2010: It's Over!**

January

We started the year with some goals, most of which we met.  One was to pay off my car and another was to pay cash for the Buergler family Christmas trip to Vieques, PR.  Done and done.  We also spent most of January trying to adjust to our new apartment and new life together. I was back in school taking a Psychology of Learning class and Cultural Diversity in Education class.  I loved both.  My comfort level was challenged and I was able to take a stand on some Religious beliefs in class.  I also joined a running club that prepared me to run a 10k, half marathon, and to complete another triathlon or two.  Eric chaperoned a Life Teen retreat of 80 kids, the largest in Saint Brigid history.

February

Another low key month for us as we continued race training, attending UD Basketball Game watches at Taco Mac, and kicked off Lent.  Eric chaperoned a Jr/Sr retreat for a small group of teens the same weekend I took about 15 middle school kids to the soup kitchen.  We started going to the library more often, and continued to work on our financial goals. We put several trips on the calendar - some of which panned out, while others didn't. My friend Sarah and I started a little blog called Sara & Betty, which went strong until mid-terms and finals hit and Sarah had to travel for work.  RIP, little blog.  Eric and I became regulars at The Fred with our friends Sam, Sarah and Rosemary.  We also met new friends by playing the social networking "game" called Foursquare.  Eric started homebrewing on his own and even held his own at our annual Stouts and Porters blind taste testing party at my aunt and uncles.

March

March began with a BANG!  My family, and by family I mean: Katie, cousin Steven, aunt Keri, Eric and I, did the Georgia Southern Sprint Triathlon.  It was Eric and I's second time doing it and both of us improved our times.  It was 26 degrees, which meant a VERY cold water to bike transition, and an even colder bike ride.  We all did our best and reached our goals! I went on a week long youth minister training trip at Covecrest, and held my friend's hand while she miscarried her first child.  That same week I wrote my ex a long letter, read it to Eric and finally closed the door on all those wounds.  Best feeling in the world.  Eric ran the ING half marathon as part of his racing training.  I did my first over night trip with the middle school kids with the help of my good friend Meghan.

April

April was no snoozefest as we always have plenty to celebrate.  This year was no different.  We started out with our Friend Rosemary's birthday party and later than weekend, Easter.  Eric's birthday was next with a little friendly get-together at Swallow at the Hallow BBQ in old Roswell.  I do believe I blogged about the pie?  We finished out the year with the teens and the middle schoolers.  Always a bitter sweet farewell for the summer.  We rounded out the month by running the Nashville Country Music half (me) marathon (eric).  We met up with family and friends while in town and really enjoyed our stay.  We like Nashville.  And finally...the month concluded with us babysitting my aunts kids for a week as part of our mission trip fundraiser.  

May

There usually isn't enough space on my calendar for May.  (This is why our January and February were purposefully quiet)  May first we hit the ground running.  We saw Mary Poppins at The Fox with the whole Buergler family, and Dan and Leeaan stayed in town for the week to begin the transfer to Atlanta process.  Sarah had her annual Cinco de Mayo party and Amanda came for a 24 spur of the moment visit.  My sister graduated from Georgia Southern.  We hosted the first of many "Parents Night Out", where all the kids go their parents together at the Fred for drinks.  It was a hit.  We also went to Indianapolis for less than 30 hours for a wedding, to meet up with my friend Ashley and to do some site seeing.  The month closed with Screen on the Green, meeting Rosemary's boyfriend, and heading up to Lake Hartwell with Eric's friends for Memorial Day Weekend, a long standing tradition.  Somewhere in there Eric and I did "homemade week" where we hand made EVERYTHING we ate including pasta, granola bars, and beer.  Oh, and Rosemary and I went to the taping of the Atlanta segment for the kick off of Biggest Loser.  Yes, Jillian Michaels told me to "man up".  I almost forgot:  Eric taught himself how to unicycle

June

I finished up training for the Iron Girl and took 40 kids on a mission trip to Chattanooga for a week.  It was our most low-key mission trip to date. Love it.  I also went to Ohio for a long weekend for my 5 year reunion.  I stated in our old room in VWK and drank Beast like it never went out of style.  Eric and I began going to Braves games almost every other week with some friends.  We also put the finishing touches on our mission trip to Nicaragua.  June was only busy because we traveled so much.

