November/December:
We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Birmingham with my family and then ended up with the blessing of seeing Robert's family several times over the next four weeks. Unfortunately it wasn't under the best of circumstances after his mother was hospitalized right after Thanksgiving. However, God was gracious and she has made a full recovery. I think Bama winning the SEC Championship (which we watched with her and Rob's family from the hospital room; that was certainly a first!) definitely contributed to her recovery!
I was extremely late getting my tree and Christmas decorations up this year, but eventually it all came together.
We were able to celebrate Christmas in Florence, South Carolina with Robert's family. Our niece, Tess, turned one in early December, and we learned she and her brother Tallon have another sibling on the way, set to arrive in August - actually very close to Robert's birthday on August 3.
We also celebrated a late Christmas in Birmingham with the Summervilles. This year I think a good 50% of all funds spent on gifts went to the University of Alabama in terms of licensing fees. Let's just say we all bought each other a ton of Alabama paraphernalia - SEC Championship hats, jerseys, t-shirts, framed prints, car flags, car magnets....it was a little rediculous.
This following picture has to be one of my favorites from the holiday season. It's of my dad, sporting his new XXXXXL Terrence Cody jersey courtesy of my brother David, emulating Cody's two blocked field goals during the Tennessee game. Hilarious.
In December I traveled to Baltimore for an Association of Donor Relations Professionals conference and was able to rekindle some friendships with some very sweet colleagues I hadn't seen in quite some time. Also ate some amazing east-coast seafood.
We also celebrated our third anniversary on December 9 with a night away at Ross Bridge. Normally we like to take a trip, but since we had been traveling so much we really just needed a low-key celebration that didn't require a flight or multiple hours traveling in the car.
We had one of the most fun New Year's that we have ever celebrated in Atlanta at the home of our dear friends Matt and Amy Bogue. They actually rented craps and blackjack tables and we rang in 2010 after a very fun casino night with some really great people. I think we're definitely going to have to repeat next year. Tons of fun. As you can see, they had a packed house!
January
Turned out our no-travel anniversary trip was a good plan since we were fortunate enough to get tickets to the National Championship and found ourselves in Pasadena on January 7 routing on the Crimson Tide. We had such a great time on the trip, turning it into six days in Southern California visiting some of Robert's distant family in San Diego and San Bernadino, seeing Marshall Brown in Los Angeles, meeting up with several close friends in Pasadena, and enjoying the lovely 70 degree weather. Did I mention we won the national championship? It was certainly a trip to remember. It was a perfect time to travel seeing back in Birmingham we had some of the coldest temps we have had to date this winter. We loved the San Diego Zoo and Little Italy, enjoyed a tour of Stone Brewery, and did some classic sightseeing in LA and Santa Monica.
As I mentioned, the temps in Birmingham have been unusually cold this winter, but it made for the perfect setting for our fourth annual Acoustic Soup. I chaired this fundraising event for VSA arts of Alabama (a local nonprofit) last year, and was glad to pass along the reins to my good friend Katie this year. She and the whole group of Junior Patrons did a fantastic job. We raised the most funds to date with this event. Sixteen Birmingham area restaurants participated, providing a variety of really delicious soups. Most of all, I think we introduced many new folks in Birmingham to VSA arts of Alabama and the wonderful work they do providing opportunities in the arts for adults and children with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Here's the marvelous Katie with our great Board president Michael.
Dyron's Low Country, one of our participating restaurants, is new to Birmingham. I've been meaning to drop by Crestline Village to try it out for quite some time, but after tasting their gumbo at Acoustic Soup, Robert and I have decided we definitely have to pay them a visit. We need to take his parents by the next time they are in town to try Dyron's Charleston-style, coastal seafood. I hear their shrimp and grits bar is amazing!
February
February is young, so there's not too much to report. My baby brother Ryan celebrated his 17th birthday on February 6. I am officially feeling quite old. Here he is with his Christmas/birthday gift of speakers (or maybe it's the amps...I have no idea) for his car. He also made the Clay-Chalkville High School golf team, so we're super proud of him.
Robert's dad returned safely from a trip to Haiti to provide emergency medical care with a disaster response team from the U.S. His health also seems to be improving, for which we are grateful. I haven't had the opportunity to hear all of his stories yet but am so thankful for his willingness to go serve and use his skills and God-given talents to help the Haitian people during such a sad time of disaster. Here's Pop getting his farewell thumbs up from Tallon right before he left. (Bec, thanks for letting me steal this pic from your facebook album.)
My dad gave us a brief scare with an admission to the hospital with chest pains early in January. Turns out his heart is fine but he was having some issues with his acid reflux. He is now doing well. Robert's PaPa also recently had a pacemaker installed but is now home and recovering. We are hoping for an illness-free February with no hospital visits by any family members!!
My brother Kyle is hoping to be a homeowner in the next month. He's got a contract on a home in Bluff Park he plans to remodel, and if all goes well hopefully he will be able to move sometime in March. We are looking forward to having him closer and helping him fix up the house.
I think that's a wrap...oh, I also finished my master's in December, so we are thrilled to both finally be finished with our graduate work. Don't plan to hit the books again anytime soon, but you never know.
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