So a couple of my friends have done posts recapping stuff that has happened in their lives over the last decade. It inspired me to give it a try. The only problem is apparently I have a terrible memory. I tried to enlist Mark's help but apparently his memory is worse then mine. So I'm going to do my best. First I tried to think of where we were for the last 10 New Year's Eves. I think most of them were spent in northern California, I know 2001 or 2002 was spent in Hawaii with Mark's family. And I know we have hosted a party at our house the last two years. Other than that they are all kind of jumbled. What I do know for sure is that I have spent every single one with Mark.
2000- Mark and I were both in college at UCSB. I was in a sorority for the first part of the year but dropped out and Mark and I move into an apartment with 4 of our guy friends. That summer Mark and I both got jobs at Costco. Mark worked in the food court for 3 months and hated it. I was lucky and worked inside as a cashier and ended up working there until we graduated. We moved into a house with 10 other people and adopted our cat Shasta. It was crazy living with that many people and it only lasted the summer. That fall Mark and I got our first apartment together. It's now fondly remembered as the cockroach apartment.
2001 - We moved again into our apartment on Trigo. This is where we lived for the remainder of our college time. I loved that apartment, so many great memories. For spring break Mark and I took a trip to Puerta Vallarta. To this day it was one of my favorite vacations we have ever been on. I'm pretty sure that winter we went to Hawaii with Mark's family and spent New Year's watching fireworks on the beach. Again it could have been the year before I just can't remember.
2002 - On Valentine's Day Mark proposed at this romantic restaurant called Chad's. I was totally surprised and of course said yes! That spring we both graduated from UCSB. Mark graduated with a degree in business economics and I graduated with honors with a degree in Political Science. We were both very sad to leave UCSB but excited for our next adventure in life. We moved to the Bay Area. That fall Mark started working for Wells Fargo and I got a part time job at the Lafayette Park Hotel. I was in full wedding planning mode and loving it. In September we moved into a cute two bedroom apartment in Walnut Creek.
2003 - We both continued to work and plan the wedding. We both celebrated our bachelor and bachelorette parties in Vegas. In October we got married. The wedding was amazing. It was a weekend event. On Thursday we drove up to the wine country. The guys all played golf and then my dad hosted a big dinner at an Italian restaurant named Santi's. It was a great way to kick off the weekend. Friday morning we had the rehearsal and then a limo took us over to the Joseph Phelps Winery. All of the wedding guests were invited. We had a private barrel tasting with the wine maker and lunch at the winery. That night Judy and Joel hosted the rehearsal dinner at Madrona Manor. It was amazing. Saturday, October 11th Mark and I got married at Trentadue Winery. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Everything was amazing! After the wedding we went on our honeymoon which was split between New York and Miami. Mark had never been to either place and I was really excited go to both places with him. In New York my dad had arranged to us to have a suite at the Plaza Hotel. It was amazing, they were filming the Sopranos while we were there and we even ran into James Gandolfini one night. Then it was off to Miami. We had so much fun, it is one of my favorite cities. In November we took another trip to Vegas to Celebrate my dad's 50th birthday.
2004 - In April I was still working at the Lafayette Park hotel and was promoted to social catering manager. Mark was promoted 3 times, and ended up as a Branch Manager in Danville. In May we bought our first home in Pleasant Hill (702 Ruth Drive). It was a cute little 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. Later that year we celebrated my mom's 50th birthday. They came to California, we had a limo take us to dinner at Masas in San Francisco. It was so yummy, one of the best meals I've ever had. The lobster bisque was still the best we've ever had!
2005 - This was the year of work and travel. Mark and I both worked a lot of long hours. We also took a bunch of trips. A few to Vegas, couple to New Mexico and another to Hawaii. In July I made a trip to Texas for Matt and Abbey's wedding. On my way there I stopped in New Mexico to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday. Then it was off to the wedding. I ended up attending the wedding alone because two other good friends of ours Danny and Shasha were getting married on the same day. So Mark stayed in California to go to their wedding I went to Texas to be a part of Matt and Abbeys. It was a great wedding and I totally fell in love with Austin on that trip.
