stones and accomplishments. Looking on to 2009, here are some things that we hope to accomplish:

-Join Seacoast and get involved in a small group
-Learn to surf
-Travel to Italy (hopefully in June)
-Save for a house
-Advance in our jobs
-Lose some weight and get back in shape (Jillian Michael's DVDs are fabulous for this! I highly recommend them to anyone trying to get in shape and lose weight, especially the 30 Day Shred, no matter what your fitness level.)
-Read the Bible from cover to cover
-Finish writing my first book
-Learn to cook Gran's breakoff bread
-Convince all of our family and friends to migrate south were the food is better, the people are nicer, and the weather is brighter:)


So here's to an awesome year past and a promising year to come!