year in review {2009}

as i've been working on my post about looking forward to 2010 (coming soon), i just didn't *feel* right to post that without acknowledging the year that we are wrapping up today. so, here we go....

2009: the good, the bad and the ugly

obama: first black president ~ bailout + recession ~ social media: facebook + twitter ~ financial struggles + unemployment ~ continuing sacrifices of armed forces overseas ~ the passing of michael jackson ~ kris allen wins idol ~ terrorists ~ sarah palin: scandal + media + book ~ going green ~ swine flu ~ our governor's many antics ~ jon + kate breakup ~ healthcare debate ~ tiger woods ~ glee

1. Mark Sanford, 2. Glee Cast Don't Stop Believin', 3. Tiger Woods, 4. How Does Being Uninsured Harm Individuals and Families?, 5. swine flu, 6. Save the Earth Tote -Pink, 7. Can't wait!, 8. Kris Allen, 9. RIP Michael Jackson's Star On Hollywood Blvd, 10. Unknown U.S. Soldier, 11. dollar$ and ¢ents, 12. Barack Obama - Realistic Portrait - 1 -

2009: our personal piece of history

~ spencer plays basketball ~ fourth grade with ms ayers ~ carolina bowl game ~ matt turns 41 ~ scrapbooking ~ ultrasound ~ baby shower ~ colton is born ~ valentine's day ~ ikea opens ~ coleman's birth ~ art space studio ~ st patrick's day ~ easter in conway ~ spencer plays baseball (x2) ~ porch parties with neighbors ~ michelle's 40th ~ dhf golf tournament ~ gamecock ladies football clinic ~ 7th anniversary ~ cassidy's baby shower ~ come see me ~ cooper + rio ~ tummy time ~ white horse ~ first mother's day ~ new haircut ~ usc baseball game (new stadium) ~ beach vacation ~ baby food ~ matt's first father's day with two ~ daycare at aj's ~ reading logs ~ holly turns 31 ~ fifth grade with ms gamble ~ safety patrol ~ red, white and boom ~ kings mountain ~ brotherly bonding ~ monk dinner party ~ scrapbooking convention ~ gamecock fan appreciation day ~ mccrea's first birthday ~ glencairn gardens ~ spencer turns 11 ~ giada's baptism ~ bo's cross country ~ pumpkin patch ~ finding the best photographer ~ halloween ~ teething ~ christina + johnathan ~ christmas festivities

inspired by a suggestion on stacy julian's blog, i chose only twelve photos from 2009 to represet the year.

irst, let's take a look at the year culturally...

this week {12.21 to 12.27}

this week

~ i did six loads of laundry ~

~ i watched: sing off, cheesy lifetime movies and the mentalist ~

~ i shopped at hobby lobby, belk and walmart ~

~ i called in sick on monday and tuesday ~

~ the boys got a letter from santa in the mail ~

~ sherry watched coleman so i could finish up my christmas errands ~

~ i spent the first part of the week at home with sick baby (and sick self) ~

~ i received my 5-year gift from henkel (i chose a hand blender) ~

~ i had spencer and coleman do their handprints in paint ~

~ coleman went to the doctor and had a middle ear infection (weighed in at 21lbs 2 oz) ~

~ i designed a "digital scrapbook page" to use as part of ornaments ~

~ matt and i visited his parents on christmas eve ~

~ mom came by on christmas eve night ~

~ we played with mom's new cricut ~

~ coleman turned 10 months old ~

i made the "10" award on mom's cricut

~ coleman and i spent most of christmas day at sherry's house ~

~ matt, spencer, coleman, mom and i went to matt's parents' house for christmas dinner and gifts ~

~ we all got tons of great gifts. very spoiled ~

~ spencer put out milk and cookies for santa and some treats for the reindeer ~

~ we had my family over for 'breakfast for dinner' on saturday night ~

~ i made a birthday cake for jesus ~

~ i took the pictures off of my mom's memory card ~

~ i set up spencer's new laptop before wrapping it up ~

~ i finally finished wrapping all our gifts (on christmas day around 5 p.m.!) ~

~ i made two ornaments (for matt's family) using above-mentioned handprints ~

~ we learned about the attempted terrorist attack on christmas day ~

~ our home phone line was hooked back up ~

~ santa came to our house and loaded us up ~
before

after

 ~ sunday was a lazy day, recovering ~

~ i finished reading mary higgins clark's all through the night ~

{photo editing}

i don't know how to do much with PSE or photo editing, but I do love the look of just a bit of color on a black and white photo. It's super simple and there were a couple of our professional shots that I wanted to try.

the original

i just left his eyes and the leaf in color.

the original

i removed the color inside the frame

i removed the color from outside the frame (i like this one better)

this week {12.14 to 12.20}

this week...