2006 - In February we took a really fun trip to Hawaii. We stayed in Maui and to this day it's one of the best vacations I have ever been on. I LOVE Maui and can't wait to go back. In June on Father's day we found out we were pregnant. It was a surprise to both of us but we couldn't have been happier. That July we took a trip to Mount Shasta for our friends Budge and Courtney's wedding. It was a lot of fun and we got to reconnect with a lot of our old friends from college. A couple weeks later we had our first doctors appointment and found out that we had lost the baby. We were both devastated. But we now knew that we were ready for a baby and wanted one more then anything. That fall we took an amazing trip to the Atlantis Resort in the Caribbean. Again this ranked as one of my top 5 vacations of all time. On Friday, November 10th while still on vacation we found out we were pregnant!
2007- This was definitely the year of big changes. We decided to move to Texas. We started to build our Texas house in March. We sold our Pleasant Hill house in June, Brody was born in July and we moved to Texas in September. It was a very busy year. Brody was due on July 17th but he took his sweet time and was born a week late. I went into labor around 2am on July 23rd and he was born at 4:50pm that day. I fell madly in love with him the minute I saw him and knew my life would never be the same. The next moth was filled with getting to know our new little baby and preparing for the big move. We stopped in New Mexico on our way to Texas for my parents annual back yard bash. A week later on September 21st we were moving into our home on 420 Madison's Way. The rest of '07 was spent adjusting to life as new parents in a new town. We loved Texas and quickly began to make friends. We started attending Wonderful Wednesday, which is a monthly dinner hosted by Matt and Abbey on the first Wednesday of every month. It was a great way to meet new friends and get to know the city of Austin.
2008- This was definitely the year of babies. When we first started going to Wonderful Wednesday we were the only ones with a baby. Well in August Matt and Abbey had Kinsey, in October Robin and Justin had Jude and then in November Matt and Savannah had Madison. We hosted a New Year's party on the 31st and found out that Christa and Dusty were also expecting. In July we celebrated Brody's first birthday. We had a big party at the house with lots of friends and family. In November we took our first trip without Brody to Isla Mujeres, Mexico for our friend Tim and Tania's wedding. It was a great wedding, one of the most fun we have ever been to. Later that month our good friends Justin, Bernd and Thea all came to visit and to help us celebrate Mark's birthday. We played bar golf downtown and had a fabulous time.
2009 - This started as the year of canceled trips but ended up being a very busy year. First Mark had won a trip to Hawaii through work for finishing #1 in his position for the year. But because of all the banking drama in the country Wells Fargo ended up canceling all of their trips. We were also supposed to go to Mexico for our friends Brian and Yvonne's wedding but again had to cancel because of political drama in Mexico and the outbreak of the Swine Flu. In May Mark and I made a trip to the east coast to see my little sister Kelley graduate from college. After graduation my whole family spent a few days in New York, it was so much fun! Also in May Dusty and Christa had their first child, a little girl named Maebry. In June I went to Santa Barbara for my best friend Angela's bachelorette party. It was such a fun weekend and was so great to get to visit Santa Barbara. On Father's Day we found out we were pregnant with baby #2! In July we flew to California for Angela and Dj's wedding. It was in Napa and was a beautiful wedding. In August we made a trip to New Mexico for the back yard bash and for my sister Sydna's wedding. Her and Shane had a small ceremony at the court house and plan to do a bigger wedding in 2010. At the end of August we flew to California again for Joel's 65th birthday. In September Mark took another trip to California to visit his good friend Justin. Also in September our friends Tim and Tania had their first baby, a little boy they named Corey. In October, my grandfather passed away so we made an unexpected trip to New Mexico for his funeral. Later that month we made a trip to Port Aransas with a group of friends. It was a lot of fun and we hope to make it an annual thing. The following weekend we traveled up to Dallas with our good friends Tim and Shara for the Texas/Oklahoma football game. We also found out that Tim and Shara were pregnant! In November my family, Mark's mom and Thea all came out for my baby shower. A week later I discovered a strange bump on Brody's abdomen which led to him having surgery. We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home this year and then traveled to New Mexico with Tim and Shara to celebrate an early Christmas with my family. For actual Christmas Mark's family flew in to celebrate with us. We hosted our 2nd annual New Year's party with a bunch of friends.
