2011 in a nutshell.

When I think back of where we were this time, last year, it seems like forever ago. We were living in North Carolina with intentions of being there for the next 3 years. I remember this day, last year because it was a bad one. I woke up and was going to head out to work and when I walked outside, I saw that our quad was not in the back of our truck, where it had been the night before. Somebody came and stole it from us and it was not a happy day. We never got it back. But enough about that. I'm doing a recap of the year for you, and mostly for me so I can look back and see everything we have been through this year!

January: Corey being home from deployment, was still very new to us so we were really just enjoying being with each other. I was working at General Jackson's outside of Fort Bragg, while Corey was doing his regular stateside duties for the Army. We also went and saw the Monster Trucks at the Coliseum with Dylan and Amanda!

February: We celebrated our 2nd Anniversary on Feb. 24th. We also suprised everyone with an unexpected trip home to Michigan to visit family and go to our nephew's baby shower.

March: March 5- Our godson Trenton turned 1. March 10- Madison Sky Rowden was born to Chris & Kari. Kari is like my sister, so we call Madison our niece. March 20- Jaxson Scott Spencer was born. Our first nephew! We were so proud to be an Aunt and Uncle for the first time. We haven't got to see him as much as we wanted to, especially Corey, but when we are back for good we cant wait to spoil him and be his favorite Aunt & Uncle! :) We went down and visited our friends Jenn & Landon at Camp LeJeune, while Raymond was deployed, and they came and visited us for a weekend too. We made our last few trips to the ocean, and said our goodbyes to the amazing friends we made at Fort Bragg.

April: April 2nd is when we had our whole house packed up and left Fort Bragg for the last time! We made our 37 hour journey to our new "home" El Paso. We got to stop in Atlanta to see Uncle Kal for a couple days, and Baton Rouge, LA and San Antonio, TX (which we fell in love with!) When we made it to EP, we began our near impossible house search, but we found a house that we loved and moved in at the end of April.

May: We spent most of May getting our house together and decorating the place. We had never had a yard before so we laid a patio and got some outdoor furniture, but if you've ever spent a summer in El Paso, you know we didn't spend much time out there. It was waaaay too hot. We also spent the month exploring our new city. Living in El Paso is SO different than living out in the country in Delton. At the end of May, I turned 21!

June: For the whole month of June, Corey had to go to California for NTC training. So, I got to come home for a few weeks. I met up in Arizona with Kari and Madison (who I was meeting for the first time!) and we flew to the mitten together. I spent my time in Michigan celebrating my birthday for about 2 weeks straight :) As soon as I got back home to El Paso, Andy, Angie and 3 month old Jaxson came down for a visit. Although Jaxson got elevation sickness and was cranky pretty much the whole week, and they came the hottest week of the summer, we still had fun. There is not much to do in El Paso when its 120 degrees all week, with a 3 month old.

July: Corey came home from California! We celebrated the 4th of July with cookouts, baseball and fireworks. We went to Biggs Park and watched fireworks with our friends Wil, Rachel and their daughter Rylee. Corey's platoon and their families all got together and went to watch EP's minor league baseball team. I think we had more fun tailgaiting in the parking lot before hand. Then Corey turned 21 on the last day of July. Just as we flew back to Michigan for block leave.

August: We spent the first 2 weeks of August in Michigan spending time with friends and family. Lots of time at the bar. It seemed like everyone was turning 21 at the time!  When we got back to Texas, we got a couple friends together and drove up to Elephant Butte State Park in New Mexico. Its the closest body of water to us, 2 hours away. We floated in tubes down the Rio Grande and then spent the night in a cabin on the lake.

September: I was dreading September to come since we first got to Texas and found out this was the month Corey was going back to Afghanistan. We made the most of the couple weeks we had. Over our extended Labor Day Weekend, we drove out to San Diego, CA! Kari & Chris are stationed there and we went to visit them and Madison. We went to the SD Zoo, and Hollywood and the ocean. It was a lot of fun. Then we had to start packing up the house and moving things to storage before saying goodbye to my husband for 10 months. My sister flew down and helped me pack up and clean the house, and make the horrible 2,000 mile drive back to Michigan in my big truck, hauling a trailer with my car on it. Scary, I know!

October: I got back into the swing of things being back in Michigan. I moved in with my best friend Jessye, and her parents. I got my job back at Yarrow and slowly started getting cake orders again!  I was doing as much as I could to keep myself busy during this deployment.

November: November was a lot like October, but I got the oppurtunity to coach the 7th/8th grade competitive cheerleading team for Delton. I wasn't sure how I'd like it at first, but now that the season is almost over, I'm sad. I'm really going to miss coaching and all the girls. I wish I could do it again next year, because I really do love it. I also got to see all my family and Corey's family at Thanksgiving.

December: December came, and it was so weird because it was warm almost all month long. But, we had lots of holiday parties at work to keep me busy, and I had a few competitions for cheerleading. Before I knew it, Christmas was here. We had a green Christmas in the mitten this year, but that was fine by me! I spent Christmas Eve driving around all day, but I got to see lots of family and 3 different Christmas parties. It was Jaxson's first Christmas and I think he had a good time. And Christmas morning, I spent with my mom and sister, and then back home for the day with my second family.

We had a lot to be thankful for in 2011, so I'm glad it happened, but I can't wait for 2012 to get here! My niece and nephew will be turning ONE! Friends are getting married. Babies are being born.
And best of all, MY HUSBAND IS COMING HOME FOR GOOD!! :D

So be thankful for all the experiences good and bad that happened in 2011, because everything happens for a reason, and that's just life! :)