For This I Am Grateful

Wow, what a year.

 

In light of the tragedies and difficulties that many people have faced (and some continue to face) in 2012, I almost feel guilty saying that this has been the best year of my life. However, I have faced my own share of difficulties in the past, so I will simply express the joy and gratitude that I feel for my own experience this year.

 

While not every moment of the year has been rainbows and unicorns, overall 2012 has been a steady stream of new and exciting events. Here’s a brief play-by-play:

 

February- We moved into our new rental. A townhouse with a small backyard, a full size garage, and roughly twice as much room as we had in our small apartment of the previous two years.

 

May-I married my best friend and the love of my life. It was beautiful, perfect, and story-like. We then celebrated for a week in the near paradise of Cozumel, Mexico. It was my first time out of the country (not counting our brief trip into Canada to visit Niagra Falls back in 2010)

 

June- We traded in Buster’s Mazda to get the new Odyssey van (aka perfect dog-mobile) of my dreams! I also equipped it with super-safe Ruff Tough kennels to give my pups the best form of transportation I can. The van is a luxurious ride and holds everything I need, and then some. Buster is also thrilled with driving the Element, which can haul everything he needs as well.

 

July-Through Buster’s networking; I landed a new job in the field I have pursued, and make almost 10k more a year. Best part: no more making copies!

 

September- I brought home our precious baby girl Trudy! She has been a nonstop source of love, humor, and excitement. I can’t remember what life was like before her! She has been a blast to train, has become best buddies with Xander (who FINALLY has a wrestling partner), and is just as sweet as can be. She is everything I could have hoped for.

 

November- My lucky scratch-off lottery ticket at a work holiday party scored me $1,000. I am now known throughout the office as “that girl who won $1,000.” No one believed that is was actually possible to win a real amount of money on a scratch-off (myself included), so I am now somewhat of a celebrity. So far I have paid for trips to the vet and bought a meat grinder, but we are mostly saving it toward a down-payment on a house.

 

I have also earned a bunch of titles lately with the incredible Xan-Man, began the adventure of making my own raw dog food, and done a variety of other things, but these were the highlights.

 

I am looking forward to spending Christmas with family, and then traveling to Perry, Ga to close out the year at the reportedly fun Sirius USDAA trial. We only need two standard legs for our ADCH, so we’ll see if there is any magic left in my 2012. If not, I certainly can’t complain, and it will leave something to look forward to in 2013!

 

Happy holidays to everyone. For those of you who have enjoyed 2012, I celebrate with you. For everyone else, I hope that 2013 brings you great happiness!