Wow that was a lot to think about. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of stuff but that's what I was able to come up with. It's been an amazing 10 years and I can't wait to see what's in store for the next 10!
2000- Mark and I were both in college at UCSB. I was in a sorority for the first part of the year but dropped out and Mark and I move into an apartment with 4 of our guy friends. That summer Mark and I both got jobs at Costco. Mark worked in the food court for 3 months and hated it. I was lucky and worked inside as a cashier and ended up working there until we graduated. We moved into a house with 10 other people and adopted our cat Shasta. It was crazy living with that many people and it only lasted the summer. That fall Mark and I got our first apartment together. It's now fondly remembered as the cockroach apartment.
2001 - We moved again into our apartment on Trigo. This is where we lived for the remainder of our college time. I loved that apartment, so many great memories. For spring break Mark and I took a trip to Puerta Vallarta. To this day it was one of my favorite vacations we have ever been on. I'm pretty sure that winter we went to Hawaii with Mark's family and spent New Year's watching fireworks on the beach. Again it could have been the year before I just can't remember.
2002 - On Valentine's Day Mark proposed at this romantic restaurant called Chad's. I was totally surprised and of course said yes! That spring we both graduated from UCSB. Mark graduated with a degree in business economics and I graduated with honors with a degree in Political Science. We were both very sad to leave UCSB but excited for our next adventure in life. We moved to the Bay Area. That fall Mark started working for Wells Fargo and I got a part time job at the Lafayette Park Hotel. I was in full wedding planning mode and loving it. In September we moved into a cute two bedroom apartment in Walnut Creek.
2003 - We both continued to work and plan the wedding. We both celebrated our bachelor and bachelorette parties in Vegas. In October we got married. The wedding was amazing. It was a weekend event. On Thursday we drove up to the wine country. The guys all played golf and then my dad hosted a big dinner at an Italian restaurant named Santi's. It was a great way to kick off the weekend. Friday morning we had the rehearsal and then a limo took us over to the Joseph Phelps Winery. All of the wedding guests were invited. We had a private barrel tasting with the wine maker and lunch at the winery. That night Judy and Joel hosted the rehearsal dinner at Madrona Manor. It was amazing. Saturday, October 11th Mark and I got married at Trentadue Winery. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Everything was amazing! After the wedding we went on our honeymoon which was split between New York and Miami. Mark had never been to either place and I was really excited go to both places with him. In New York my dad had arranged to us to have a suite at the Plaza Hotel. It was amazing, they were filming the Sopranos while we were there and we even ran into James Gandolfini one night. Then it was off to Miami. We had so much fun, it is one of my favorite cities. In November we took another trip to Vegas to Celebrate my dad's 50th birthday.
2004 - In April I was still working at the Lafayette Park hotel and was promoted to social catering manager. Mark was promoted 3 times, and ended up as a Branch Manager in Danville. In May we bought our first home in Pleasant Hill (702 Ruth Drive). It was a cute little 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. Later that year we celebrated my mom's 50th birthday. They came to California, we had a limo take us to dinner at Masas in San Francisco. It was so yummy, one of the best meals I've ever had. The lobster bisque was still the best we've ever had!
2005 - This was the year of work and travel. Mark and I both worked a lot of long hours. We also took a bunch of trips. A few to Vegas, couple to New Mexico and another to Hawaii. In July I made a trip to Texas for Matt and Abbey's wedding. On my way there I stopped in New Mexico to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday. Then it was off to the wedding. I ended up attending the wedding alone because two other good friends of ours Danny and Shasha were getting married on the same day. So Mark stayed in California to go to their wedding I went to Texas to be a part of Matt and Abbeys. It was a great wedding and I totally fell in love with Austin on that trip.
2006 - In February we took a really fun trip to Hawaii. We stayed in Maui and to this day it's one of the best vacations I have ever been on. I LOVE Maui and can't wait to go back. In June on Father's day we found out we were pregnant. It was a surprise to both of us but we couldn't have been happier. That July we took a trip to Mount Shasta for our friends Budge and Courtney's wedding. It was a lot of fun and we got to reconnect with a lot of our old friends from college. A couple weeks later we had our first doctors appointment and found out that we had lost the baby. We were both devastated. But we now knew that we were ready for a baby and wanted one more then anything. That fall we took an amazing trip to the Atlantis Resort in the Caribbean. Again this ranked as one of my top 5 vacations of all time. On Friday, November 10th while still on vacation we found out we were pregnant!
