Happy New Year

Wow!  What a year it has been in the Allenby household!  Just this year, we welcomed little Micah Gray into our family, gained two new sisters-in-law as both of Scott's brothers got married, bought a house and had Scott's parents move to the area from Vermont!  We spent New Years Eve with our friends Amy and Gregor and their family, eating delicious homemade pizzas and standing around a bonfire.  Of course, we were home and sitting on the couch by 9:00pm, but it was a fun way to spend the evening.  I missed ringing in the New Year, as I was snuggled up in bed with my littlest boy sleeping against my chest by the time midnight rolled around.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was a senior in high school and my family and I were huddled around the fireplace in my great-grandmothers old house in Castine, ME on New Years Eve, waiting to see if the world would end with Y2K.  Thankfully it didn't end, as I have been blessed with so many incredible opportunities in this last decade.  Here are a few of the highs and lows I've personally experienced since 2000...

-  Spent a summer working with children in Romania with the Viata program
-  Made the best friends of my life at Gordon College
-  Played soccer and basketball at Gordon and loved every second of it
-  Met the love of my life, denied him for a while, God ruptured my appendix and made me realize what a catch he was (long, but good, story!)...
-  Played semi-pro soccer with the Charlotte Eagles in North Carolina (as a reserve)
-  Nannied for my favorite family on the North Shore
-  Varsity Girls Soccer coach and Assistant Athletic Director at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School
-  Teacher and first ever female varsity coach at Cardigan Mountain School (all boys 6-9 grade school)
-  Watched my dad face and overcome kidney cancer
-  Lost my grandmother, Scott's grandmother and a close family friend and coach
-  Married my best friend
-  Taught US History and Sociology at Proctor and coached soccer and basketball (and tennis for one year!)
-  Scott got his Masters degree
-  Gave birth to our beautiful Camden
-  Watched my mom face and overcome breast cancer
-  Suffered a miscarriage
-  Lost our family dog Cody after 14.5 years of life
-  Gave birth to our amazing little Micah
-  Purchased and renovating our first home

We've made new friends, maintained old friendships, gotten involved in a new church that we're excited about, spent wonderful time with family and are feeling very thankful for all that God has blessed us with.  Let's hope 2011 is a wonderful year and that I can look back on this coming decade with the same appreciation I have for my last 10(11) years!  Happy New Year!