Walk Good

Love the life you live, live the life you love.  –Bob Marley

Recently I’ve been faced with writer’s block.  The emotions of the holidays took me by surprise, hit me hard and left me tired and restless.   Facing the New Year is the last of my daunting celebratory challenges.  Many of my close friends and family have commented that they are happy to see 2010 come to an end.  They’ve described this year as the worst of their life.  You’d think that of anyone, I would agree with this sentiment, but I think it’s imperative to remember that 2010 was simply fantastic right up until it wasn’t.  Many amazing things have come out of this year and like everything else Ryan and I shared, I don’t want to overlook or lose any of it.  Through reflection I’ve recounted my year and remembered that in 2010 Ryan and I:

Dug our toes in the sands of Negril

Drank yard bongs in Las Vegas

Celebrated our five year anniversary

Spent a week in Galena, IL loving each other and discovering our new favorite town

Adopted a clumsy, hungry kitten

Finished redoing the exterior of our house - a 2 year project

Built our dream country kitchen

Cooked live lobsters

Camped with friends

Camped with family

Shared our Galena with both sets of parents

Had a very successful driveway sale

Spent countless evenings sipping wine on our front porch

Spent a fun filled week chasing each other around the house trying to get pregnant

Got pregnant!

Kept pregnancy a secret for exactly 15 hours

Ryan was promoted to ICU

Ryan won a national award of nursing excellence

I discovered I LOVE teaching older kids

Played on a volleyball team that actually won sometimes

Ryan invented and perfected his Bear Claw Volleyball hit

Bought a new couch, rug, entertainment center and secretary

Bought the mission style bedroom furniture we’d been dreaming about

Took our dogs for countless walks through 4 unique and beautiful seasons

Enjoyed a very warm spring

Took naps in the sunny and warm backyard

Built a snowman

Laughed while shoveling Thunder Snow

Saw two dear friends get married

Welcomed 3 new babies into our lives…

This is only a taste of the happiness 2010 brought to us; the list could go on forever.  Every day was littered with happy nuances, small moments of light that shined through our hearts.  I wouldn’t trade these memories for anything and I do not wish 2010 a negative adieu nor do I perceive it as a year I’d rather forget.  Instead, I recognize it as the last year I spent with the man of my dreams, the husband I adored.  I see it as a piece of Ryan and I’s puzzle, a piece that although important, was not extraordinary, but instead just a happy, genuine piece of a happy, genuine life.  If we can learn anything from this tragedy, let’s remember this:  Love the life you live, live the life you love.  Don’t wait for tomorrow, do it now, walk good.

Our House

Nutrition Break in Galena

Bear Claw!

Country Kitchen

Negril