Catch-Up

I feel like this is all I have been doing lately - playing catch up. My last posts on here were from before I began school for the semester ... and sadly, I didn't stay as balanced as I would have liked. So much has happened between then and now; and through it all, I must admit that I have been doing some soul-searching thinking and will hopefully eventually be able to write this all out. My catch up process may take a few blog entries ... so please bear with me. Most of you reading this stay sort of up to date with me on facebook, so I won't spend a whole lot of time in the small details ... until I get to the soul-searching that has been neglected from the pages of Facebook.

AUGUST
I had found balance in my life and felt confident to pursue another semester in my career as a student. I decided that I would not be over ambitious, and so I only took 2 classes - 5 credit hours. It was a wonderful decision, anymore and I very possibly would have crashed and burned - again.

SEPTEMBER
Busy busy month!!
Schooooool ...
Key events from this month:

Zoo Trip
September 19, 2009

The weekend of Carissa's birthday we made a trip to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. A group from our church went, but it was very exciting for Carissa's first trip to the zoo to be two days before she turned One!! :)
She thoroughly enjoyed looking at the animals. Anything that had wings and a beak/bill was called a "duck" ... she growled at the bears and lions. But I think her favorite were the baboons. She was very excited about them.
It was a great day and I can't wait to take her again. I say it would be a great tradition to start taking her every year around her birthday :)

Carissa's First Birthday
September 21, 2009

What an exciting time!! Our baby girl hit the big milestone of hitting one year of age. Wow time flies. It has been a very exciting year and we've loved every minute of having this precious child in our lives. Celebrating her birthday was the perfect opportunity to celebrate her life and what she means to us. She has changed our lives so much, but has made our lives so much better. I would never ask for things to have been any different. Celebrating her life makes me so satisfied, content, and extremely happy to be a mom. God blessed us so much when He began forming this little life inside of me and He continues to bless us every day with the opportunity, responsibility, and joys of teaching this little girl and watching her grow into a beautiful, happy, smart little girl.
The day before her birthday we had a low-key party at the park down the street. A couple of her little friends - Kaelyn and Charlie - came and their families, and then family members. The very special part of her party was that she had her Great-Great-Grandmother there, two of her Great Grandmothers, and one of her Grandmothers there. There are not many people who can say they had that many "Greats" at their first birthday party. All in all it was a great day!

Our Big News
September 28, 2009

Most who follow my blog are already aware of this news, but there is no way I can leave this out of my recap of my busy busy month! After a wonderful week celebrating the life of our precious Carissa, we were blessed with the wonderful news that we will be blessed again with a second child. Our Carissa will be a big sister! What a great way to end our busy busy month! We are extremely excited as we anticipate the arrival of our second bundle of joy.

OCTOBER
Full of school work, school work and more school work.

We had our Trunk or Treat at church this month. Was a lot of fun. Carissa was a pirate ... I was a clown and did balloon animals for all the kids. While I thoroughly enjoyed my time, I would have loved to have been able to enjoy it with Carissa more.

NOVEMBER
Schooooool ...
Highlights:

My 24th birthday
November 24, 2009

I am now officially in my mid-twenties! Wow. A few days before my birthday, I received my early birthday present from David and Carissa - my brand new camera! :) I knew I was getting it because David dropped and broke my old one. The night before my birthday I took a break in my homework and had a birthday dinner with my two favorite people at Ruby Tuesday. The day of my birthday I spent the day playing with Carissa and my friend's little girl, Kaelyn, finishing my book review, and going to class.

Thanksgiving
November 26, 2009

Due to David's wonderful job in the world of retail, we left for Virginia Wednesday late afternoon. We spent the night at David's parents' house, and enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving lunch with family. That night, David left to head back home :( so he could be at work dark-early Black Friday morning. Carissa and I remained in Virginia to spend another couple days with his family. Carissa, David's dad, and I slept in Black Friday while David's mom and Sarah, his brother's girlfriend, woke up at dark-early to go shopping. We met them around 10:30 for brunch did a little shopping at Toys R Us, but that was really the extent of shopping for me. That evening we went to David's cousin's house for a "Day After Thanksgiving Dinner." And then that Saturday, David's mom brought us home.

DECEMBER
Finals in school ....

Deck the Halls
Getting ready for Christmas.

Since the end of school, my days have been spent
cleaning, laundry, cooking, decorating, shopping, and of course being Mommy.
Essentially, now that school is over I've been catching up on my life.
Now that you have been caught up on the highlights,
I will get around to writing more thought specific blogs.