2008 in Review

It's been a year, I can say that. We started out 2008 living with my parents, having just begun to deal with the loss of Carrie. Not having my sister here with me has impacted me in every aspect of my life. Movies with death scenes or funerals have an entirely new meaning to me now because no matter what, I instantly go back to my thoughts of loosing Carrie and I cry for her all over again. I am thankful that I knew her for 26 years.

January 1st, 2008: The animals consisted of Russell (dog), Edgar (horse), Oakley (horse), Troy and Echo (goats).

Around March or so, I received an email from some long-lost friends that I never thought we'd hear from again. That initial email was a light in a very dark tunnel for us and just what we needed in our lives, especially at that time. George & Rachel had contacted us out of the blue after having not talked with them in about 5-6 years. They drove up to meet us on a day we had a work party for our property cleanup and we've become great friends all over again. I am Thankful to have them back in our lives.

Softball season started up and as usual, came with it's ups and downs over the season. Derek soon realized his body was not recovering from tournaments as quickly this year and overall, he was feeling the "hurt" of playing ball. Early in the season he talked about it being his last year and as the season continued and more injuries occurred and other interests grew, he realized it actually was going to be his last year. He will miss it with all he has in him, but a new chapter is upon us in our life and we both are ready to change the page.

In early summer, we acquired 2 more goats, Briggs & Stratton. Derek wanted to get 4 more goats, I managed to keep him to 2 more for now! :) Early Fall, we lost Troy to a urinary stone, a hard loss as he was our buddy. Dr Andrea worked very hard to save his life, it was an experience I can say that, to watch open bellied surgery.

Mid Summer, we finished the MAJOR project of building our first house and after 9 months of living with my parents, we moved back home! Building the house definately had its ups and downs, but in the end, it was worth it. I think our old house would have collapsed under all this snow we just had! It was a lot of work that could not have been possible without the help of ALL our friends and family!!! We have a nice house and tons of projects still to be completed.

In August Eric & Andrea got married which stirred up a lot of feelings of missing Carrie for me, but I got through and although I'm sure I'm being biased here, it was the BEST wedding you could ever go to!

We decided to lease Oakley out to a girl in Longview WA, Amanda. She is training him and riding/showing him for the next 2 years. I am very excited to see where she can take Oakley and to watch them grow together. He is a fantastic horse and I am very proud of him and Amanda. Now that softball is done, Derek has decided (and is excited!) to start riding. He wants to do local rides and overnight camping trips with me, this is new territory for both of us, but I am looking forward to it. We are leasing a friends horse HotRod who is a great fit for Derek.

We purchased a camper and a bigger/newer truck. We had to give up my little Kia car to do so, but it definately has been worth it, particularly with all this snow to now own 2 trucks. We intend on getting back into fishing, camping and just spending time together.

Scout came into our lives in the Fall. We wanted a companion for Russell and we missed having 2 dogs, so we found what I consider to be a perfect match for our family. Scout is a bundle of joy as they say.

As we end this year and get ready to move into 2009, I hope to find happiness again and to enjoy life every day.

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