Rewind: 2012

January

I had a plan in my head, leading me to honestly believe that we would receive multiple offers and a decision about Adam’s doctoral program during the month of January. HA! During the year 2012, I provided our Lord with a tremendous amount of comic relief.  I will admit that during the month of January, I struggled to look past the perceived lack of divine intervention. Jesus knows I love to plan.  

February

I wish I could say that we had a romantic first Valentine’s Day, but I remember spending the evening at 14-year-old volleyball practice and Adam had high school musical rehearsal until 10:00. Honestly, I do not remember much of January, February, or March-other than my desperation to know God’s plan. I do remember Adam spent the better part of February and March trying to convince me that we needed another dog.

March

March was much more exciting. My friend’s husband came home safely from over a year in Afghanistan. With incredible calm and confidence, my teaching partner performed the Heimlich on a seventh grader. Adam turned 27 and we celebrated with couple’s massages and sushi in Denver.

April

April was a big month. Adam decided on Wisconsin. I would love to be the humble, submissive wife, but in this case, submissive is all we are going to get. Adam received offers from Wisconsin and Nebraska. Wisconsin ties the culture of the city, the beauty of the country, and the romance of the Midwest into a thirty-minute drive. Nebraska is eight hours away from Loveland. From my parent’s front porch, Nebraska clearly wins.  But I submitted. Holy Moses did I submit. Jesus rewarded us as Wisconsin is tremendous. Adam is part of a distinguished program, I have a wonderful job, and we own a condo with, as my Dad would say, “a water view.”

Adam, Mickey, and I went on our first road trip. We celebrated my cousin’s marriage and were able to spend time with family we had not seen since our wedding. While we were in Michigan, Noah, the cutest kid on the planet, made his entrance.

May

I actually got to meet my nephew and I feel in love. I remember my astonishment at how tiny he was when I first held him in the airport.

On a sad note, I said goodbye to the greatest group of 7^th and 8^th grade students. I am sure that my feelings were directly related to the fact that I got to teach great material and I finally felt like I had my act together with four years of teaching tools, but I really loved that group and it was tremendously difficult to say goodbye. Never had I felt so loved by a group of kids.

June

I remember packing. I remember applying for jobs. I remember cleaning on a daily basis to keep up with the showings.

July

Adam and I made our second trip to Madison and made an offer on a horrible decision. On a whim, I dropped my resume off at what would be my new high school. I embraced the idea of Madison and we went sightseeing at the Madison Conservatory and the Madison Botanical Gardens.

Adam and I celebrated our first year of marriage by going to On the Border. We both ordered fancy drinks and reminisced about our rehearsal dinner.

My gracious Mom and I drove out to Wisconsin for my interview. I was offered the job that day. I’m pretty sure that I smiled for the rest of July.

August

On August 10, we spent our last night in our first house. Since everything was packed except our furniture, we enjoyed a bottle of wine in plastic cups with carry-out Chinese.

On August 13 we officially sold 707, making us semi-homeless. On August 15 we became genuinely homeless when we pulled our offer on the horrible decision.  The shining point of August is due to our new Wisconsin friends, their baby girl, and their two pups. God bless our Wisconsin friends.

September

Adam and I started our new jobs from a hotel room. We closed on our new, Jesus-saved-our-unwise tails house. Our parents arrived with a yellow Penske truck filled with our belongings which we unload in less than two hours in 75% humidity. That night my parents, my in-laws, my husband, and I enjoyed our first Wisconsin fish fry.

October

Adam and I carved pumpkins in our new house. We had our pictures taken by another one of our new Wisconsin friends. Adam still wanted another dog.

Fall photos taken in downtown Madison

November

Our dating anniversary (19^th) and my birthday (20^th) fell on the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving break and Adam nailed it this year. We went to a restaurant down the street from the house (perfect as I was exhausted from the high schoolers) where the waitress brought the both of us free birthday shots tasting very much like grownup caramel ice cream. My birthday present consisted of a 150 year old book that Adam tracked down about President Lincoln, my most recent historical interest. We then rented Disney’s “Brave” which we watched from our bed because let’s face it, the ice cream shot just about did me in.

Adam really wanted "official" Wisconsin Cheese Curds

December

Adam, Mickey, and I drove to Colorado for Christmas with our families. It was white, wonderful, but rushed. We were able to witness our nephew’s first moves as a crawler. On the 30^th, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Wisconsin. We celebrated New Year’s Eve by going to sleep at nine. We celebrated New Year’s Day with laundry, which is still better than 2011…sick and in bed at 8:00. 2013-We might make it to midnight.

My Dad and his Grandson

Adam and his Dad