2011 - what a year...

while it would have been great to post my "2011 year recap" post before 2011 ended, I always like to be fashionably late so here's my yearly recap post (first ever, get excited).

2011 was quite a year, a year of lots of change and all for the better. DJ and I both threw caution to the wind and said "to hell with it - let's live life in the present and take risks" - and I am SO happy we did.

first off, I was a bad blogger to start the year off, I didn't post as much as I should have in january as I was traveling for work and nursing my wedding hangover - I post my first post of the year giving a short wedding recap/sneak peak - then I did a series of wedding recaps, those were the only posts I did in january, oops.

then february happened and we bit the bullet and announced the big news. DJ and I gave our notice at work and decided to move to GA [without jobs or a real plan]. that's right - we were heading south at the end of the month to live in my in-laws basement [for only six months... what's that? we're still there. hah. oh well, can't beat a nice rent-free basement apartment... the plan is to move out sometime after maternity leave in late 2012]. anyways, back to february, we started packing [and I started getting excited/anxious].

...march came and we made the big move to ga and after less than a week in GA I got a great job offer [that I accepted for where I am still working... clearly, very blessed]. life was good, I was [and still am] very happy. I also took my first [non-work/moving] trip of the year -- I flew to Indiana to visit friends and help Lindi make the drive to Atlanta for a conference, such a great weekend with old and new friends alike!

in april, I posted about the irony in an email I had sent three years earlier, we celebrated our one year anniversary of getting sweet Oliver and DJ's 29th birthday where I made him a ridiculous cake. [also in april, we threw caution to the wind and after being on "the pill" for over a decade we started trying to get pregnant, but clearly - I didn't blog about that]

in may, we visited my mom in florida [which I didn't post about, oops], visited Terrapin Beer Co with Tiff & Josh and attended Idoaroo [our first wedding of the year]!

in june, we visited our sweet friends joey & paige in damascus over memorial day, I talked about the sweetest thing in my life, went skydiving, another fathers day passed, saw Dispatch in concert and toured the Sweetwater Brewery [we like breweries].

in july, I [clearly wasn't pregnant yet and] drank lots of sangria, Lindi turned 30 - we celebrated with a night out in Knoxville and a trip to the Biltmore! also in july, I drank lots of wine and toured the Biltmore Winery and Chateau Elan winery [both with Lindi]! DJ also had some strange dreams in july and I had wedding nostalgia as we headed to NJ for Tommy & Becca's wedding and spent a weekend in Philly! [wow! July was a busy month!]

in august, I ran my first 5k and cooked some yummy food [fried rice, broccoli slaw, surprise monkey bread and asian meatloaf - yum!]. now that I look at these pictures, I realize - yeah, I was pretty skinny [for me] in august - I had been working hard for the past few months and had just lost 11lbs!  Coincidentally, I also got pregnant in august - I just hadn't realized it yet!

in september, I went to my first MLB game & DJ put his consulting on hold and got a new job! then over labor day weekend, I found out I was pregnant - the title of the first post I wrote after I found out is pretty ironic now that I think about it. I also posted about baby fever the week after I found out I was preggo, haha - I'm funny. lindi came to visit [that's also the weekend we told her and DJ's family!]. I also ran my first 10K in september [with baby j in utero]!

in october, I went to charlotte for tiff's bachelorette party and raleigh for her bridal shower, spent a weekend in good ole Rocky Top [aka Knoxville] with Lindi, and did a lot of complaining about how tired I was [now you know why].

in november, we traveled to St. Pete for Mike & Carin's wedding and spent some time with my mom in Florida. I finally came clean and shared the news about baby j via an Oliver knock knock joke and then shared more about baby j. I also officiated my first wedding and married two of our closest friends Tiffani & Josh [DJ was also a reader in their wedding, so sweet]. 

in december, I reflected on my father and what he means to me in a letter to him, did a lot of holiday baking, and finally made rainbow cupcakes! we also celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas with our families and got a special delivery from santa where we found out baby j is a GIRL! then we wrapped up the year in style and celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary/NYE with a weekend in Athens, GA. perfection.

so that was 2011. 

a cross-country move, two new jobs, the year of the basement, celebrated four great couples getting married, took numerous trips, spent loads of quality time with our family, and the most special and important of all - got pregnant with our little girl.

I can only imagine the joy that 2012 will bring us, here's to a great year!