July

Amanda came to town a few days before her big trip to Ireland.  So, we went to the Braves game with a group of friends and ran the Peachtree with Sarah. We had a great 4th of July party and I finally met Roe's friend Caitlin.  I feel like I've known her forever.  The next few weeks went by like a tumble weed in the breeze. I had my first summer as co-director of CLI for a week at Emory/Oxford.  Left from there to go to Wisconsin for Eric's Mom's family reunion.  Hooray pools, long runs, beer, and cards! And then less than a week later we were off to Nicaragua for a week of mission work at Mustard Seed Communities.  Eric had a small health scare, but after meeting with a few specialist he was fine.  He just had to lay on his stomach for a week and eat a special diet.  His poor bummy!

August

Oh August.  You always come too soon. This year it especially snuck up on me with three week-long trips and several long-weekend trips.   Despite the pressure to meet my deadlines for the coming school year, we still had time for more Braves games, soup kitchen visits and hang out time with family and friends.  I took two days for R&R at my grandparents cabin and helped Hilary celebrate her 14th birthday.  Eric went on retreat with the Core Team at lake Keowee.  Weekend at Church were back in full swing.  Dan and Leeann were officially moved back to Atlanta and we cleaned out our joint storage unit.  Eric dominated the Craig's List selling, which helped us meet our financial goals on time.

September

There is nothing I love more than having one last summer weekend and having it go out with a bang.  Labor day weekend was full of sundresses, Sweetwater tours, Shooting the Hooch and cabin time.  It was great to celebrate summer with family and friends.  While it seemed busy, it was nice to relax and do stuff for us - especially after so many trips with the teens over the summer.  Two days after I kicked off the school year with my middle school kids, Katie and I drove to Dayton to surprise my cousin for her 21st birthday.  I loved being a college kids for a day.  My grandparents were also there, and I've always loved being in their home town with them.  Sarah, Rosemary, Katie and I joined a bocce league that played on Wednesday nights in Peidmont Park.  Eric was tied up with meetings so a regular girls night was perfect.  Eric took the freshman on retreat.  I celebrated the big 2-8.  My dad taught me how to make homemade raviolis. 

October

To no surprise October marks the beginning of the really really really busy weekends, and the first weekend in Oct was no different. My college friend married Eric's high school aquaintence, and we finished the day with Bobby Cox's retirement game AND a Notre Dame game watch party (yes, most of our weekends sound like a scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off).  And then my friend Kat came in the next day to help teach classes for me on Sunday!  The weeks continued with trips to the Fred, Bocce games (even a tournament!), and another Braves Game.  Eric and I celebrated our One Year Anniversary with a backpacking trip, Mass, and a fancy dinner & hotel in downtown Atlanta.  The best of both worlds.  Before the month was out, we went to South Carolina for a long weekend with the Buergler clan to visit Eric's great aunt and uncle, followed by a Confirmation retreat over Halloween weekend.  We had a well known couple at our parish pass away in a plane crash. This marked the first 2 of 4 deaths in our parish.  

November

The first weekend in November was the second Confirmation retreat weekend.  I had a short break before Confirmation Mass later in the month, so I filled the remaining weekends with Habitat builds and another Parents Night Out (really it was my parents, Eric's parents, and Sam's Dad...and a bunch of kids!).  We continued homebrewing and even had our beer tasting party group over to help with the bottling stage of another home brew.  David and Paige found out they were expecting and immediately came to Atlanta for a visit! I went black friday shopping with the Buergler ladies, and this year my mom and sister came too.  We bought lots of boots. Thanksgiving was at home this year with all of my family. Alex won the lottery over the summer and treated us to a Falcons game, complete with tailgate & tshirts.

December

Sam kicked off the month with his 4th annual Gingerbread Man party.  He and my sister are kind of together.  It's really cute.  We drove to North Carolina with the Buerglers to cut down Christmas trees.  In the same day we found out one of our teen alums was killed in a car accident and that my MIL has some health complications. And for some reason we took the Buergler family Christmas card picture in the middle off all the bad news.  In one day I threw a baby shower, went to a funeral, went to my cousin Ashley's 7th birthday party and then on to Sam's 26th birthday party.  Talk about a roller coaster day.  Just as I thought the years was coming to a nice little close, my pastor and boss passed away from complications of leukemia, so I spent my last week of work helping set up for the funeral.  Christmas was tricky for us this year as my emotions were exhausted and our wallets thin, but we paid off our car and celebrated the birth of Christ with a truly hopeful heart.  My nephew Connor was truly my shinning star this year.  His excitement for family and Christmas helped me remember the child like faith, hope and joy that really is the Christmas spirit. As 2010 comes to an end, we spent a week in Vieques Island in Puerto Rico with the Buergler family.

**To fully understand the title, please watch Teen Girl Squad (this is my favorite episode)