i bid thee farewell, 2008.

(note: every story mentioned is a direct link to back the original blog entry. so you if haven't been a reader for the whole year, you can click on the orange words to read the backstory)

it's been a wonderful year full of twists and turns and lots of unexpected. much growth, more understanding, a pinch more patience and an increased understanding of who i am and what i stand for. thank goodness i take time to blog or i'd most likely only remember three major things from the year.

i'm not as anxious to escort the year out as i was when i said Goodbye 2007. boy that year was a doozy.

and after compiling the review for 2008, i could easily say the same thing of 2008, but really, somehow, it wasn't so bad. i'm thankful to be able to say that i gave up my control issues a little more frequently and allowed the Lord to carry me just a little bit more often. it's a good feeling knowing that i finally, after 31 years, learned to let go. i really didn't bear the burden, of all that 2008 had to dish my way, alone.

because of that, the stresses of the year weren't as heavy of a weight on my shoulders. i do believe that i spent many less days grieving and being depressed and even laughed until my gut hurt way more often than i have in the past. the sun seems to be shining just a bit brighter.

it was a good year. especially when i can say that i am no longer controlled by how many things i accomplish on my to-do lists. seeing how i made this one the first of the year and can only mark but a few things off as completed. and i'm okay with that.

we started the year with ashlyn stuck on repeat during prayertime at every meal. sometime during the year she quit saying that prayer. she turned SIX and we celebrated with a PINK party. then, we survived a couple more ear infections and dealing with this grumpy face way more than i dare to count.

stacey kingman gave me an excuse when she coined this brilliant quote. obviously, i still struggled with balancing everyday life and all that comes with it. mostly when i was down for the count in too much pain from the bulging discs in my back.

and who can forget the Blizzard of '08 and the 21" of snow in less than 2 days? oh, and then ashlyn lost her first tooth, and second, and third........and seventh---just yesterday! she also learned to read and has it mastered now, reading at a third grade level. emma has now survived many months without eating grilled cheese & chicken noodle soup for every.single.meal. who woulda thunk it was possible?

of course, then we all muddled through a week or so with strep. i decided to enter the scrapbooking hall of fame and then proceeded to not get a phone call proclaiming i was a winner. we faked ashlyn into sleeping in her own room for three whole days. dang that kid and her sleep issues. we have so many battles with her that honestly this one isn't worth fighting right now. i'm sure i say that every year.

we certainly can't forget trying to catch the tooth fairy by the wing, now, can we? we buried Goldie. and pretended to live on this farm. marketing ploys are caught red-handed. and grammy and papa at the beach visited a couple times. emma failed at catching big grammy with the butterfly net. it could of been the rainboots holding her back.

i finally got some answers about my racing heart, and realized i'll most likely be on medication for it for the rest of my life. i went caffiene-free and kicked chocolate to the curbed April 15th. i also realized that the world keeps on going even when you want it to just stand still for a moment.

and that doug. he's awesome at pulling pranks and dishing out paybacks for pranks pulled on him.

then, i went and turned another year older. and also learned you can't pick cucumbers while on your period.....say what!? grandma says so, so it must be true. and doug and i somehow made it to the 13 years of marriage mark. quite impressive. heh. i love that boy.

i practically had a nervous breakdown from the stress and waiting for results from my 30-day heart monitor. turns out it was all for naught, and surgery wasn't the answer. but watching two weeks of Michael Phelps make history at the 2008 Olympics was just the rest i needed.

shortly after, ashlyn started school as a kindergartener. our status in america bordered on "redneck" after ashlyn took first place in a kiddie tractor pull competition. then daddy got beat up by the fiesty tooth fairy.

Hurricane Ike rendered us without power for 5 days in a row. biopsies were taken from a growth on ashlyn's leg. then ashlyn skipped an entire year of eduation overnight when she was accelerated to first grade.

i documented an entire week of our life in words + photos.

it seemed like an eternity went by before we got the biopsy results. the day after was surgery for emma. and somewhere in there, i had an epiphany.

in november, i took a risk and contacted debbiehodge.com in hopes to starting teaching again, but this time online. it was an immediate "yes" and i was excited to see the announcement.

i tried once again to explain ashlyn's sensory disorder. and i made a pretty kick-butt spiderman cake that made one little girl in this house SO very happy. my little "mini-me" turned FOUR!

found a christmas list in my studio by ashlyn and thought it might be proof of why i'm in need of therapy.

phew. it was such a FULL, busy, exhausting, yet thrilling year. but somehow it seems like just yesterday that i was saying Goodbye to 2007. time is flying by way too fast.