~ i did 10 loads of laundry ~

~ i wore my new santa shirt. super cute. ~

~ i worked from home three days ~

~ i watched the mentalist, criminal minds and fringe ~

~ i shopped at bi-lo, walgreens (twice), food lion, cvs, and wal-mart ~

~ i saved $113 at bi-lo (spnent $106)

~ spencer decided to try out for the archery team at his school ~

~ spencer had his first two basketball practices of the season ~

~ i finished up the december newsletter for the neighborhood ~

~ i received a five-year certificate from my company and i ordered my gift ~

~ matt worked two extra shifts during his "long off" ~

~ coleman brought home some of his holiday art from daycare ~

~ i saved $56 at walgreen's (spent $34)

~ i called to reconnect our phone line at home. matt won that battle ~

~ i arranged for my sister to watch coleman one night next month so matt and i can go out for his birthday ~

~ spencer had two project presentations at school (science and social studies) ~

~ i took a half vacation day on thursday afternoon so that spencer and i could bake and decorate cookies~

~ friday was spencer's last day of school in 2009 ~

~ it was 27 degrees on the way to school thursday. seriously. ~

~ i sent two teacher gifts, cookies, pencils and a book to school with spencer ~

i made several of these little gifts - as part of teacher's gifts, but also for mail and newspaper carriers

~ it kind of snowed. a few flakes. ~

~ i planned out our meals for the rest of the year. very proud of myself. ~

~ coleman got sick. yuck. ~

~ i put together seven gifts for the kids at daycare and a gift for aj ~

~ we missed the christmas party at daycare (because coleman was sick) so we got the gifts from aj and opened them at home ~

~ coleman's favorite part of the gifts were the bows ~

~ i had to buy two new thermometers ~

~ i spent the weekend locked inside with a sick baby, so not much excitement ~

signs of sickness...basket of meds, bowl of clean pacifiers and syringes, notebook of medicine times, thermometer readings, etc.

~ i took 76 photos. you can see them here: christmas season 2009 and december 2009 ~

this week {12.7 - 12.13}

ok, so my "this week" post is actually last week. and i know i'm totally behind on my daily prompts. but i promise i will get caught back up. it's just been a crazy few weeks.

~ i sent four different envelopes of money to school with spencer (and empty 2 liter bottles) ~

~ spencer went to his school book fair and bought blind side. i am hoping to read it when he's done. ~

~ i shopped at hallmark (twice), party city (browsed, no purchases), target, wal-mart, rack room, books a million, and food lion ~

~ i shopped online at dicks, kohls and old navy ~

~ i went to the library and got christmas books for me and coleman ~

~ i did seven loads of laundry ~

~ i paid child support for matt (again) ~

~ there was a gorgeous sunrise one morning ~

~ i worked on details of neighborhood caroling event ~

~ i finally got december schedule worked out with spencer's mom ~

~ my victoria secret's order was delivered. i was very pleased with the sweaters, but disappointed in the color of my *free* scarf. i ordered 'electric blue' and it is SO purple ~

~ i brainstormed some party ideas for coleman's birthday. i'm posting everything that catches my fancy on my tumblr site: http://chroniclesofasouthernscrapper.tumblr.com/ ~

~ i designed and sent out the email invite for our bowl party ~

~ i reorganized my drawer of scarves, hats and gloves ~

~ my five-year anniversary at work was recognized in a meeting ~

~ i watched castle, lie to me, bones, fringe ~

~ rio had something weird happen to him. we think it was a seizure. he seems fine now. scared the crap out of me in a very serious way.~

~ my committee rented a sign for our caroling event ~

~ i held a baby much smaller than my own (3 months old). she made coleman seem like a giant. ~

~ i made brownies ~

~ christmas cards finally started to roll in. love it. ~

~ spencer continued his archery lessons at school and i attended a demo on friday morning ~

~ we picked up jo and checked out the christmas lights show in stafford park. then hit a few more neighborhoods ~

~ i had an hoa board meeting. it was a tough one ~

~ we had our caroling event in the neighborhood ~

yes, we totally rednecked it up and santa is riding in the back of a red lowrider truck.

given coleman's reaction to the last santa, we thought it'd be best if i just held him this time.

~ matt, coleman and i went to carolina place mall for some christmas shopping ~

coleman enjoyed watching all the people and action, but it must've been exhausting :)

~ lots of shopping (alone) on sunday. most of my christmas shopping is done ~


~ matt worked an extra half shift, so i stayed up late (midnight) waiting for him to get home ~

~ i took 79 photos (lots of duplicates that were quickly deleted) ~
you can see them all here: archery, december 2009, and 2009 christmas season