Looking Back

Happy new year! After a gray cloudy morning, the sun has peeked through the clouds and is reflecting beautifully off the snow that still covers most of the ground. What a wonderful day!

Rather than write anything exciting about this new year, I want to take a look back to 2009 and reflect on it in three ways related to my blog. This will be a boring post for anyone else who happens to be reading along; but for me, it's valuable because...

a) this blog is so valuable to me because...

b) the events of life it describes and the people included here are so, SO valuable!

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Monthly Header Pictures

I already included the header pictures for the months of January, March, and April here; but for the sake of having the entire year's headers in one place, I'll post them again. I wish so much that for each month, I had gotten a screen capture with the header and background together; but unfortunately, I didn't think of that until September! True confession: today I tried to go back and change my blog to each month's header and background so that I could get a picture of it together; but it was WAY too much work, so I gave up. Who cares, right? Well, I do. A little. :)

January: Winter Theme - Snowflakes background from The Background Fairy

February: Light Blue Toile background from Simply Chic Blog Backgrounds

March: Sassy Dots background from The Cutest Blog on the Block (Jeff had actually saved a copy of the header with background for this month, and I discovered this today as I looked through picture files--hooray!)

April: Eggcitement background from The Cutest Blog on the Block

May: Certainly Celery background from The Cutest Blog on the Block

June: I'm not 100% positive that this is the background I used, but I think it was Decker background from The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ July: Again, I'm having a hard time remembering this one, too; but I think it was Born in the USA background from The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ August: This one is really foggy in my mind. Was it My Scroll background from The Cutest blog on the Block? I really couldn't say. Why, oh why, didn't I mark this important info down each month?! :)

~ September: EnJOY It background from The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ October: Pumpkin Patch background from The Cutest Blog on the Block

~ November: Autumn Leaves background from The Cutest Blog on the Block (I surely used that site a lot this year!)

~ December: Christmas Red & Black background from Simply Blog It Backgrounds

I can't decide which one I like best; but one thing is for sure--I have loved changing my blog look every month. :)

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First Sentence Review of 2009

Jolanthe at No Ordinary Moments did her annual recap of 2009 by posting the first sentence of the first post of each month. I liked her idea so much that I left her a comment saying that I planned to do a recap like that. She them emailed me and gently reminded me that I had said the exact same thing the previous year! Oh. Well, now that I check, she's absolutely right; I did say that, and never followed through with it. But this year--ah, this year--I'm actually going to do it! :)

January: When I Die...

...my memorial service can be really simple.

February: Simple Sunday - Mother & Child Figurine

~ thankful for this figurine--to me, a very special representation of the deep love I have for my children as well as the embodiment of my desire to always care for them as tenderly as this mother holds her treasured one

March: Simple Sunday -Mother

~ so very thankful for my dear mother...thankful for God's hand on her in a special way this week as she went through a period of sickness

April: 33

It's been a sweet day.

May: My House...

...feels like one of these puzzle games.

June: We Are Not the Same

It's well-known that men and women must have come from different planets--or at least from different parts of God's character; and really, because God is so vast, that could be an even further distance than from Mars to Venus. ;)

July: Riven Rock

This is going to be a short post tonight.

August: Small Beginnings

First, the momentous news of the day.

September: TTT - I Have a Belt!

Ah, a new month!

October: Mysterious Ways

I read an article recently that, despite its brevity, was full of faith-building inspiration.

November: A Pattern of Thankfulness

I'm breaking away from my Simple Sunday tradition to return to something I practiced last November: the daily habit of gratitude.

December: TTT - A New Name for the Sit and Spin

On our way to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, I was sitting beside David (age 4) in the van; and I enjoyed the chance to spend some time talking with--and listening to--him.

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Top Ten Commented-on Blog Posts of 2009

I got this idea from Meredith at Striving to Serve at Home who did a post like this a few days ago. I knew that Shav's birth was obviously the big news on my blog this year, but I was curious to see what else made this list.

1. The Hidden Is Revealed (about Shav's birth) - 30

2. Simple Sunday - My Blogiversary (included a give-away) - 30

3. 36 Weeks... (pregnancy update that included the contest about guessing Shav's birth day and time) - 29

4. What Do You Say... (about David's unforgettable afternoon of being Zorro) - 22

5. 19 Weeks... (another pregnancy update, this one was after our ultrasound) - 21

6. Introducing Shav (first pictures of Shav) - 19

7. Our Yearling (Tobin's first birthday) - 17

8. Simple Sunday - Josiah's Raised Hands (I used this picture to create the Simple Sunday logo I used this past year) - 15

9. Good, Better, Best (with pictures of the new paint in my bedroom) - 15

10. 15 Weeks... (yet another pregnancy update) - 15

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It's immensely gratifying to me, at the end of one year and the beginning of another, to look back and reminisce about the oh-so-special days I was given. I wonder, when next year rolls around, what my process of reviewing will bring to mind then. How exciting to stand here on the first day of January and look ahead to 365 blank days stretching out into the distance! What will fill them?