2008: A Year in Review

Going to Disney with the Tubas

Cruisin' to Nassau

Enjoying the day in St. Augustine

Well I must say this has been an interesting year to say the least.

Ricky has been climbing his way up the corporate ladder at the Golf Channel. This year alone, he has switched positions twice. He went from being full-time in the library as a Media Cataloger, to Customer Service (and producing the daily newsletter) in New Media, to his current position as the Associate Producer of Instruction for New Media (aka golfchannel.com). It has been so great being able to watch Ricky move up in the company. I know that he was getting restless in the library and now he is able to do the kinds of projects he loves to do. He even got to go on his first business trip to Portland to train customer service reps.

As for my climb to the top, I think the most appropriate word is halted. Because of all of the budget cuts in Florida (thank you Amendment 1), teachers are being let go left and right (and every other direction you can think of). So I am still an unemployed teacher who is currently working for Best Buy (again). The good news is that I have been accepted into Grad School at UCF. I am going to be working towards my Masters of Education in Art Education starting on the 7th of January. I am very excited about starting this next step in my education. Granted, I will be racking up a few more mountains of debt with my student loans, but at least I will now have a piece of paper that says "education" on it. For some reason a Professional Teaching Certificate isn't enough. They like to see that degree too. I figure if all goes according to plan, I will be done in 2010. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

In April, Ricky and I celebrated our first year anniversary. We didn't have a lot of money, so we did a 3 day trip to St. Augustine where we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast (Casablanca Inn) facing the river. The weather couldn't have been any better while we were there. It wasn't too hot or muggy. On the first night we were there we were able to participate in something very special. One night a month when the moon is full, the St. Augustine Lighthouse does a special event called, "Sunset moonrise" where you trek up to the top of the lighthouse and watch the sunset on one side and watch the moon rise on the other. They have refreshments and champagne to toast with and you just enjoy the spectacular view. We managed to see it on the best night apparently, because it was so clear, we actually saw the entire moonrise on the horizon. Apparently, that doesn't happen very often. While we were in St. Augustine we also did the touristy things like going to the wax museum, taking a tour of Flagler (which I highly recommend), and walked the city. We did stop at the Golf Hall of Fame for a brief while and ate at the Caddyshack restaurant. They had great food and was a pretty cool environment. Not a bad place to have a themed dinner.

This year also marked a milestone for Ricky's dad. We all went on a 3 day Carnival cruise together. We left out of Port Canaveral and sailed down to Nassau and back. It was a nice little trip with the exception that I did actually need dramamine this time around. On the last 2 cruises I didn't need the medicine because the seas were relatively calm. Unfortunately, the first day was a bit rough, but afterwards, I rediscovered my sea legs and I was fine. This was actually the trip that I finally received my 24k plastic ship on a stick. They are these little plastic trophies that they hand out to winners of different events on board. I actually won a trivia contest. I was so proud. We actually have it displayed in our bedroom. The trip Nassau was wonderful as well. We got off the boat and found a driver named Baron to take us around the island. He did an excellent job and although Ricky and I had done a similar trip the year before, we actually managed to see some new sites we didn't get to see the first time. All in all the cruise was wonderful and I do believe everyone had a wonderful time. And as for Ricky's dad, I think he is a cruiser for life.

As far as housing goes, we moved out of Deltona and back to civilization in East Orlando. We found a house to rent in Avalon Park which in time we are hoping to be able to purchase. We love this house. It is just the right size to the point that we wouldn't need to move when we decide to expand our family. Not to mention, its in a great area and all of the neighbors are extremely nice. We are just taking it all one step at a time though and see where everything takes us.

This year has also been a big year for all of our friends and we were fortunate to share in their milestones with them. We welcomed 4 new babies into the world (Kendal, Cameron, Carter, & Raphael ). They are all so precious and wonderful additions to this world we live in. It has been so fun during the past year to watch them grow. I just can't believe how big they are all getting. We also joined together as several of our friends said their vows and become husband and wife. Our warmest congratulations to all of them and we wish them the best (Ashley & Mark, Chris & Amanda, Bryan & Ashley).

Over all, this has been a very successful year. We have seen new life brought into the world, new foundations created, and have been able to spend another memory filled year together. We just want to send the warmest holiday wishes out to all of our friends and Ricky and I are looking forward to all the new and exciting adventures that 2009 will bring.