Bye 2011

While I kept saying that 2011 was a sh*tty year, in the end it wasn’t so bad.

We started off the year with CP’s mortgage problem out west. While that mess was a pain and we are having to pay more, the loan will get paid off sooner.

Fuzzy’s britches seizure was awful. Thankfully she hasn’t showed any signs of another one. Recently we took her into the vet to get sedated for Xrays and found out that while she doesn't have arthritis, she does have a partial tear in the ligaments in her hind legs. Poor baby. We have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to find out if surgery is necessary/possible or if there are other treatments we can pursue.

Fibroid surgery was a success and I am fully recovered. I'm crossing my fingers that I get my period soon and that we are successful in getting pregnant this winter/spring!

The jaw surgery and braces may not have to happen because my teeth are starting to move back together now that I am not wearing my mouth guard. This would be fantastic news! As long as I can chew on the left side of my mouth and stop breaking teeth I'll be happy.

The 13 DAYS we spent without power this year because of Hurricane Irene and the freak October snowstorm sucked (especially while I was recovering from my surgery). But having the power off meant playing cribbage with CP with a lantern, getting to know our neighbors a bit better, and getting to know our friends that did have power better after we spent every night at their house for dinner!

Amazingly, I completed a half marathon. I'm still not sure how I did it! Of course my heels are still giving me problems, but I have started to wear this boot to bed and the pain is lessening.

2011 brought Buster into our family. He was a HANDFUL in the beginning, but is a smart, adorable, cuddly and loving puppy. I’m so glad that we made the decision to get him!

Our friendships in our town are deepening. I have a great group of girls to go to dinner with, hang out with, etc. CP even likes their husbands which is great. In addition our monthly dinner club has been a huge hit!

My awesome healthy family. Even though I don't get to see them as much as I would like, I talk to my parents all the time and I will be eternally grateful to my Mom for flying out after my surgery. It wasn't necessary as it certainly wasn't life or death but it was nice to have her help around the house...especially because we didn't have any power.

Far away friends that are all doing well.

We were able to take two vacations this year. One to Southern CA/Denver for weddings and then another to the Bahamas. Can’t complain about that.

Our garden has been great this year. Bumper crop of cherry tomatoes (man I miss picking them right off the vine and popping them in my mouth!), sugar snap peas, swiss chard, kale, etc. I’m crossing my fingers that our winter garden continues through the cold months. So far we have had great lettuce and swiss chard. Everything is definitely taking longer to grow, but that is to be expected.

My weight has steadily increased this year. I look back through my monthly posts and cringe. But I have started to try to run again and on January 10th my friends and I are going to be doing a high-intensity month-long boot camp.

Basically after clicking through the most powerful photos of 2011, I once again realized that my life is not all that bad.

Looking back, how was your 2011?