the year in review

Since I am just now starting this, I thought I'd provide a run-down of the last year top-ten style (in order of occurance, sort of)...

10. I traveled. A bit.

june '06, frontier ranch in colorado--a week of camp at one of
the most beautiful places on earth with a bunch of my high school friends

aug. '06, biloxi, mississippi--my mom and i went on our first mission trip together & witnessed firsthand the devestation left by hurricane katrina (little did we know little madison was also with us!).

sept. '06, ocean isle--labor day weekend with our small group

nov. '06, windy gap--several of my young life girls served other high school folks through work crew at our fall camp.

jan. '07, ocean isle--a weekend away with my sweet friends…melissa & blair pampered the pregos--amy, whitney, and me.

feb. '07, myrtle beach--one last romantic getaway before the baby comes (this is not where we stayed, btw--if there are any Chris & Chris P1's out there, you'll understand the pic)

9. I grew. A lot.

20 weeks; 28 weeks; 40 weeks

8. I was reminded of my amazing friends and their love for me at all my
baby showers.

in december, emily coordinated the shower that happened at the heritage family christmas.

that same weekend joann & jane threw both of us a party with all our "old" and "current" young life kids (pictured here).

in the spring, melissa, melanie, amy s., millie, & becca hosted a tea party shower. here i am with sara and my 3 college roommates, laura, becky, & scottie.

then my best friends from high school, amy e., kellie, & sara and my sister, jenny threw me a shower in greenville.

i was also honored by another shower in g'ville, given by the neighborhood friends and a shower at work given by my sweet coworkers. needless to say, madison was hooked up even before she was born!

7. Three of my closest friends had their beautiful babies...then a few
more announced they will soon be having & adopting beautiful
babies!

melissa's asher; whitney's ollie; amy's anna cate

6. I enjoyed many celebrations with our wonderful family &
friends.

becky's wedding; new year's eve

5. Our precious baby girl, Madison Grace, was born May 4 (only 2
weeks late!).

4. I decided to leave my job at the middle school I was at and
accepted a counseling position at a brand new school for kids whose families have just immigrated to the US.

it was a difficult place to work to say the least, but kids like these made my time there feel worthwhile. i'm sad to leave a few of my coworkers that have become dear friends, but i'm so excited about this new opportunity!

3. Charlie and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary (that equals 10 years of dating and 17 years of knowing each other--whoa!

june 2002; june 2007

2. We experienced many very special firsts with our daughter.

first mother's day; first father's day; first vacation

1. My sister moved to the 'boro for GUPY (http://gupy.org/) this summer & to nannie for us in the fall.

aunt jennny with maddie--what a blessing that she will be here with madison when I go back to work!

Can't wait to see what things are in store for this next year!