2010 in Review

(Warning: LONG POST!)
What a year this has been! I knew it had been busy and crazy at times, but when I actually sat down and took an inventory of what happened this year even I'm surprised! Of course, I can't include everything but here is some of what went on in our world this year:
(Remember, you can click on the highlighted links to take you to the posts I've previously done or click on the pictures to make them larger)
Brave Girls:

What an experience this was. Something my soul so desperately needed - time to be still, time to think, and time to meet a group of amazing, like-minded women. I came back from Idaho with a new perspective and new friends.
At Brave Girls I met Rachel - and what a great year we've had! We signed up and traveled to multiple crafty venues this year. Looking forward to more in 2011!

Mary Englebreit Conference:

I traveled to St. Louis where I met up with Rachel and met her sweet friend Kara. We had such a fun time together on this trip! Creating, eating, sharing stories. It was great!

Craft Room Organization (Almost):

In 2010 I wanted to get my craft room in shape. At one point early in the year I literally couldn't walk around in there. I hired a personal organizer to come help me because yes, I was *that* overwhelmed with what I was facing. The organizer came and we worked for several days sorting, purging, planning - and things were coming along pretty well. However, I think I totally overwhelmed her because she had a minor accident on her bike and needed to take a break until she healed. I've tried to contact her and haven't heard another word. Guess I'm on my own to finish. I'm GOING TO COMPLETE this project in 2011. When I do, I will post before pictures (they will remind you of Hoarders) and afters. It's going to be good!
I left my consulting gig. Yep ~ unemployed. I had been feeling that it was time to move on but that is always a scary proposition especially when you don't know what is next. I took a leap of faith and decided I would take a month off and figure out what I would do after our trip. Well - a month has now turned into 7 months and I'm praying for work in the new year. No regrets though as to leaving - it was definitely time.

Our trip of a lifetime to Rome:

What a time we had!

I loved that Doug enjoyed himself so much on that trip. I did too but it made it even better for me that he loved Rome!

We ate and drank and totally absorbed the Italian culture. The food ruined us for food back home. Everything in Rome is so fresh and so flavorful and simple! We got home to tasteless garbage. What a bummer!
We took a trip back East that got cut short. While in NYC, before we could see my family in Connecticut, we got word that Doug's mom was very sick and we needed to get home right away. It wasn't good.
In September, we lost Doug's Mom. We miss you Carol...

Creative Connection:
Another *amazing* event! Rachel and I signed up for this one and could barely wait to attend! We can't wait for the announcement of the dates for 2011 because we are all over it!

What a surprise for us when we ran into our fellow Brave Girls Melody and Margie.

I went to Las Vegas for Inspiration Unlimited. It was my first trip ever to Vegas and I didn't really even get to see anything! I went straight to the hotel and attended the scrappy conference. I met some really nice ladies there and clicked with Collette (not pictured). I enjoyed the projects although, like usual I didn't get to finish them. Overall though, honestly, I didn't enjoy the event itself. The people were "different" - no where near as friendly as the women I've met at Mary Englebreit, Creative Connection and Silver Bella.

Silver Bella - This was my first year to attend and definitely NOT my last. I drove to Omaha and roomed with Rachel. Met some new friends, saw some "old" friends and took a handful of fun classes. Again - didn't get much completed but had such fun. That is what matters, right?

Just back from Omaha, Doug and I made the trip to Connecticut to meet my sweet new nephew Joao (pictured below). During our whirlwind trip we took a day trip to New York with Bobby & Jess.

We also had a baby shower for my sister January during that visit. It was a quick trip but so great to finally see my family - especially since the trip in August didn't quite work out.
We got to meet Baby Joao. I love my sweet nephew!

The day after Christmas Baby Garrett was born to my sister January. Can't wait to get to meet him!

Looking forward to a great 2011 - Happy New Year Everyone!

Last Pictures of Rome

This is the last set of pictures I'm going to share of our trip to Rome. I know, I know - you want to see *ALL* 800 or so pictures *plus* the video clips we took but it would take me forever to upload all of that. So enjoy these final pics and my next post will be about something new.
Checking the map (once again) - I was continually reviewing our map and the guidebooks - always wanting to be sure we were where we thought we were and making sure we weren't missing anything along the way.

This is one of the Domes inside St. Peter's Basilica. It is in the foyer with Michaelangelo's Piety sculpture. The scale of this place is absolutely amazing and as always pictures just cannot do it justice.

Looking back on Hadrian's castle also known as Castel Sant'Angelo beyond the Tibere river.

Doug is standing just inside the entry of the Colosseum. Just enormous - How on earth did they build stuff like this way back then? I mean, now we have cranes and modern technology. Unbelievable.

Pretty good picture of us inside the Coloesseum that we took using the timer on our little camera. Not bad!

This is the Arch of Constantine which is right next to the Colosseum. Used to be that you could walk up to it and around it but now it is fenced off. Looks like it is slowly crumbling and is probably too dangerous to allow people too near it. Again - the scale is massive. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see that I am standing in front of a pillar that is in front of the arch.

The Italians are wonderful people. Everyone so friendly and gracious and helpful. The only time we had any trouble in Rome, and it wasn't trouble really, was with the foreigner's from one of the middle eastern countries. I don't mean to offend anyone - I'm just not good at pinpointing where people are from nor am I the most politically correct, so it is just my perception of who these people were. Anyway: At the Spanish Steps, every night these people were trying to unload roses on all the tourists. We eventually learned that as long as you didn't make eye contact with them and kept walking and saying "No thank you!", you could avoid them. When we were riding around town on the double decker bus at each of the stops some of these men were also trying to sell the little parasol umbrellas to shield from the heat. At one stop they were particularly aggressive so Doug took a picture of them to remember how funny it was. The more we ignored them, the louder they were yelling. I think they got angry when Doug started taking photos of them.
They were yelling: "HELLO UMBRELLA! BELLA! HELLO! HELLO UMBRELLA!" Over and over and over again each time getting louder. Annoying at the time but funny now that we are thinking back on it.

Rome was awesome and I would absolutely recommend it as a must place to see.

More Rome Pics

Beautiful doorways all around Rome

My handsome husband - he looks good! He looks real good!

The Italian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Enjoying a lovely pastry on the backside of the Spanish Steps. The beauty of this place is just amazing...

The Trevi Fountain. Very hard to get good pictures here because of the crowds. The fountain itself is huge and is kind of wedged in between several streets.

Knock, knock! Is anybody home?