There is a lot that has happened this year. I thought I might take a moment and try to reflect on some of the highlights of my life over this past year. I think one of the fist things that happened was that my cousin Cara and her fiance Aaron got married in January.
Then, in February, a couple of my friends Josh and Julie got engaged on Valentines Day. Around this time, I was also diagnosed with Type I diabetas (which would begin a whole new lifestyle for me). To add fuel to the fire, I was also informed that I was to be riffed (layed off) from my teaching job at the end of the school term.
In March, I finished building the addition onto my Great-grandparents house where my wife and I were to live after our wedding. Around this time, my fiance (at the time) and I found out that her brother and his fiance were pregnant. At the end of March, my best friends treated me to a bachelor party at Damon's, Fast Tracks, and a couple other businesses in Indianapolis. The following week, my brother and I drove out to South Dakota for the wedding.
On April 2 my wife Lisa and I were married by my father at her home church. My sister was able to fly home from Germany for the event. Both sets of grandparents and my parents were also in attendance. From there, my wife and I left and went on out honeymoon to Branson, MO. When we returned to Indiana, we had our reception at my parents church. Not long after I returned home, I traded in my Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle for a Honda 750 Shadow Aero cruiser, which was quite a change from the crotch rocket. Lisa and I also made one of our favorite purchases, and that was that we added a new puppy to our family. We bought a Bichon Frise. She was so tiny and cute. We named her snuggles. We also found out during this month that Lisa, my wife, her brother and his fiance broke off their engagement. She no longer wanted anything to do with him. The rest of April seemed to fly by pretty fast, with the adjustment of our new life together.
In May I continued to teach and Lisa continued her work at the church. We found out, that Roy, my brother, and his wife had decided to move back to Indiana. That was exciting news. I couldn't wait to see him again. By the end of the month school was over, for good, and I was left searching for work.
Most of June I spent working for my grandfather at the farm and then started helping out at my parents' church on the new addition. It was quite an experience. At the end of the month, Lisa and I drove out to South Dakota to her cousin's wedding. It was nice to see all of the family again. We took Snuggles with us. I think most everybody fell in love with her. At the end of the month Roy and Steph moved all of their things to Northern Indiana, where they both recieved teaching jobs.
Over the 4th of July, Lisa and I went up and spent the weekend with Roy and Steph at her grandparents place on Lake Wawasee. Also during this month, I tried to get a job at a company called Fastenal, and even had a couple of interviews, but it did not pan out. I also interviewed at Wabash High School and at Hamilton Heights High School for Social Studies teaching positions, but they also fell through. Eventually, I was able to find a job at Rex Byers Heating and Cooling installing furnaces and Air Conditioning units.
A the beginning of August I was still working at Rex Byers when I recieved a call from Taylor saying that I could have my job back if I was still interested in teaching at the Alternative School. So, I told my new boss at Rex Byers that I was going to take my old job back teaching school. In the middle of the month, I went back to teaching at Taylor. Probably the biggest news that we got was that my nephew Drake was born in Germany. My sister and her husband have been living there while he works at Mercedes. Before August was over I went to Kokomo Auto World and traded the 2003 Corolla S for a 2002 Honda CR-V. Lisa fell in love with it.
Over Labor Day weekend Lisa's parents and brother came down and visited. We drove down to Indy and went shopping at Clay Terrace and then to the Canal and rode a 4 seater bike around it. For Lisa and I's birthdays we went to Indianapolis and spent the weekend. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency downtown.
The beginning of October was Lisa's birthday, we didn't really do much, other than go out to eat since we had just gone out the week prior. Lisa's brothers baby was also born in October. They named her Stella Marie (or should I say she named her that, Todd didn't really have much say in the matter). They sent several pictures so that we could see what she looked like. Roy called me up around the middle of the month and told me that he had found a Honda Civic for $2700. I drove up there and bought it. Then I put the Chevy Lumina of Lisa's out on the highway for sale. I was able to sell it within a few days for $1300. Near the end of the month, we went to the Fusion harvest party and also helped out at the BBC Student Ministry "Tate's Treasure Hunt". For Fall Break, Lisa and I went down to Columbus, IN to a Bed and Breakfast. While we were there we drove around Brown County State Park and also went to Nashville and Edinburg shopping. On our way home we ate at BD's Mongollian, Lisa's favorite place to eat.
In November there was a lot of stress going on because my nephew Drake was patiently waiting for his passport to arrive. My brother-in-law was able to come home, but my sister and Drake had to stay in Germany because his passport never came. While Brad was home we took dad to Bicycle Garage in Indy and bought him a Trek 3700 mountain bike for Christmas. Roy and Steph also came down for a Thanksgiving with Brad at his sister Lori's house. The latest thing that has happened is that our puppy snuggles went into heat last week. We are taking her to the vet tomorrow to have her spade. Sunday we will be going over to Grandma Long's for Thanksgiving and then on Tuesday, Lisa and I will be driving to South Dakota for the Thanksgiving holiday.
