I love writing these "Year in Review" posts. They really help me remember all I've done (and left undone) in the past year. This year was definitely a challenging, wonderful, stretching, and just plain FUN year! I'm not sure how one year can be all of those adjectives, but mine was. Perhaps that is just life? So here we go, Page's 2011 Year in Review:
January- I begin my first "real" (non-wedding/honeymoon/holiday) month of marriage. We visit Chapel Hill for a wedding. We eat lots of plant-based foods. I spend most of my free time trying to get our home in order. We win a fabulous home theater system and host an awesome Super Bowl party.
February- It's cold. I learn how to adjust to my husband being at rehearsal in DC most nights. The house and doggies and I bond while I learn to feel like "our" home is also "my" home. I spend a weekend in Annapolis while performing as a nun in the Sound of Music. Which was a blast! At the end of the month, J is hospitalized with pleurisy.
March- Learn about how to live out the "in sickness" clause of my wedding vows. Perform the Monteverdi Vespers. Begin the work of readying our half-plot in the community garden.
April- Spring finally seems to be peeking its head around the corner. This was a long winter for me. We throw a few dinner parties. On Easter Sunday, I try to burn off my cornea. Ouch.
May- To Scotland we go to celebrate Eliza's wedding. And just happen to touch down in London in the midst of the Royal Wedding. Drink lots of whisky, learn some Scottish dancing, and have an overall fabulous time.
June- Life slows down. I learn what it is like to be married with my husband and I home together most nights. It's awesome. We begin receiving shares from our CSA and working in our community garden plot. Veggies a-plenty and I learn a lot of new veggie recipes!
July- We watch the Wimbledon Men's Final on the theater screen upstairs. Wow. We also host a Harry Potter Marathon in preparation for the opening of the last movie. We then see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2. I finally admit that I am struggling with anxiety.
August- J's family visits for a fun-filled week of food, fun, and baseball. We visit Maine! Chorale rehearsals start back up.
September- J and I both participate in 2 performances of the Mozart Requiem for September 11th memorials (he as the tenor soloist...and me in the chorus, naturally). It's moving, beautiful, and tough. Towards the end of the month, Maureen and I travel to SC for the Navy vs. SC football game.
October- Lots of Navy football. Lots of singing. And a little wine tasting.
November- I take J on a surprise trip to a B&B in Virginia Wine Country to celebrate our first Anniversary. My parents visit for Thanksgiving. I host my first Thanksgiving meal in the Spy House. It was a success, if I do say so myself.
December- The crazy singing season begins. My half marathon training schedule is demanding more long runs. I sing 6 concerts in 10 days. My parents arrive. We celebrate a lovely Christmas...complete with J's special custom "Spy House" holiday blend of coffee.
There you have it...My Year. With its ups and downs, highs and lows, joys and struggles. All on this journey that we call "Life" that I feel quite privileged to be on!
