Farewell 2010

This year was truly a mixed year for both Joern and myself.  I am glad for the good experiences we had, glad to put the difficult ones behind, and looking forward to 2011.  Here's just a smattering of what it was like in our world this year.
January-
      January was a pretty low-key month for me.  After returning to Germany from our Christmas at home,
      I ended up pretty much stuck, and out of work the entire month.

February-
     February was a much more exciting month for the two of us.  Besides returning to work, another highlight
     was definately on the house front.  After many long months in the planning stages, we finally were able
     to send in our application for our building permit to the county building department. 

March-
     I was finally feeling better in March.  Joern and I attended our very first ever town council meeting,
     and with good reason, our house project was up for approval.  In March, our house was approved
     by the town, but we still had to wait a few months for the house to be approved by the county.  I also
     attended a bridal shower for my friend, Mandy.  It was so much fun to hang out with the girls for the day. 

 April-
        The highlight of April had to be Mandy and Doug's wedding.  Mandy has been my friend almost the
        entire time here in Europe.  And I was so honored to be a bridesmaid in her amazingly beautiful
        wedding in a castle! 
May-
     On the housefront, May brought with it the completion of the kitchen plans, as well as a move to
     a new architect.  We spent a large portion of the month completing the house plans in general.
     Personally, May brought with it the impending acceptance that Joern's time with Sued Salz / Bad
     Reichenhaller was coming to an end.  We took advantage of a day off of work by heading down
     to Fussen, which is in the southeast part of Germany.  We visited Neuschwanstein Castle.

June-
   June marked the month that I went from being a 30 year old to being a "thirtysomething." Joern surprised nt
   me with a special cake from France, and the county surprised us by finally sending us our building permit.
   At the end of the month, Joern completed 8 years of working with the salt company.  It was a bittersweet
   day when Joern said "goodbye" to being the "Salt Man."

July-
    July was a very busy, very warm, and very enjoyable month for us.  We spent the majority of the month
    in the States.  First, we ran around like crazy purchasing last minute stowaways for the container.  In the
    middle of the month, we (well, mostly Joern and my godfather,) packed the container. Somewhere in
    there, we manged to spend quite a bit, but not enough, time with my family.  And then, we
    rounded out the month by spending a week in Cape Cod.

      August-
            August was back to Germany, and mostly focused on the house. 
            We signed a contract with our builder.  On the 19th, we purchased our building lot.

September-
      Working in a school, September marked farewell to the sweet summer, and started a new school year.
      We watched the house go from a hole in the ground to having the slab completed and the walls of the
      walls of the garages formed.

    In another bittersweet moment, we found out that we were pregnant in September.  It was such
    an exciting, incredible few weeks. 

October-
      October was a month of struggles.  While the house really moved along, the pregnancy did not.
      We found out in October that the pregnancy was ectopic and in early October, I had surgery
       to remove one of my fallopian tubes.  I really was forced to look at my life in October.  Walked
      away from the month so thankful for my husband and  my very caring family and friends.

November-
      Healthwise, in November, I was back to myself.  We spent the first week of November traveling in
      Ireland.

       When we returned to Germany, it was pretty much house, house, house.  By the end of the month,
       the first floor was completed and the ceiling was poured. 

December-
         I am pretty sure that all people living in Germany will remember December 2010 with one word
         in mind- SNOW!  It pretty much snowed for the enitre month.  The house is on hold until the weather
         warms up a bit and it stops snowing.  But it has been a truly beautiful month.

                     Personally, I will remember December 2010 as my first ever Christmas away from home.  Surprisingly,
         I wasn't as sad as I thought I would be.  I missed everyone, but it was a very love-filled holiday.


And there you have it.  Our year in review.  May 2011 bring all of you, my blog readers health and happiness.