Wrapping Up 2010

It seems like it is hardly the end of 2010. The time has flown! And as usual, I'm left wondering where the year went. Here is 2010 in a nutshell...

January

-Grant flew to DC over New Years so I brought in 2010 Melson-style. My sister, Erin, her husband ,Chris, and I staked out a table at Fat Daddy's near their home in Grand Praire. Erin and I danced the night away while Chris watched on with amusement.

-This was the year that truly changed my relationship with Christ. I made two committments this year. 1)To tithe every single paycheck. 2) To spend every morning in prayer and in the Bible. I've never seen as many blessings, both financially and relationally, as I have in 2010. My trust in God has grown exponentially and I'm finding that life is much more enjoyable when I give my first-fruits to the One who gave it all.

February

-Grant and I began the great house-hunt! We targeted the Pflugerville-area due to a slightly lower cost of living. On Valentine's night, Grant & I bundled up and drove around Pflugerville on our own. We admired a cute little two-story that would eventually become our first home. The funny thing is, just two months prior, Grant had informed me that we'd probably have to wait another year to buy a home. After speaking to our financial advisor in January (the same month I started tithing), we found out we could afford our first home. Conincidence? I think not.

March

-Grant and I hopped in the truck and headed over to Houston for the famous Houston Rodeo with some of my best friends. We went to a Jason Aldean concert and, of course, sampled all the fried glory that a fair will offer. My personal favorite: fried cheesecake on a stick.

-March was the month of music for us. One night during Austin's "South by Southwest" music festival, we went downtown and listened to a hip-hop group from Brooklyn on a roof-top bar overlooking 6th Street. We left promptly as the next act was beginning. "Jake the Snake" had a a suspicious resemblance to K-Fed.

-At the end of March, Grant treated me to a Kevin Fowler concert at the Austin Rodeo. Due to the fact that the Austin Rodeo is much smaller than Houston's, I was able to meet and greet the local livestock and pick out which types I'll have on my future farm.

April

-Erin turned 26 and I couldn't miss such a big event! I drove to her house, along with a bunch of her close friends. We spent the day getting pedicures and then danced the night away at where else, but Fat Daddy's.

-Later in the month, Grant participated in one of the most impressive athletic events in the area...The MS150. Grant and our friend, Mike, rode their bikes from Houston to Austin in an effort to raise money for MS. I've never seen him as tired (or hungry) as he was after riding into Austin but the accomplishment was enough for him to decide he's doing it in 2011!

May

-The big event officially happened on May 3rd. Grant and I closed on our house! It was a very exciting day for us and we might've screamed and jumped around a little once we were safely out of the signing office. We started moving in that day and even made time to go pick out some new living room furniture.

-My brother, Ryan, spent his entire summer as a counselor at a camp in Arkansas. Before he left, he and Erin came to visit us in our new home. We made sure to show them a good time and took them to some local hot-spots around Austin. It was definitely hard not to have the baby brother around all summer, but they've got to fly the nest sometime!

-At the end of May, Grant and I made our way up to Wichita, Kansas for Mike & Veronica's wedding. Veronica's dad was kind enough to foot the entire hotel bill and we enjoyed three nights in Wichita, celebrating the newlyweds. We kicked off Friday with the bachelor/bachelorette parties, which seemed to keep meeting up all night. Saturday we enjoyed a day with the wedding party and a welcome-dinner that night. Sunday was the big day and what a wedding it was! Grant and I danced all night and still insist it ranks as one of our very favorite weddings.

June

-June started off as a very trying month for me. Upon returning from our Witchita trip, I caught some type of virus and was sick for about two weeks. I not only missed Grant's birthday, I missed our house-warming party. I told Grant to make sure the party happened because he'd been looking forward to showing off his new home. I was upstairs in bed the entire time, but I hear it was a blast!

-As our anniversary falls right after Grant's birthday, I was still sick. We made the best of it by ordering take-out and a movie. Our 4th anniversary was spent with both of us having pink-eye, which I'd given to him at some point during my virus. We enjoyed a dance in our living room and couldn't stop laughing at how disgusting our 4th anniversary turned out.

-My group of best friends from college decided that to celebrate ten years of friendship, we'd take a trip together. We decided on a gorgeous hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. In May, however, Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy and chemo. The plans changed a bit since no one would even think of taking the trip without Sarah so we brought the party to her in Houston. The change of plans didn't hinder our fun at all and it actually was the perfect example of how strong our circle of friends still is...since that first year at Stephen F. Austin State University. (Me trying on Sarah's wig. I look rough.)

July

-The weekend of July 4th, Grant and I drove out to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Every five years, Grant's family has a huge family reunion and this was the year! It was my first reunion as part of the family and I was able to meet an entire tribe of people who are related to my hubby. We spent lots of time by the pool, out at the lake, playing games, and I made Grant proud by participating in a watermelon-eating contest (which I was really forced into).


September

-Towards the end of September, Grant and I packed up the dogs and went camping at Enchanted Rock with Mike and Veronica. We found the perfect camping spot near the base of the rock, encircled with trees. We enjoyed our first bison burgers (highly recommend them) and spent Sunday morning hiking. There might have been a game of "Chubby Bunny" in there, which I won. But Grant just saw on tv how people have died from playing the game...so I've been forbidden from claiming anymore "Chubby Bunny" championships.

-The biggest news of this year...or of our lives...came the following week. Due to some suspicions, I took a pregnancy test and found out that our lives were forever changing. The Qualleys were adding a little one to the mix! We wanted to play it safe and keep things quiet, but couldn't resist telling our immediate family and some of our closest friends. Needless to say, the excitement spread pretty quickly.

October

-My college girls came into town at the beginning of the month and we threw Olivia a baby shower at my house. It was fun to have an intimate party and celebrate the sixth baby of our group of friends. It was also a fun time to announce the fact that the eighth would soon be on the way! (Number seven will be showing up in the spring to a very proud Cari and Matt.)

-The weekend after fun with the girls, Grant and I went to our second Austin City Limits Music Festival. Being one of the biggest events of the year in Austin, it's one we try to make when possible. I didn't know a lot of the bands that played on Saturday, but Grant and I did find ourselves dancing to some crazy music by Ozzomatli. (I know, Grant dancing?!?)

-We had our first ultrasound later in October and saw that, in fact, there was a little one just waiting to grow and make an appearance on an estimated June 3rd, 2011.

November

-This was a big month for Grant. We drove out to Pappalote Creek, outside of Corpus Cristi. We were there for the grand-opening of the windfarm that Grant has had a huge hand in designing. Grant strutted around like a proud daddy that day. I'm sure this day goes down as one of his most memorable and exciting.

-Before the Thanksgiving break, we had our third visit to the Dr. (I had a second trip later in October when I couldn't seen to kick a nasty bought of strep-throat that made most of October pretty miserable.) We had a sonogram and could see that we have one active baby! They took measurements of the baby and did some bloodwork and everything showed one healthy baby. The sonographer ventured to say that our little one looked like a girl, which got me on the "girl" train of thought!

December

-We had our big "revealing" appointment for the baby earlier later in the month. What the sonographer had already determinded to be a girl was, in fact, one healthy baby BOY! My sister was with Grant and I for the big appointment and all of us were in shock and completely delighted by the news.

This year has truly been a year of blessings and if I can add any words of encouragement for a fruitful 2011, it would be this...give your best to God because He will be faithful to return to you more than you could ever expect. Happy New Year!