1.1.11

Last night as I laid in bed I thought back about 2010.  A lot of changes happened for our little family this year.  For journal purposes I thought I should record some of the "bigger" things that happened to us in 2010.

January:  We finally were back in Des Moines as an entire family.  After experiencing many months apart and living with parents (which was SO fun & such a blessing), it was nice to be back in our own frozen over tiny house.  Ben turned to big 3-0!   Old man.

February:  Not a whole lot except anticipating match day in March.

March:  MATCH DAY, big trials, and finally realizing we were moving to Temple, Texas.

April:  Found a home to rent in Temple...very excited.  Took a trip down to see some of the church history sites in MO. I turned 25 29 and Spencer turned the big 1!!!

May:  After 4 years of lots of hard work and many tests, Ben graduated DMU, and became Dr. Fluhman, DPM.  Ben's folks came out and celebrated with us.  We also celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.

June:  We finished packing, cleaning, and CRYING and with much sorrow/excitement/anxiety drove away from Des Moines (home) and headed out on a new adventure in Texas.  17 hours later we arrived in Temple.  Natali turned 5.

July:  Ben started residency at Scott & White.  My mom came out to visit.  We discovered some tasty Texas BBQ and what the true meaning of HEAT meant!  We got our house set up as our home, and felt pretty homesick for friends and all things familiar.

August:  Still adjusting to Texas.  Slowly figuring our way around and starting to feel "apart" of things.  Natali started school, kindergarten.  We were blessed to get an AMAZING teacher for her.  It helped ease the transition for me.  Isaac turned 3!

September:  Getting into the swing of life in Texas.  Pretty sure we visited every splash pad in the area multiple times and did a lot of swimming.  Drove to Round Rock/Austin and discovered where the shopping really was (and Costco).  Ben trying to survive the first few months of residency.

October:  Ben's sister Liz came out to visit us with her baby. It was so fun to have family here and to show someone our new place we call home.

November:  Busy with school, kid biz, preschool, playgroup, church callings, etc. We enjoyed Thanksgiving with some families here and did some SERIOUS black Friday shopping with Shauni!

December:  Enjoyed doing our first activity/advent calendar.  Drove through the lights at BLORA.  Took Natali to A LOT of holiday performances for Kid Biz.  Natali & I went to the Nutcracker on a mommy daughter date.  Spent Christmas Eve down in Austin with my Aunt & Uncle.  Had our very first Christmas at home.  It was surprisingly really nice.  Grandma & Grandpa Fluhman came down two days later and spent the week spoiling us.  It was a perfect visit!

Looking back the year had it's ups and downs (like getting riped off from our movers, Budget Van Lines ).  Overall the year was wonderful.  We reached some huge accomplishments and embarked on some new adventures.  There were a lot of tears shed this year it seems.  There were also a lot of blessings poured out on us this year as well.  We have been blessed.  It's always very overwhelming to realize how blessed we are at times.  It's easy to complain and get caught up in meaningless things/aspects of life.  I have a wonderful husband, 3 beautiful kids, a warm home, food on the table, and the knowledge of the gospel.  Here's to a great 2010, and wishing for happy 2011!!!