wrapping it up!

it's hard catching up! I haven't written since October....it's been a tremendously busy 3.5 months. That's the last time I posted and 'blogging' wasn't on my priority list. Although, it should be....it helps. Helps me clear my mind, put my thoughts into words and mostly share a little bit of my life with those who care to read about it :)

I was happy to wrap up 2010. It was a good year with all the ups & downs every family has, but only few admit they have ;) In January, we enjoyed a fabulous winter vacation in the mountains where it snowed for days...ran a couple 5ks, a half-marathon, completed my 1st Duathlon, ran a marathon AND became pregnant ALL in February (yes, a busy month)....In April, we found a new, bigger home that we absolutely love and feel so extremely blessed to have found, was proud to be a part of another successful Project Bailee, spent most of the spring & summer in Boca Grande, which included Evan's 5th birthday celebration, our 4 year anniversary and a wonderful Mother's Day :) Evan started Kindergarten in August and became quite the little golfer! In October, we moved into our home and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. We celebrated Thanksgiving at home this year for the 1st time in 8 years, but it was very nice & quiet :) The kids had a fabulous Christmas & we were all grateful to be with family. We packed our bags after Christmas and decided on a spur of the moment trip to somewhere! We ended up in Gatlinburg & back via Savannah & Atlanta. It was the 1st time the 5 of us had a vacation together....just us, the "Party of 5". A fantastic way to end my 2010.

Now, there were some not-so-fabulous times as well. In April, Scott was in an accident involving him, the lake and an inter tube. It was ugly. He ended up with a large (very large) hematoma on his liver. He spent a week at LRMC. At 20 weeks pregnant, we found out our baby was going to need surgery immediately following birth. We managed to keep this confidential until she was 2 days old. She had a surgery that involved correcting a blockage in her intestine that protruded through her umbilical cord and removing her appendix. We spent 3 weeks at All Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House and we will forever be grateful for the doctors, surgeons and NICU nurses who took care of our sweet Eastyn. Trying to explain how I felt for the remaining 17 weeks of pregnancy and those 3 that followed is well....unexplainable. Now, to mention having to miss the entire FSU football season for the 1st time in 15 years would be awful to say, but I'm human. It sucked missing them...all of them! BUT, I did feel better every time I held Eastyn close to me. Our reason for missing them were...well...acceptable! Scott also missed the entire hunting season (oh darn ~ a few less deer were killed). I know he thought about Georgia a 'few' times and wished he was there instead of hearing me complain about why I wasn't losing weight quick enough and waking up every 2-3 hours during the night to a crying baby. Again, well worth it! Oh & this beautiful new home we moved into, took 6 months to close, so we were forced to live miserably out of boxes for..yes, almost 6 months! Managing to keep normalcy in Evan's life was a struggle during all of this. He did wonderful, though - thanks to my parents! We all did wonderful, thanks to many, many thoughts & prayers! Of course, this doesn't explain the other personal, mental and physical struggles I endured, but you get the picture!

Somehow, here we are in 2011.....starting a new year with a new Newell, a new home and a new outlook on life. One that may not include as much complaining about those little things that just doesn't mean all that much! I don't make 'NY Resolutions'..that's so annoyingly commercialized. I do, make goals, though! Recycle more, read more, work more, play more, sleep more, run more, spend less, complain less, gripe less, stress less! I'm always thankful for the opportunity to stay home with my babies and squeezing in a few weddings and events throughout the years is always fun! That's my escape....from reality.

Speaking of an escape from reality...running....is still my passion. 5 weeks after Eastyn was born, I started running again. I struggled, yes - I'm still struggling. SO very hard for me to believe I ran a 1:52 half marathon and 4:05 marathon just a short year ago! (yes, gotta throw the times out there, 'cause I'm still PROUD!) I'm soooo far away from that now. My goal is to run 4 half marathons this year and a full. I would LOVE to run Chicago and have already put that on my "wish list" for '11 :) A sub 4 would be nice, but I know a bit unrealistic for a while....I signed up for the Breast Cancer 3-Day in San Diego this year and really looking forward to that experience once again! Lots of plans and lots of preparing!

As I type this, I hear a little baby girl waking up.....what a great way to "wrap up" this blog entry :) Good Bye 2010, Hello Twenty-Eleven!!! BRING IT!!!