I am sitting here thinking of what a great year this past year has been -- so many things have happened, each one impacting my life in ways that have changed me and have taught me so many things. I have been blessed that I have been surrounded by great friends through all of it, each one giving something of themselves to me during both the good and the bad times.
This year has been one full of life changes - especially through marriages and new babies. I have been blessed to be able to be apart of those weddings and to watch how sweet the brides are when they say I do and how the boys are so taken away at the sight of the brides as they are walking down the aisle. And I can't wait for 2009 - so many engagements during 2008 that there will be lots of fun weddings in 2009 to see the same! Here is one of my favorite picts from MD's wedding (now MG!) with all of the girls -- only one of the many wedding festivatives from this year.
And the babies...my friend KE was blessed with twin baby girls this year who are just so cute! I only wish I lived closer so that I could play with them more often! And RH was blessed with the cutest little boy who is the spitting image of his mother -- in all respects. He is so much fun to be around, and I love how laid back he is! My cousin JW also was blessed with a little baby girl this year.
Then I was blessed to get to go to Europe for the first time with my friend LM and TH. I loved getting to see everything...I wish i could pick my favorite part of the trip - but that would be impossible. Every turn held something in store for us that was even better than the last, and we had an amazing time. We got to see Athens, the Greek Isles, and then Rome. The people were awesome, the sights unbelievable, food was the best ever, and just being able to roam and enjoy each other was a lot of fun. Here are some of my favorite picts from the trip:
One of the churches we saw....I LOVED the churches. I am basically entranced by them - they each had their own story, own shape and their own originality. I loved getting to go in them and look around - I really loved the really, really old ones. To see how they were set up and the art on the inside was just amazing.
Oh, the greek isles. This was a pict from our hotel in Mykonos....we were there in the off season and had a very laid back couple of days there. That pool and I were best friends....the hill down to the city and I were not. The stairs were killer, I admit! But the view was AMAZING.
On top of the Acropolis in Athens....it is under construction to try to rebuild, and we were really lucky to get up to the top early before all the tourists. It was amazing to see how big it is and hwo they were able to build without modern machinery!
This was also a year of milestones -- My sister celebrated her first wedding anniversary, my other sister graduated with her MBA from SMU, and I was promoted to senior manager. It was a very big year!!! We were also blessed to have my sister LL home with her sweet husband for Thanksgiving with the our cousins, and to have LL home again for Christmas. I love it when she comes home since we don't always get to spend a lot of time together!
I have also been blessed to get to take lots of trips to Dallas to spend time with all of my college friends - who I TRULY LOVE! They are so great -- I wish I was in Dallas so often so that I could see them more often. Every time we see each other, we just pick up right where we left off. I am so blessed to still have them in my life!
This was also a year of hospital visits (one thing I don't want to repeat again!) and lots and lots of doctors visits (and blood tests!) Unfortunately for me, I had two visits to the hospital for the same reasons....Ironically the first time we thought it was blood clots and it turned out to be a thyroid disease. The second time we thought it was just my thyroid and turned out to be blood clots in my lungs (pulmonary embolisms or PE's). Almost 2 weeks in the hospital made me think a lot and realize how lucky I am to be blessed with great friends, great doctors and amazing family (especially my sweet mother who cleaned out my closets becuase she was so worried about me! she needed something else to focus on, and she found it!) I am still recovering from the last one. I am still on blood thinners, beta blockers (for my heart -- the thyroid causes it to race, and lately it races a lot more than it should), and thyroid medicine....a trio of drugs that aren't a lot of fun due to side affects (hair falling out, drownisness from the beta blockers which I have to take RIGHT before I go to bed, and sometimes depression....which is just ugly.) But thankfully I have great doctors who listen, monitor and try to help me in every way they can. And great friends who tell me when I am doing too much, sit with me when I feel bad and love me more than I ever thought imaginable. And my family....I wouldn't know where to start to say how much I love them and cherish them. God truly blessed me when he chose my mother and my father, and blessed me with great sisters and cousins that I love more than I can express in words.
All in all, 2008 was a great year, and I look forward to 2009 and all that God has in store for me!
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