Happy Anniversary to Us!

Believe it or not, Brent and I have been married eight years. I'd happily marry him again today, which is a great place to be. For those of you new to our story, we met when I was just 18, started dating when I was 19 and got married when I was 22. By now, we've been together nearly 10 1/2 years. This means that we've grown up together, which is a risky proposition for some couples, but luckily we've grown together. One of my favorite things about marriage now as we have experienced so many changes and our family grows is that with all that together we are the constant. No matter whatever else changes -- we move, change jobs, our kids grow up and move away, etc... I know with great certainty that when we're 80 (should we be so lucky). We'll still be in it together:) Thank you dearest for being my most precious gift and for loving me always.

Those of you that took part in our wedding know that it is my practice to share updates on the cast of characters each year and my blog seems a perfect place for that this year. So here are the updates for us and those of you that were part of our cast and crew eight years ago:

To prepare, I read over last year's e-mail and wow what a different place we were in then. Since then, we've moved from VA to OK. Brent changed jobs and in good news really loves his new job at OSSM. I usually do too, but the hours are a bit challenging at times. I, believe it or not, STILL work for GW (this 3 month gig is now in its 7th year). I also continue to teach for Drexel online and in the last year added a couple new courses to my roster. Brendan is wildly different than last year as well. He talks, is in the potty training process (slowly), can do so many things for himself, loves cars and trains, and definitely has very strong opinions on many things. He is a joy, a challenge and our greatest achievement. Meanwhile, I have had a miscarriage and am pregnant again with a new addition to come in less than two months. We are settled in our first home and continuing to make changes, additions and improvements. We have been privileged to spend a lot of time with our OK friends and family. Having this fabulous support network has been tremendous as we manage all the chaos of our lives.

As you would think, we continue to move at full speed. I've taken and passed the OK Bar exam, made four trips to DC and am learning about being a mom nearly full time. (Although still need my jobs for both sanity and income). We've also both started blogging as have my mom and Brent's sister which is cool. We haven't done much non-work traveling this year which stresses me some, but we'll work on that. Brent did go to Philly this week for a conference and, in addition to my DC trips, B and I made it to STL to visit Audra for her graduation. We both have been to Dallas to see our nephew and family there so I guess we're doing OK. Our families have had some health scares this year, but for the moment it seems that everyone is doing well. The year to come promises lots of new challenges as our family expands and we work on maintaining a balance that works for all of us, but I'm optimistic that we'll make it work.

As for the rest of the group from our wedding there are lots of babies in this year's story. First, there were last year's four girls of summer -Clara (Daughter of my Cousin Erica and her husband who is now "Dr. Isom"), Serenity (Daughter of Chrissie & Eric), Alexandra, aka Allie (Daughter of Jessie & Scott), and Samantha (Daughter of Brian and Linh). Gina is now pregnant and expecting a delivery surprise the week after our little one arrives. Janna (our cousin) and Bethany (Peter's new wife) are expecting a little ones as well which is very exciting. I don't think anyone else in the wedding crew is expecting just now, but know several people that may join the party in the coming year so we'll keep them in our prayers.

Weddings - Andy H. & Linnette were married this April following Peter and Bethany's wedding in February. Mary is getting married to Andy M. in August and I'll be lucky enough to be a bridesmaid. I "think" that is the last of the weddings for a bit, but one never knows!

Other happenings - Erik switched jobs back to piercing. My brother got his instrument rating (part of the pilot credentialling process). My sister graduated from Nursing school and passed her RN boards. She is a nurse at Children's Hospital in STL working on the NeuroRecovery floor. Alisha is finishing her residency and hopefully moving back to OK this year. Sarah will be an Aunt for the first time while Audra's SIL is expecting her fourth child making Audra an Aunt for her fifth and sixth times in the next couple months. Tracie's sister just got married and she is doing lots of body boot camp these days as well as brightening my afternoons by being able to just drop by and chat sometimes which I love.

Jessie & Scott are off celebrating their anniversary in Mexico, which sounds lovely. John, my nephew, turned one with a fabulous celebration and is the apple of his parents eyes. My parents, meanwhile, have had several more natural disasters, most recently a large garden fire, but seem to be recovering well. Chrissie, Eric and Serenity moved back to Oklahoma, which is very exciting for all of us! Jennie and Gavin have been studying sign language. Erin and Patrick remain busy in Utah with their two little boys and some grand adventures in parenthood. Somehow, I'm sure there is much much more that I'm forgetting, but in short everyone is busy, happy and healthy as we head towards the next year. We continue to post our pictures here if anyone wants to peruse our various activities from the last year and more.

Thanks to all of the above and to all of you our readers and dear friends for all your love and support over the last year as well as the many before that. You make our marriage and our family stronger and we thank you for it. Please come visit us any time and we can't wait to introduce you to our daughter!

Love,
Abbey & Brent