Can’t believe how fast the last 10 years have gone!

2000 – I was living in St. Paul with Sarah. We rang the new year in at Billy’s after deciding at 10 pm that it would be lame to stay home and make scarves!  I started looking for a house to buy in early spring and bought my first house and moved in the first week of May.  In June, my first nephew Andrew was born and I quickly grew to love being an aunt!  My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in August and went through surgery and radiation treatment that fall.  In September, I flew to Phoenix and met up with friends to go see the Packers play the Cardinals. It was HOT, but fun! In early November, my college friend came up to visit and we went out with some of her friends and I met Chad.  I told him to leave me alone after awhile, but he came back at the end of the night and asked for my phone number, so I gave him my card… yes I thought that was cool.  He emailed me and we went out a few weeks later.

2001 – Chad and I were still in the new stages of dating.  So in love! 🙂  Sarah got engaged and chose me to be the Maid of Honor even though I requested to walk down the aisle with Curt’s brother Bob!  Chad and I drove to Cleveland that summer to visit my college friend Dan and to see the Packers play the Browns in pre-season football. On the way we stopped in Chicago and visited my aunt Marilyn and took in a Cubs game.  It was a great trip.  September brought 9/11. I was sent home from work that day since I worked right next door to the tallest building in Minneapolis.   In December Chad moved in with me and I started dreaming of a ring…

2002 – I went to my 10 year high school reunion in the summer. Chad and I were still not engaged, and I was growing impatient!  In September, I flew to New York City with Karin and Nicole. We spent about 4 days touring the city including visiting Ground Zero, taking in a Yankees game and shopping.  The following week, I met Chad out in Portland for his friend’s wedding.  After the wedding we drove out to the Oregon coast for a day and came away without a ring!  Seriously???  A few weeks later I was laid off from my job and I couldn’t believe it.  A couple weeks after this, my beautiful niece Katelyn was born and I appreciated having time off to spend with her and my brother’s family. In November, I decided to become a Pampered Chef consultant to supplement my unemployment check.  Chad bought a new car in November and I thought for sure that ring was never coming…  BUT on December 14th, right before the annual Fluegel Christmas party, he proposed!

2003 – I found a job in mid-February. My commute wasn’t ideal, and the company wasn’t the most stable, but my manager was great!  I was still doing Pampered Chef to help save for the wedding (and compensate for the pay cut I took).  Wedding plans were in full swing.   We went to about 5 weddings that summer.  Chad’s niece Jana was born in September and we were married on November 1st.  We followed our wedding with a week at Sandals in Jamaica… which was awesome!  about 5 days after returning, I was bummed that none of my friends were around to celebrate my 30th birthday, but upon arriving home from dinner with Chad many were at our house ready to celebrate!

2004 – I returned to Retek in another position. I was over my bitterness of being laid off and decided I wanted to go back.  We were thinking about moving and spent a lot of time working on our house including installing some carpet (squares), adding a breakfast nook and removing wallpaper and re-painting!

2005 – In March, I started my blog.  Again we were working on updating our house. We put it on the market in April, and it sold in a week!  We spent much of May looking for a new place to live.  We were NOT convinced that it was a buyer’s market, despite what our real estate agents told us!  We moved in the first week of July.  While we were following the moving truck to our new house, my mom called my cell phone to let me know my grandmother had passed away.  It was not unexpected and I was thankful that I had taken a day off a few weeks earlier to go visit her in the hospital.   We loved our new house despite all the wall paper!  Retek was also bought out by Oracle, and I was not happy with all the changes to my role, so I started looking for a new job.

2006 – Chad’s Grandma passed away in January unexpectedly.  I started a new job with Hearth & Home in January and it involved a lot of travel!  Chad was also traveling quite a bit and it was a bit strange to be home during the week with each other.  In September, my niece Elizabeth was born and the next day we found out we were pregnant ourselves.  It was very exciting!   Sometime in late 2006, I decided to switch my blog to WordPress and my own domain. My work travel ended in October, and I was glad to be closer to home even if my job wasn’t my ideal, I was holding out for the prime maternity benefits they offered.  Unfortunately, the housing market was starting to crash, and with that builders weren’t buying fireplaces and I was laid off.  I fortunately was able to find a job in December as a consultant for Solutia.

2007 – A whirlwind! In January, Chad’s nephew Luke was born.  We finally started tackling some of the wallpaper to get the house ready for a baby!  On May 18th, Maria Belle was born after a long (back) labor, but we were in love instantly!  I had the whole summer off with her!  I went back to work in September and learned how to balance being a mom and a job!

2008 – Another busy year.  Sarah had a baby girl in January!  Maria started crawling and talking early in the year. In May we celebrated her first birthday.  She started walking in July and our lives were again changed! 🙂  We spent a week in August at Luther Park Family Camp with my family.

2009 – Maria turned 2 in May. Hard to believe how fast the time goes!  In June we found out we were expecting again!  In August, we spent another week at Luther Park with my family and we started letting Maria announce to everyone that she is going to be a big sister. We spent again time removing wallpaper and getting Maria’s big girl room ready for her!  She transitioned to sleeping there really well and we are now still working on the potty training!

We anxious for what 2010 holds!! Only about 7 weeks until Baby #2 is due to arrive!  What a crazy and happy whirlwind!!