Rob&Tiff... & Trey: Year in Review

I thought I'd do a little year in review. Thinking back on what to include in this listing has made me remember the good times, the tough times, and God's faithfulness to us through them all. We truly serve a mighty God who has promised to complete the work he has begun in our lives and never leaves or forsakes us.

So, here's a little recap of some of the big and not so big events in 2008...not in any particular order.

Big Daddy's Passing

My grandfather passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's last January. God was faithful to him until his last day on earth, and was equally faithful to us as we cared for him in those difficult times when he slowly lost all of his memory and abilities. Experiencing death has a funny way of realigning your priorities and making you truly long for heaven. It will certainly be a sweet reunion for us.

Ski Trip in Montana

For Christmas last year Rob's family gave us all a ski trip in Whitefish, Montana. It was so generous of them to fly the whole gang cross country to enjoy the beauty of the mountains. Somehow we all managed to arrive safely from Kentucky, Birmingham, and South Carolina, and had a fun week together.

Kyle's Surgery

My brother Kyle had to undergo emergency surgery over the summer after being diagnosed with a nontraditional occurrence of compartment syndrome. This was a difficult time for my whole family but God was truly good to us, and Kyle was fortunate to only lose a small bit of his muscle and function in his leg. Today he is completely mobile and has resumed nearly all of his normal activity with the help of a small leg brace he only wears occassionally. Thank you all for your prayers for him during those difficult months.

Weddings

We had five wonderful weddings in 2008 and traveled to Starkville, Columbus, Demopolis, and Birmingham for the weddings of some of our dearest friends:

Amy and Matt
Patrick and Meg
Katie and Drew
Anne and Rob
Parker and Kristy

Congrats again to the newlyweds!

Upcoming in 2009...(we can't wait!)

John Austin and Sarah
Leigh and Justin
Margaret and Dave
????????????????????

54 Hours

Ok, so Robert and I didn't realize this until just a minute ago when we did the math, but collectively we completed 54 hours of graduate classes in calendar year 2008 while both working full-time. I can truly say it was the grace of God that got us through. Graduate school has really been an overall positive experience for the both of us. I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to develop some new friendships with classmates. We're both taking 9 hours again this spring semester.

Countdown to graduation (hours left):

Robert - 18 hours; anticipated graduation date: Summer 2009
Tiffany - 27 hours; anticipated graduation date: December 2009

Presidential Election

So, the 2008 presidential election was certainly one for the history books. Regardless of how you feel about the outcome, you have to admit we got a pretty great couple halloween costume out of it. (Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin for those of you still trying to figure it out.)

12-2 Season

What a second year for Nick Saban's Crimson Tide. The boys truly played above their potential and gave us 12 great victories in 08. The ending of the season wasn't so wonderful, but we got a ton of awesome road trips (Knoxville, Baton Rouge, Atlanta...) out of it and really enjoyed going to games with so many of our family members and college friends - and also tailgating on the quad with my brother, the UA freshman. Already looking forward to next year. (Only 7 more months until kickoff...)

Seeing Julia 3 Times

You may not realize it, but seeing Julia, my best friend from college, three times in one year is truly remarkable. She's a Coloradian now and our visits are just too few and far between. But we espeically enjoyed a girl's weekend at Smith Lake over the summer. Good times.

Proration/Buyout
(Sorry couldn't find a good illustration for this one. Google Images failed me.)

So, tough economic times meant the governor enacted proration for the state educational system and budgets are a little tighter this year at UAB. At the same time, Robert's engineering firm was sold to a larger firm based in Houston. Yet this year more than ever we have seen God's faithfulness to us in the provision and security of our jobs.

During my junior year of college I applied for two internships - one at Southern Progress and one at EBSCO. I didn't get the one at Southern Progress but did get the one at EBSCO, which led to my first job out of school there in public relations and eventually my current position in Development at UAB. Robert received a job offer from Hyundai in Montgomery before receiving and accepting the offer at BE&K, where he is now working towards his PE license. Both of us never saw ourselves at UAB or BE&K. This year, Southern Progress has made massive layoffs and Hyundai has had to make large production cuts like the other auto manufacturers. Looking back we both see God's provision and good plan from the beginning. We are truly thankful.

Baby Tess's Arrival