Year in Review

Typically, Rich and I send out an annual letter with Christmas cards. I always call the letter "Our Year in Review." For a number of reasons, we didn't send out cards this year, so I thought I'd post the letter here instead. We'll miss you, 2009 (sort of)! Welcome 2010!

January- We took a three week long trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan. The trip was wonderful, but Sarah vowed never to take an 18 hour flight ever again, no matter how wonderful the destination. We also vowed never to leave our dog, Charlie, for that long again. It was rough! One neat thing about the flight back- we spent over 36 hours in transit, yet somehow arrived less than 4 hours after we departed. Time stood still.

February- We can't remember a single thing we did in this month. Yikes! Maybe because we spent the whole month trying to recover from jet lag.

March- We spent Spring Break in Dallas. Nothing really exciting happened, except Sarah had a birthday.

April- We took a trip to California to visit Claremont Graduate University, Rich's top pick for a PhD program. While Richard met with professors and developed terrible blisters on his feet from exploring Claremont on foot, Sarah visited twenty (!) or so apartment complexes, looking for a place to live.

May- Richard graduated from Perkins (sort of). He actually had one last class to complete over the summer, but they let him pay the $100 to walk at graduation anyway! How generous of Perkins! Both sets of parents came to visit for the graduation shenanigans, and we got to show them all of our favorite Dallas haunts.

June- Sarah spent most of June in Taos, NM for work. It turned out to be a better term than last year, but it was still rough- especially knowing about all of the packing to do once she got home!

July- Richard finished his last class for Perkins. We took a transcontinental trip, with all of our belongings in tow! It turned out to be a great trip. We stayed with friends one night and camped one night. We had planned to camp the next night, but we got lost in the Mojave desert, got frustrated, and decided to

August- We spent most of August trying to find a grocery store and getting acclimated to our new surroundings. We visited several local churches- one that we almost had to leave early because Sarah got the giggles over a certain hymn. We did find a church that we both like, one that does not sing ridiculous songs. Sarah joined the choir.

September- Richard began his PhD program in earnest. Due dates started rolling in, and Richard spent more time reading and writing than he thought was humanly possible. Sarah became an official "PhD widow," but was lucky enough to get to eat with Richard every single day. We also found out that Sarah's sister, Amanda is pregnant! This was an unexpected blessing after Amanda's three year battle with ovarian cancer.

October- We took a weekend camping trip to Joshua Tree National Park, where we saw exactly 0 Joshua Trees. We did take a hike that we fondly have nicknamed the "death march." The hike was rough, but the weekend was wonderful.

November- Our friends, Abigail and Brett, stopped by for a visit on their cross-country drive. We had a great time catching up! Sarah's parents came to visit later in the month for Thanksgiving week. We wore them out, showing them all the sights of LA. Sarah also cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, including a turkey (spatchcocked a la Martha Stewart). There were no fires or inedible dishes. Success!

December- Richard finished his first semester of PhD coursework, and we had a junk-food-palooza to celebrate. We headed to Houston for the Christmas holiday, and we spent some quality time with both sets of parents. We got bumped from our flight on the way back to CA and got to fly first class on the way back- a first for both of us!

Also- I got a job!!!! Can't believe it.