1) Waking up from surgery and seeing Sam and my mom. There couldn’t have been a more comforting feeling to come out of surgery and having your husband holding your hand.
2) Monday Bachelor Nights with the girls and my mom during the time my mom cared for me after surgery. Good wine, friends, and trashy TV. What is better? I am not sure who loved this more, though, me or my mom?
3) Recuperating at my parent’s cabin for a week after surgery. I was fortunate to have this time to spend with my parents. Our parents are not to be taken granted for. I love you mom and dad.
4) An amazing dinner with my bro and niece. It is not too often I get one-on-one time with my bro and we truly had a wonderful time. Not to mention he is a great cook.
5) Trip to Chicago to see Uncle Dennis and Cubs game at Wrigley Field with Fritz and Melis.
6) Swimming in the Mississippi at sunset – it doesn’t get much more beautiful than this (the pics don’t do it justice).
7) Wishing on a wish lantern with my mom on her 60th Birthday, my mom wished on us being able to bring home our babies.
8) Stella Louise Skinner, our niece, joining our family on October 6th.
9) Running my first 5k with Sam, Tara Swedberg and Kellen. This is not a big feat for many, but I was not able to do something like this before having surgery.
10) Hosting Thanksgiving Dinner to follow the 5K with the Skinner side of the family and my parents. This was our first big holiday hosting. The first time I was able to use grandma’s china too!
11) Sam’s first diaper change. This is a more a milestone for Sam, but it will also greatly benefit me so I had to include it!
12) My sister making it home from Denver on Christmas eve morning during a snow storm. Christmas just isn’t the same if you are not able to celebrate with family. We picked her up from the airport and I made a sign that read “oh, the weather outside is frightful, but Laura home for Christmas is so delightful.”
13) New Years Eve in Rochester with friends and family, we also celebrated Sam getting his new job!
14) Visiting my grandparents in Harmony and the Sam and I went snowshoeing on the Root River trail that was lit up by candlelight. This was the last time I saw my grandma.
15) 2nd Annual Girls Ice Fishing Trip – need I say more?
16) Receiving Immigration Approval to adopt!
17) Submitting our Dossier to Ethiopia!
18) Date night at Dakota Jazz Club to celebrate the submission of our Dossier. It was a tribute to Micheal Jackson. I remember the band doing the song Black or White and feeling it was a perfect culmination to our adoption process and I am the lucky one.
20) Twins game at the new stadium! Go Twins!
So that is my year one year from today. Nothing earth shattering here, no lavish trips and I didn’t climb Mount Everest. But that is okay. It is the small things in the world that we can so often take for granted that make the big difference in our lives. It is having a cup of coffee with your grandma, hugging your sister, having a dance party with your nieces, cooking with your husband and sharing a laugh with a friend over a good Merlot. My last year was filled with friends, family, laughter, tears…and health. At the end of the day if we don’t have these things, what do we have?
Wishing you good health to you and yours!
What a beautiful post Christina! I had no idea you were adopting--I wish you and your husband best wishes with this.
ReplyDeleteBritta
Sounds like a wonderful year and very special moments - love it. I look forward to your next post and hearing more about your adoption progress. I can't think of two people more deserving!
ReplyDeleteJanelle
Great post and list, babe. The pictures were spot on the mark.
ReplyDeleteWell Said Christina. It brought me to tears.
ReplyDeleteBridget