Ringing in 2010:
2010 brought many milestones...After nine years, my Saturn was nicknamed Ruby on a road trip with Angela (more on that later) and tipped the odometer reading past 100,000 miles. In all her years, she's traveled throughout the Southeast US to the Lone Star State; she's been to the French Quarter; Florida numerous times; and even all the way to Canada, which included stops in Hershey - PA, the Adirondacks, Montreal, Niagara Falls and Ohio.
January. A business trip to Paris. Snow and Paris = uber romantic, but the hubby was at home.
January - March. It Snowed 3 times, which is unusual in the south.
March. Home Renovation. For 3 1/2 years we contemplated a reno on our 1950's bungalow which included gutting exterior walls to add a new kitchen, adding a second bathroom and covering our front porch. After only 2 months and the generosity (which we are eternally thankful for) from our family and friends for letting us stay with them and store our entire items, etc., our home was ready to move back into. Anyone in need of a good contractor, just let us know.
Before...
After...
And in case you wanted to know what the kitchen looked like, when we first moved in, this might explain our deep desire for a new kitchen...
During the renovation...
I managed to squeeze in a road trip via Ruby to Cincinnati with my Chica Angela for Gena's 30th B-day!
Roller skating hasn't been on my to do list in about 20 years...still, I managed to not brake anything, and had a great time celebrating Gena's big 3-0 and engagement.
Me and Angela
Angela, Me, Gena and Mike
I went to Bordeaux for more work related meetings in April. However, you might recall the news headlines at the time, were for a little volcano in Iceland that was disrupting travel all across Northern Europe. Of course the Volcano erupted the day before we were due to head back to the US stranding thousands of travelers including me and my colleagues. On the flip side, we created our own adventure by renting a "mini"-van (remember this is Europe we are talking about) for 5 adults and drove through the south of France (scenery included Chateaus, Wind mills and nuclear power plants, etc.) straight in to Barcelona. We caught a flight out Saturday. Sunday morning the Barcelona airport was closed as the ash cloud had traveled south by then. By far, we were lucky. A one-day delay seems relatively minor for those stranded for a week or more.
April. My second cousin Grayson joined the world.
May. Our neighbors welcomed their baby boy. (Is there a trend going on here?)
June 7, 2010 marked our two year wedding anniversary. It seems like just yesterday....
(Photo by Janet Howard Studio)
June was also a hard time, as we had to say good bye to the beloved Klaus.
The biggest (150 lbs. to be exact) and sweetest Doberman I've ever met.
July. We celebrated my Dad's 60th b-day.
Spent a week long vacation at the beach for some Sun, Sangria, Deep Sea Fishing (sort of...nine miles counts if you ask me), and the Dali Museum in St. Pete.
Fall 2010.
Back to France in October. No volcanoes this time. Thankfully.
Fall Weekend Getaway with Friends and the dogs.
Our pit-mix Juno turned 2.
My 30th Birthday. For the big 3-0, I decided San Francisco and Napa was the destination. 30 isn't so bad. In reality, I feel no different. All the fear I had 6 months earlier faded away (maybe the wine helped), and as cliche as this may sound, I actually feel more comfortable with who I am than when I was 20.
Camping...don't think I actually took photos this year. Oops.
New York City for two weeks.
Thanksgiving in our New Kitchen!
Shanghai, China....In December, I took my first trip across the Pacific Ocean to our offices in Shanghai. It's an amazing city. Modern, expansive, wealthy and has awesome food! Don't believe what you hear; but two words of advice: don't drink the water; and if you don't know what you're eating, don't ask.
Dumplings & Tea-boiled Quail Eggs
Prince William and Kate Middleton finally get engaged. Seriously, who isn't excited about the Royal wedding in 2011!
Christmas. My dreams of a White Christmas finally came true, and 95% of the presents were for our happy dog Juno.
It's been a great year, and I feel blessed to have great friends, family and a loving husband and dog. And now on to 2011...whatever it may hold including this blog.
Happy New Years!
-Mo Vid (aka Melissa)