2007- This was definitely the year of big changes. We decided to move to Texas. We started to build our Texas house in March. We sold our Pleasant Hill house in June, Brody was born in July and we moved to Texas in September. It was a very busy year. Brody was due on July 17th but he took his sweet time and was born a week late. I went into labor around 2am on July 23rd and he was born at 4:50pm that day. I fell madly in love with him the minute I saw him and knew my life would never be the same. The next moth was filled with getting to know our new little baby and preparing for the big move. We stopped in New Mexico on our way to Texas for my parents annual back yard bash. A week later on September 21st we were moving into our home on 420 Madison's Way. The rest of '07 was spent adjusting to life as new parents in a new town. We loved Texas and quickly began to make friends. We started attending Wonderful Wednesday, which is a monthly dinner hosted by Matt and Abbey on the first Wednesday of every month. It was a great way to meet new friends and get to know the city of Austin.
2008- This was definitely the year of babies. When we first started going to Wonderful Wednesday we were the only ones with a baby. Well in August Matt and Abbey had Kinsey, in October Robin and Justin had Jude and then in November Matt and Savannah had Madison. We hosted a New Year's party on the 31st and found out that Christa and Dusty were also expecting. In July we celebrated Brody's first birthday. We had a big party at the house with lots of friends and family. In November we took our first trip without Brody to Isla Mujeres, Mexico for our friend Tim and Tania's wedding. It was a great wedding, one of the most fun we have ever been to. Later that month our good friends Justin, Bernd and Thea all came to visit and to help us celebrate Mark's birthday. We played bar golf downtown and had a fabulous time.
2009 - This started as the year of canceled trips but ended up being a very busy year. First Mark had won a trip to Hawaii through work for finishing #1 in his position for the year. But because of all the banking drama in the country Wells Fargo ended up canceling all of their trips. We were also supposed to go to Mexico for our friends Brian and Yvonne's wedding but again had to cancel because of political drama in Mexico and the outbreak of the Swine Flu. In May Mark and I made a trip to the east coast to see my little sister Kelley graduate from college. After graduation my whole family spent a few days in New York, it was so much fun! Also in May Dusty and Christa had their first child, a little girl named Maebry. In June I went to Santa Barbara for my best friend Angela's bachelorette party. It was such a fun weekend and was so great to get to visit Santa Barbara. On Father's Day we found out we were pregnant with baby #2! In July we flew to California for Angela and Dj's wedding. It was in Napa and was a beautiful wedding. In August we made a trip to New Mexico for the back yard bash and for my sister Sydna's wedding. Her and Shane had a small ceremony at the court house and plan to do a bigger wedding in 2010. At the end of August we flew to California again for Joel's 65th birthday. In September Mark took another trip to California to visit his good friend Justin. Also in September our friends Tim and Tania had their first baby, a little boy they named Corey. In October, my grandfather passed away so we made an unexpected trip to New Mexico for his funeral. Later that month we made a trip to Port Aransas with a group of friends. It was a lot of fun and we hope to make it an annual thing. The following weekend we traveled up to Dallas with our good friends Tim and Shara for the Texas/Oklahoma football game. We also found out that Tim and Shara were pregnant! In November my family, Mark's mom and Thea all came out for my baby shower. A week later I discovered a strange bump on Brody's abdomen which led to him having surgery. We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home this year and then traveled to New Mexico with Tim and Shara to celebrate an early Christmas with my family. For actual Christmas Mark's family flew in to celebrate with us. We hosted our 2nd annual New Year's party with a bunch of friends.
Wow that was a lot to think about. I'm sure I'm missing a ton of stuff but that's what I was able to come up with. It's been an amazing 10 years and I can't wait to see what's in store for the next 10!
2 comments:
What an awesome post!!!
Yeah, I loved reading it! I got to learn more about you guys.... fun! Happy new Year.
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