Hi-lights and Low-lights of 2008 and Plans for 2009

Dustin has to work for the next 72 hours, so I have lots of free time at home by myself. Especially since I have no vehicle. I will be working on getting the truck towed to town this morning, but will have to wait until businesses open at 9:00 a.m.
Dustin took his parents' car, thankfully it started this morning.
I will work on getting my vehicle fixed after I can get his in because well, I am hoping for a warmer day to drive it to town without heat. Brrrr.
It seems like this is an appropriate time to look back and look ahead. I think we all do this in a new year, either that our our birthdays.
So here are some highlights.
I learned to drive the combine. I did some last year too, but I felt way more confident this year. I really enjoyed learning how to run the 9600. I really like the combine and ran it a lot in corn. But this is a picture of wheat. I just think the picture is pretty.
The low point of harvest. We aren't done. We won't get to finish corn until spring.
The first picture was taken August 24. This above picture was taken August 29. Dustin was sent to TX for hurricane response. He was gone for 10 days helping evacuate Orange County, TX. He didn't see anything even closely related to the hurricane, he got in on the hot weather and sleeping in a parking lot of a military base.
Reyna came to visit. Here we are in one of our sunflower fields. We got to visit Reyna in MN too. We don't get to see Reyna enough, hopefully 2009 will be different. Reyna will have to come see the baby and I think the baby needs a road trip.
This is Tara. Another highlight, going to see my friend Carol and her three kids in the Washington, DC area. I had fun helping with the kids and played some very fun games of dress up with Erin and played farming with Colin. Auntie Cinda is taught him the importance of green paint.
Of course a major highlight of 2008 was finding out we will be parents. We are still waiting to find out what our little bundle of joy will be. Hopefully Jan 7 we will know, if not, I think we'll just wait until the baby is born. We can't wait.
Of course, this is our biggest upcoming event of 2009. How exciting.
This is the beginning of our building project. We added this dormer to the house and will be making the attic into a functioning bedroom. It is part of our make room for baby, make room for us project. It is slow going and hopefully we'll get on the go this month and get it done by March.
This is a 2008/2009 project, but it will be well worth it. Even the flooding in my upstairs that came into my downstairs will be worth it.
Our new puppy. This is Gracie. We got her a week after my birthday. She's gotten bigger already, doubling her weight from 5lbs to 10lbs in just a few short weeks. She is a fun new addition to our family. We sadly had to say goodbye to Gus this year. Gus passed away in October. I took it really hard, he has been my constant companion since I came to the parish is 2002.
Other highlights. New washer and dryer. Painted the bathroom. Making the bed for two weeks in a row. My new treadmill. This was Dustin's Christmas present to me. It was way overboard because we had agreed not to go all out, but I love it and he's been using it too.
So, there is the year in review and a few of the plans for 2009.
Finish the attic. Work on our yard. Finish corn harvest. I will also be taking the Intermediate EMT class. I should be done by March, we'll see how it goes when I'm 8 months pregnant. Oy.
It's been a good 2008 and I hope 2009 is another good one. I'm sure it will be full of ups and downs. 2008 was, but life is full of ups and down. As long as we're in it together.