2011 In Review

Ok, I guess I'll think and talk about 2011. Here are my highlights of the year:

Mourned The Loss Of My Mom
She had passed only about 5 weeks before the new year. Needless to say, she was still VERY much on the forefront of my thoughts, but it's not like I'll ever stop missing her. I also moved all of her things and cleaned out her apartment during the first week of the year.


Ice Storm 2011
There were a lot of "Ice Storm Babies" this year. Mine, fortunately, wasn't included in this group. I got to sit at and work from home for about a week (I wouldn't dare drive to work for fear of other drivers). We did get out once on foot and finally decided it was safe enough to drive to the store that's less than a mile away, and finally the ice melted.


Surprise!
The cutie we all know and love as Chloe made herself known. We were literally like scared teenagers telling our folks that we were expecting the stork! They all laughed and smiled (and gloated a little) and were very happy for us.


Will You Marry Me?
I was proposed to in Tennessee. At Rock City. On a rope bridge. Yep. We bought a Groupon for a 2 night stay in a Bed and Breakfast on top of the mountain (one we want to visit again, it was sooo nice!) and went on a dorky, touristy trip up and down Lookout Mountain. It was a lot of fun, and we MUST go back.


Painting, Weaves, and SHOPPING
I went to a Dip N Dab class that I liked. That place is cool. It's something much better for you than the club and takes a little more time than "Let's do lunch" so you still get to really hang out with people when you go. I also tried weave again. For probably the last time. Went shopping for my wedding dress and had a cake tasting as well!


Mom
I had to take a few days off to deal with some stuff for my mom (like her bank account and such) and to deal with her birthday. It was surreal.


Merry Month of May
I had a margarita-less Cinco de Mayo, my first Mother's Day, a wedding hair consultation, a wedding makeup consultation, saw the movie Bridesmaids (with my bridesmaids, lol), picked up some Edible Arrangements and made it out to my Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Party, met the person who married us, and went to a few parties. This was a good month.


I Do
I got married! A lot of plans and stress happened that weekend and of course nothing is ever perfect, but it all boiled down to the best day I've ever had in my entire life. My dad, Granny, and aunt came down to witness/be apart of the festivities and we all had a great time.


Southern Fried Poetry Slam 2011
A big regional poetry slam competition came to Castleberry Hills in Atlanta, and I got to be a witness/insider because I was newly married to a participant. We got to watch the Java Monkey SLAMS team take it all in the end, showing the South that they can't just come to our hometown and expect us not to show out.


Father's Day
My new husband got to celebrate Father's Day for the first time as a new daddy, even though our little one was still being processed, lol.


Someone Else Does, Too
We went to a coworker of mine and her fiance's wedding. It was a little weird to go to someone else's wedding right after going through our own, but it was a lot of fun, and it happened during Independence Day weekend. It was also a bit strange to have a baby kicking the mess out of me during someone's nuptials.


Movin' On Up
We moved into a 2 bedroom apartment in the same complex we were already living in. In the middle of July. While I was about 8 months pregnant. I'm happy that we did it, and the way we did it was the only way we would have been able to move, but never again like that.


National Poetry Slam 2011
The two Atlanta teams went to Boston to slam...without us. Bosses were uncooperative and we really just didn't have the funds. Plus, I was due in a month and we very well couldn't have a missing daddy when The Chloe was born, lol.


Showers Galore and The Scare
I had three baby showers. THREE. Chloe's godmother threw one, Chloe's grandmother threw one, and my CEO threw one. Each one was different and special in it's own way, and we were very appreciative that so many people wanted to show how much they cared that Chloe was on her way. We have THE BEST village.

Also, I found out there were possibly some issues with Chloe's development. They turned out to be completely fine and the actions we took were the right and necessary ones, but it's just not cool when your doctor (or the doctor you're seeing at the moment) scares you and pisses you off when you're pregnant.


The Chloe
Finally, after The Scare, a scary induction night, 40 weeks and a day, Chloe Giovanni made it to the planet. Well, technically she'd already been on it for a while, but you know. She decided to show up exactly three months after a night of Southern Fried and Chinese Buddha, and exactly when a famed fortune cookie predicted she would arrive. She was (is) perfect. The moment she arrived I felt love I'd never felt before, pain I'd never felt before, and simultaneously never wanted to do it again and couldn't wait to make her some siblings.


Pawpaw Visits, Chloe Is Photogenic (duh), Locs, and Doctors
My dad came to visit for his birthday, which was awesome. I got Chloe her first professional portraits, which were awesome and I started my dreadlocks. I never thought I be doing that this year, but hey, it's cool. And convenient to not have to really do my hair. Plus, it amuses Chloe when it changes and gives her something to make faces at, lol. I went for my six week checkup and everything was well and wonderful. Halloween also happened, but we didn't really do anything for it, other than hand out a little bit of candy and dress Chloe as cute.


The PS3 Saga
Our Playstation 3 BROKE. Which was terrible. I think it overheated, but all I really cared about was fixing it. We sent it off to Sony and they sent us back what seemed to be a brand new one. A brand new one of the same version I already had, which meant that the HDMI ports worked again AND the backwards-compatibility was back! All of this went down right before Skyrim was released. Oh, and Skyrim was released and it was awesome.


Thanksgiving
I wasn't really looking forward to the holiday, and I had my issues, but in the end it was really great to spend the holiday with family and friends and people who really cared about me. I missed the crap out of my mom, but I was generally ok.


The Rest Of The Holidays
My birthday came and went with us going to lunch at Blue Willow Inn Restaurant in Social Circle, GA. I had a lot of fun. Also, for some reason, I really didn't even think about the fact that it was my birthday, and when everyone brought gifts, it surprised the mess out of me. I really did like everything I got too! The company holiday party happened and was great, Ihop the morning after was also wonderful, and then we got to be apart of surprising our Aunt and Uncle for their anniversary. I pray we make it to 30 years, but I don't see why we wouldn't. My cousin got a Master's degree and I performed a poem about my mom, me and Chloe at Java Monkey.

CHRISTMAS. That's all I really have to say about that. Ok, it's not. This year it was pretty awesome. Chloe had no clue what was happening, we got to give people really good gifts, we got really good gifts, and Chloe swept the board of present getting happiness. I can't wait until she's old enough to really participate, but it was still a lot of fun just having her around.

New Year's Eve was pretty great too. We got to spend that with friends, old and new, and our Chloe was safe and sound at her grandparent's house.



Basically, a lot happened in 2011. It was one of the best years of my life, even though the one before it left me pretty empty in the end. So much more good happened than bad, and I'm really happy about that and life. :-)