A New Year, a new post

Happily, 2008 is in the books. It was a tough year to say the least, and I'm happy we've moved on to 2009. I awoke the morning of 2009 with butterflies in my tummy: it was finally the year that I'll be married. The very idea of the wedding still gets me giddy. Many of my friends are doing this, so I thought I should as well.

A Year in Review: 2008
January:
Robert proposed to me the morning of Christmas day. We spent January on what we called "The Great Ring Tour!" So many of his local friends and family invited us over to their houses to see the ring, and (for some) to meet me. We really enjoyed all the attention, even if it was at times taxing. We also met with our priest for the first time to discuss some details about the wedding. The spring semester started for us in much the same way as other semesters--stressful, but with a sense of relief to return to a scheduled day. It was my last semester of grad courses.

February:
Robert and I celebrated our one-year anniversary on February 4th by going to the same restaurant we went to on our first dinner date. Halfway through the month, I finally confessed to Robert and my mom that I had shooting, searing pain down my left leg for some time, which would usually end in numbing my toes. I tried to act as nothing was wrong for a few months, but by February, it was too much to ignore any longer. I went to the orthopedist and had an MRI that revealed my extremely herniated disk. We scheduled surgery for the end of the semester. I remained in pain for the next three months.

March:
Although I had spent four months preparing a paper for a conference presentation, I ended up bowing out of the conference at the last minute because I knew I wouldn't be able to manage on the three-hour airplane trip. Early this month, one of the undergraduate students here had been followed to her car from the library and then faced a night of terror that ended in her murder. This student was actually one of my officemate's English students; I went with her to the freshman's funeral. I went home for Spring Break instead of traveling to the conference. I started my painkiller regimen, so March ended up pretty fuzzy.

April:
Robert's grandfather fell unexpectedly ill at the end of March and spent about three weeks in the hospital. Robert went to the hospital to help his parents, aunts, and uncles on almost a daily basis. I went with him once. Friends of ours got married on the 12th at a beautiful mansion. A week later, Robert and I went to meet with our cake lady to discuss pricing and some other details. As our meeting drew to a close, Robert received a phone call from his mother and brother telling him the sad news that his grandfather had just passed away. Robert and I were about an hour away from the hospital at this point. The next week we completed the funerary process with a great deal of shock and sadness.

May:
My whole world was pain for the first week of May. I cried walking to and from my building and the parking lot. My surgery on May 6th was a great success, and I awoke grinning because I could finally feel the toes on my left foot again. May was pretty much wrapped up in recovering from surgery. Robert and my family took such great care of me. I fell more in love with Robert this month.

June:
After some recovery time, Robert and I attended Engaged Encounter weekend, which is required to be married in the Catholic church. We actually really enjoyed ourselves and took the weekend seriously so that it ended up meaning something to us. I spent June working on acquiring the books for my preliminary exams reading lists.

July:
Robert and I spent the fourth of July in Denver, CO with his family--they were having a business conference, and we tagged along as family members. Having now experienced a Colorado summer, we decided that we really did want to try to end up there. I also came up with some manageable weight loss goals...that I didn't reach. It's not the end of the world, though. Later in the month we had our engagement party. It was so wonderful to see both sides of the family and our friends all gathered together--it was like a mini-wedding reception, hehehe. I also spent most of July teaching a whirlwind 5-week World Literature course. It was the only way to work over the summer and still be able to have back surgery.

August:
Robert started his internship for the Master's in Secondary Education, and I started my first semester teaching without taking courses. My Auntie Ann died at the end of the month. It came as quite a shock to me because I didn't know that she was ill. Auntie Ann was the matriarch of my mom's side of the family, and one of the most important people on that side of the family.

September:
Robert and one of my best friends secretly planned a surprise trip to Disney World for the three of us on Labor Day weekend! We had so much fun going around the different parks as adults. I think our favorite park was Epcot. :) My sister also threw me my first bridal shower, which was absolutely too much fun! September was difficult for Robert because he realized that he hated his program and would much rather be teaching at the college level. We had a number of in depth, pragmatic discussions to figure out what would be the best plan of action.

October:
Robert's withdrawal from the M.Ed. program and graduate school was complete; the same week, he turned around and applied for the M.A. program in English, which required him to re-apply to graduate school. We bit our nails because we didn't hear anything for the whole month. I was trying to participate in a running course at our gym but was already having difficulty. A couple friends of mine and I decided that we wanted to try to learn some photography together, so we started going on photo hikes. My mom also took me dress shopping, and we bought my wedding dress! Every time I go home, I sneak a peek in the bag and fall in love with it over and over.

November:
We found out that Robert was successfully accepted into the M.A. program! He's actually already halfway through it because of the requirements for the M.Ed. in Language Arts, so all he has left to do is complete two more classes, take his comprehensive exams, and write a thesis. We might graduate at the same time--depending on me. He'll definitely graduate in May 2010. We spent Thanksgiving day with his family, and then went to my family's for the weekend after. When we returned from Thanksgiving break, I spent the next three weeks reading without pause because my exams will be in February.

December:
I literally spent on average 12 hours a day at the library, often leaving at 3 or 4 in the morning. I got through about a hundred books this way--January will be much in the same vein. We went to Breckenridge, CO with Robert's family for the week before Christmas, and then spent Christmas Eve through Christmas weekend with my family. We bought and mailed our save-the-date magnets, and Robert and I also celebrated the anniversary of our engagement. :) New Year's Eve was spent at a pajama party with some of our favorite people and their children. It was so cute and fun.

I suppose on average, 2008 was a decent enough year. There were so many emotional spikes and valleys, though, that it felt stressful and overwhelming. I'm happy to get to 2009.

Wedding countdown: 140 days to marital bliss! :D