Unfortunately, while I was in Houston, TX, at my first NAFSA International Convention, I got very sick with some kind of respiratory infection, and I lost the baby. I didn't find out until 4 weeks later, but the baby had stopped growing on June 2, 2012 while I was in Austin, TX (where I was visiting Danielle and her family). I had a D & C in early July.
In the meantime, Yoel and I had decided to go ahead and get married, so we set a date of July 28, 2012. I spent the whole summer planning. I had two bridal showers - one was planned by Susie Payne, and one was planned by Aunt Ellen.
We had a wonderful backyard ceremony and reception right here at home... everything about it was perfect.
We had a two part honeymoon - we started in Luray, VA on July 30th. We stayed in the Rosebud Cottage at the Piney Hill Bed & Breakfast from the night of July 30th to the morning August 3rd,
We did some sightseeing, took pictures, drank wine... we did go on an ill-fated canoe trip on the Shenandoah River on August 2nd which landed me in the emergency room to get 11 stitches above my right knee. (I'm still healing from the accident now five months later...)
After much debate, we decided to continue on to Part II of our honeymoon despite my injury, so we headed to Watkins Glen, NY where we met Mark, Peggy, and Chris for several days in wine country (to include a show by Dancing with Dragons at the Hector Wine Company). Although the stitches in my leg slowed me down a bit, we really enjoyed our time there, especially since the wine was flowing!
We headed back to Virginia on Sunday, August 5th. There, we found Priscilla and her two babies - Lee Nesta Selassie (2 years) and Bahanii Zidane (6 months) - waiting for us. They were our houseguests for about 6 weeks before they headed to West Virginia to stay with the boys' grandmother.
My 30th birthday was this year, and it was just a kind of quiet one at home - Priscilla was here with the babies, and Jessica and George came, too. Jessica and George gave me a hibiscus for my birthday.
My fall was pretty busy with work (actually, my whole year was), and along the way I forged some strong relationships with some really awesome students this year. They know who they are...
This fall, I also started seriously learning Arabic as well. My teacher's name is Abdulrahman, and he is a lecturer in a Saudi university. He has helped me a lot, and we are becoming good friends.
Yoel and I had an early Thanksgiving dinner at Grandmama's, then we went to Mark and Peggy's for oysters like we did last year, then we went to Manae's in the evening.
Mom and Dad's divorce was finalized this year, and they sold their house on Toggletown. Mom and Randy got married the Saturday after Thanksgiving - it was a nice ceremony at their home, which they also purchased this fall.
Yoel had his birthday at Mazzika this year - my students surprised him with a cake, and it was really fun!
We had Christmas at home this year - Dad and James came to visit us for about 3 days (they arrived on the 23rd and left early on the 26th). We really had a lot of fun with them - we ate and drank really well. I hope they will both come visit us more often!
After Christmas, I've really been hanging out at home - I've been cleaning a lot, doing a lot of organizing, reflecting a lot on 2012, and thinking about the coming year. This past year had so many ups and downs. I made a lot of progress, but I made a lot of mistakes, too. In the coming year, I hope to become a better person inside and out. I want to improve my emotional, spiritual, and physical health. I want to improve my relationships, especially with my husband and my close friends. I want to spend more time with people who are close to me, and let the people who are bringing negativity into my life go.
I think 2012 was a major year for me - it was a year of new beginnings. I think I changed a lot over the last year, and I'm ready to start understanding more about myself and becoming more aware of who I am. I have been on this planet in this body for 30 years now, and I think it's time to do start figuring out what my place really is and what I really want from life. I want to demand more from myself in 2013. More to come in the next post about that...
It's been real, 2012.......
