a year in review

and what a year it has been.  2010 started off with a bang as we celebrated sully's first birthday and the birth of my nephew, brooks - all in the same weekend!  february brought the first "real" snow charleston has seen in 10 years which worked to sabotage the night of a much anticipated valentine's date with my husband. with february also came the decision to build a house and the start of a grueling construction process.  the next few months were filled with sully's first steps, planning and more planning for mine and john's summer wedding, design decisions for the house, mom's long awaited retirement, the visit of two special friends and their little boy in april, 3 bridal showers, the return of a friend who had been living in france for 8 years, a revelation that my love for photography should be invested in, resulting in the purchase of a bad-mama-jama camera (thanks john!), and a hiatus from blogging for about 3 months (sorry, sorry).  then summer arrived and on june 5th, the stress of all that wedding planning proved its worth as john and i made this thing official and said "i do" at a charming old barn in the pasture land of fort mill, south carolina with 180 of our closest friends and family.  it was bliss.  i'm embarassed to say, though, that i only just visited the social security office today to legally become mrs. courtney ackerman greider.  oops!  less than one month after our nuptuals, construction on the house was done-zo and we closed.  falling in line on the very last day that we could qualify for the $8,000 tax credit - that john just mailed out this morning.  i know.... what is wrong with us?  at the crack of dawn on july 17th, movers showed up at the little apartment that was sully's first home and hauled all of our belongings out to summerville in the sweet neighborhood where everyone waves and sunny days seem just a little bit sunnier.  trying to fill a house over double the size of what we had before was no easy (or cheap) task.  in fact, it was pretty exhausting, but in the past few months we have turned that empty dream house into a home.  there might be worse things to complain about than having too much space.  ;)  july breezed into august which breezed into september where i celebrated my 29th birthday.  i find myself sometimes pushing against the days that lead me into the year that i turn thirty.  i like 29.  just old enough to be considered mature, but not too old to still act young.  you know?  september also brought the fantastic news that my bf, carissa, was pregnant.  which, of course, gave me the baby itch.  but we won't tell john.  shhhhhh!  and in october, the birth of another nephew jackson (to john's sister) made that itch even stronger.  and no, i won't be ending this post by saying that i'm pregnant. in the future, yes.  or hopefully.  but for now, just hopefully.  later that same month gamecock fans across the state went berzerk as we watched our team beat the number 1 team in the country, alabama.  a victorious season for a team that's long overdue.  coming off of that victory, was yet another victory - i found a new daycare for sully.  it was one of the best decisions i have made, to date and he couldn't be more content.  but with the sweet, comes the sour.  days before thanksgiving my sister was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.  as i type she is at her second chemo treatment with her newly bald head.  the big "c" may have brought on its share of undesirables but they are no match for her humorous and heroic attitude.  holidays in our family have been filled with just as much laughter and joy as all those past.  and maybe a few extra bald heads in show of support.  the christmas season came and went with a new collection of absurd and hilarious stories to add to the pot.  and today i prepare as three boys - my two stepsons and 18 year old brother-in-law - will be coming to visit and celebrate the new year this weekend.  i call it "the landing of the hurricanes."  but there could be no better way to end a year full of such change and new beginnings than to celebrate with the ones i love.  i pray for peace for the families of those who have passed on in 2010 and send light and love to the lives that came in 2010 and are soon to come in 2011.  i send warm wishes to those who don't have the luxury of being with their families this season.  and raise a glass of bubbly to 2011 and all that it shall bring.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

OUT WITH THE OLD! IN WITH THE NEW!

“We look backward too much and we look forward too much; thus we miss the only eternity of which we can be absolutely sure -- the eternal present, for it is always now.” -- William Phelps

Every New Year brings a bundle of excitement... reminiscing on the past year, anticipation for the future, and the realization that at one exact moment, everyone in the world (or atleast in your time zone) is joined in the comradery of the 10-second countdown.

And what would the New Year be without a resolution? It's almost silly if you think about it... we could just as easily make a resolution on George Washington's birthday. Instead, I resolve to do something in August and hold off on activating this plan of action until January 1st??? Go figure! If we feel as though an idea is important enough that we should adjust our lives accordingly, shouldn't it be put into effect the moment it is conjured? Maybe savoring a lifestyle that will soon be changed, inhibits an immediate reaction.

So.... in keeping with tradition.... on the eve of 2008, I made my obligatory resolution.

Out with the old. In with the new.

I've tripped over myself too many times, looking to the past when I should have been face forward. NO MORE! You can't walk a cobblestone street with your head turned the wrong way. This is my promise to ME -- to look ahead for my dreams, while never forgetting to keep a keen eye on the ground below me, so not to miss any potholes or pennies. This lady is throwing out old regrets, exiling affections for former loves to my keepsake box where they belong, and extinguishing the notion that my best days are behind me.

Who knew 2008 would be so liberating? Happy New Year Blogspot!

2007, WHERE ARE YOU?!?!

Could someone out there please be kind enough to tell me where exactly 2007 has disappeared... did I forget to wake up from the nap that I took on January 3rd and miss everything???

I'm confused!

Maybe the year was lost in the shuffle of all my shoe shopping OR between the driving that I did from my apartment to the vet's office for the million medical debacles in which my dog found himself. Or perhaps some of the days were physically discarded from my memory to erase the trauma of the handful of "first dates" that I ventured out on and the continued attempts to dim the heat on 2 old flames. Is it possible that the year got trapped in my old Cougar on the day that I sold it and drove off the lot in my new Jeep Cherokee? Or maybe it was tossed overboard on the day that we almost capsized in Scott's 15' Jon Boat while attempting to cross the usually calm Charleston Harbor.

I'm also thinking that I potentially could have laughed those days straight into oblivion. This year of gut-busters included: Aubrey trying to kill his first cockroach (HILARIOUS!); the day I put aside my fear of birds (and all other winged animals) and took Riley to the park to feed the ducks and the damn things tried to attack us - as our quick step turned into a mad dash I almost peed-my-pants from laughter & fright (I'm still somewhat scarred by this experience); the International Mall bathroom experience (i'm laughing out loud as I type that one); late night escapades with Stephen, the "Crenco bandit"; Mandy swinging the stripper pole in her drunken birthday haze; Poogan's Porch brunch with the now infamous silent farting assassin; Pablo Escobar sightings; the TALL Carissa, little Courtney photoshoot... I could go on and on but I'll stop myself!

Or maybe... just maybe... piled in a large box that is long forgotten, are the days and hours I spent at work. The hours spent saying "Good afternoon, HMY Yacht Sales". Typing. Paper work for 6 million dollars worth of Closings. Dock Walks. Documentation Agents. Lienholders. Insurance Agents. Time Sheets. Paper Jams. Staff Meetings. ahhhhhhhhhh! I must stop before I stress myself out.

Chances are, it's lost in a daydream somewhere... a sunset that caught my eye and stayed with me for the rest of those days!

At any rate, I notice that every passing year goes by faster and faster. Yesterday I was driving back from DC after one of the most interesting New Year celebrations of my life, and today I'm struggling to wrap up Christmas shopping because it's one week to the day before Santa squeezes his jolly self down the chimney of every eager boy & girl in the world. Maybe Santa will leave a giant remote control with a super-sized pause button, under my Christmas tree.

But until then, I'm sure glad I took plenty of pictures...