The Bathrooms are Done!!!

So we had a productive year house project wise in 2009 - but the most exciting was finishing the upstairs bathroom! This is what we started with:

A Plethora of Pink from Floor to CEILING

This is how we made it our own:

Notice Tom's Tiling Job

A Jacuzzi Tub!

And Double Sinks

Top 9 in 2009

9. Seeing our first real movie in 3D at the IMAX - Harry Potter for my birthday. (The 4D movie at the aquarium during the reunion was pretty awesome too.)

8. The Blizzard of 2009 - We got 21 inches of snow in less than 24 hours!

7. Church wise - This was the first year I haven't been at Girl's Camp the entire week in 7 years. I also got to go to the temple with a sister I visit taught a while ago for her first time.

6. Health - We had the pleasure of learning all about health insurance this year. I started the year off with an amazingly itchy rash all over my body that got me two weeks off of work, an inconclusive biopsy, and prednisone to control the itching. Tom had his second bought of kidney stones (the first one was 10 years ago on his mission). We ended up in the ER for a day finding out that Tom has two kidney stones - which he is still waiting to pass.

5. Finally getting an oven back - this was so exciting after not having one for almost a year - it meant we could make those fresh apple pies again!

4. Travel - We love to travel whether it's a day trip or long extended trip - so a lot of the highlights of our year had to do with exploring the area around us.

• I got to go to San Antonio to see Dave graduate from Air Force Basic Training. The best part of the trip for me was seeing a happy, confident and loving Dave. It was also good to see Dave who couldn't get enough sugar and kept making himself sick since he hadn't had any real treats in several months and wouldn't get any for several more. So Dave is still Dave just happier, more determined, and totally athletic!
• Even though we live so close to DC we hardly ever go. But we were determined to make it this year to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. We've never seen it looking so beautiful! We went to the Jefferson Memorial on the banks of the Potomac River for the first time and got to see DC from a whole new vantage point.
• For our seventh anniversary we went to New York City which is one of our favorite places in the world. We went to the MET for the first time which was awesome. We've never enjoyed museums much but they had such a wide variety of interesting things that we spent most of the day there. We ended the day by wandering around the city and enjoying seeing signs of spring and having Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity.
• In May I went to Charlottesville, VA for a 10 year roommate reunion. I cant' believe where the time has gone but it was so much fun to get together again like no time had passed.
• For my birthday we went to Fort McHenry in Baltimore's Inner Harbor where the Star Spangled Banner was written.
• In the early fall one of my college roommates called me to see if I wanted to go kayaking on the Potomac River in DC. I was so excited! I used to love kayaking in high school and haven't made time to do it since. We had so much fun and it was an amazing way to see DC!
• In the fall a few weeks after our New England trip we made our annual trek to Lancaster, PA. We love going to Lancaster to see the Amish, drive through the country side, and stock up on all our fall supplies like 20 different types of pumpkins and homegrown apples for fresh made apple pie!

3. I know travel was the one above but our fall trip to New England was so amazing that it gets it's own number. We traveled through 11 states in 10 days and loved every minute of it! We saw amazing views for miles with leaves changing colors in hues that are hard to imagine. We finally got to try some favorite foods in the places that they originated - like Maine Lobstah, Boston Cream Pie, Legal Seafood, Ben and Jerry's, Cabot Cheese, and Lobstah Rolls. There were signs of fall all over as we traveled through New England so we really got to enjoy our favorite time of year.

2. House - We finally got a lot done this year and are so excited about the results!

Finishing the Bathrooms was the most exciting. We went from 1.5 old scary baths to 2 full baths - new and beautiful. It's been a long time coming and we got a lot of other projects done in the process of finishing the bathrooms like new plumbing and electrical throughout the house, cutting down the 110 foot dead oak tree in the backyard, and painting the house and repairing the porch. Now our newest project is the kitchen. It's gutted and ready for it's new parts! I cant' wait for that to be done!

1. Family Reunion at our house - this has to be our favorite thing of the year. It was so much fun to have a house full of people! We really missed everyone when they left. We were glad that Matt and Cassandra came early and Shawnie and her family stayed late - it really was nice to have so many people here for so long! It was great to get to see everyone again, catch up and make more new memories together. My favorite memories were trying so hard to meet up with Shawnie in New York City and finally bumping into each other at Serendipity (how serendipitous!) =), and spending time with everyone on Sunday after church.

Worst Product of the Year Award

BYU Cougars Insulated Wine Cooler

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