2010

It’s hard to believe that 2010 is already over.  It seems like the older you get, the faster the years go by, and that’s a little scary at times.  Luckily I’m fairly good at keeping my blog (diary) up to date so I have most of it documented.

Overall, 2010 has been a good year for us.  I feel like Mark and I are closer as a couple and we’ve gotten this parenting thing figured out somewhat.  Last year at this time I was ready to rip all my hair out trying to figure out how to get our child to sleep through the night and to figure out all her quirks.  We’ve gotten her figured out for the most part now, but she tends to throw new challenges at us weekly.  She does a great job of keeping us on our toes.

Our move to Italy was obviously like nothing I’ve ever experienced.  I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t necessarily this.  Adjusting to Italy was hard, and dealing with Mark being TDY and Abbie being very difficult – all of that combined wasn’t a good combination and was probably one of the lowest points of my life so far.  But I feel like I’m out of that slump now, and ever since then, I’ve continued heading uphill, which is good.

I always hear people talk about finding themselves and figuring out who they are.  I don’t think there has ever been a point in my life that I didn’t know exactly who I was and what I stood for, but I feel like 2010 was the year that I became who I’ve wanted to be.  I realize that I’ve got much more growing and learning ahead of me, but I feel like I do a better job of stepping back and thinking before I fly off the handle about things, and I find myself trying to put myself in other people’s shoes more often instead of just casting judgments on them.

We’ve been incredibly blessed this year and have gotten to travel quite a bit.  (In fact, I’m writing this from Rome.)  I’d always dreamed of traveling, but I honestly didn’t think we’d get the chance to travel as much as we have until we were much older and retired.  Mark’s job has provided us with many opportunities, and the best so far has been all the travel opportunities while living in Europe.  Some of the neatest places we’ve been to so far weren’t even on my “to see” list and we never would have visited them if we didn’t live here.

I took up a new hobby of quilting and I finished my first quilt and another quilt top.  It’s pretty gratifying to know nothing about something, but to be able to work your way through it and create something beautiful and useful in the end.  I hope to make many more quilts in the future.  And I’ve also gotten more involved in photography.  I still only have the basic lenses for my camera, but I’ve learned a TON using them and have figured out what my camera is capable of. 

Mark and I often talk about how we can’t believe that this is our life.  We have our share of struggles and every day isn’t full of sunshine and puppies, but overall, we know that we are very blessed.  And I’ve finally figured out that really, it’s just a matter of perspective.  Focusing on the good verses the bad makes everything seem much brighter.

Here’s hoping that 2011 is as good as 2010.  Hope you all have a wonderful New Year’s Eve.  Buone Feste!