How to sum up the past two years...

Hmmm, it has been over two years since I last posted on this blog. So much has happened in that time. How do you write about the past two years all at one time. I guess I will give it a try!
Well, the biggest thing is that we moved from Germany to Abilene, Texas. We bought our house here over the internet while Barry was deployed and I was still in Germany. We love it here.
We arrived in Texas toward the end of November 2009, quickly signed for our house and got things hooked up, and then went for a nice long trip to visit our families! Not long enough though, lol. It was amazing to only have to travel for 3 hours to get to our family's houses after flying 10 hours when coming home from Germany. We enjoyed seeing both sides of the family. Barry shoveled a ton of snow while in Iowa. Our nieces are always a blast as well! Tons of fun! After two weeks in Florida and two weeks in Iowa, we drove the Charger back to Texas. That gave us a vehicle to drive until the Magnum showed up later on.
Our things came that week that we got home so I MADE Barry get the Christmas tree out! It was nice to have our own house again! Christmas morning we woke up to snow on the ground.
Anyway, most of the next months were filled with unpacking and figuring out what would go where.
Barry and I went to the Cubs vs Rangers game in May of 2010 which was a ton of fun! Took my super long lens and we had pretty good seats. Got a lot of great pics andthe Cubbies won so that was a PLUS!!!
Barry's parents and grandma came for a quick visit the next day. We tried to fit as much fun stuff into there time here, but it went by way too fast!
In August and September we went on vacation to visit family. This time we went to Iowa first. It was mainly a trip for Barry's cousin's wedding. We had a good time. We are both coming out of our shell a little when it comes to having a good time at family parties. Will be ever be as outgoing as some of his cousins, probably not, but we are putting forth more of an effort. We made a trip to the Mall of America and we also went to the Waterpark of America across the street from the mall. It is a waterpark inside the hotel. It was so much fun! The next day we went to the Minnesota Zoo which was fun. I also got to see my Aunt Kathy whom I hadn't seen in years.
Then we went to Florida for two weeks! That was a blast as always! On the way there we went to a cool Mopar Museum in Alabama. Then we rushed to Pensacola to get to go to Madison's birthday party. I love those girls! They are so sweet! We went to the beach a lot and Matt got us a pontoon boat for the day. Had my first experience going to Crab Island. Ate at Old Bay Steamer for the first time. Dyed dad's hair. Just had a really good time with family! Whether it was singing and playing the American Idol game or bowling, or just sitting around playing games, we just had so much fun!
The day after we came home from our trip, we went to see the Dallas Cowboys vs the Chicago Bears! It was at Jerry's World. That place is absolutely amazing. The Bears won which made it even better!
I am sure there was plenty of other stuff I am forgetting but I know the next big thing was our trip to South Dakota for 3 weeks in January of 2011. We had a great time even though we had to take a guy with us that we did not really know all that well. We went out to eat at all sorts of places. We saw as much as we could seeing that almost everything we wanted to do was closed because it was out of season! The best part had to be going tubing down the snow covered hill! Even if it was after our car had to get towed the rest of the way into the parking lot since it was so icy. On the way home we stopped in Amarillo, TX and saw the huge steak from Man vs Food!
Right after we got home we had a week where we were snowed in.
Let's see, sometime after that we went to the Rattlesnake Roundup, which was interesting.
We went to the Abilene Ruff Riders Football game. I am always up for a free football game, lol. The next day MY PARENTS CAME TO VISIT!!!!! I was so happy to see them! Wow! Did we have a ton of fun or what!? The first week they were here we went to Arlington and saw where JFK was assassinated, we went on an amazing tour of Dallas Stadium where we got to play on the field (definitely recommend it for only 17.50 a person), and then saw a good but not super exciting game between the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox.
The second week, our big trip was to San Antonio so that mom could see the Alamo for the first time! It was definitely neat to see it. I was surprised how much they have built practically on top of a historical site. I thought I lost my wallet and Barry and Dad went all the way back to Lackland where we were staying to see if it was just in the room. It was and I felt better after that. The best part of the day for me was doing the old timey photo! I was shocked that it was Barry that grumbled about doing it and not my dad, lol. Everyone ended up having a great time though!
The next day we went to Sea World. It was fun, but it was super hot and I didn't realize I was getting overheated until I started feeling yucky. The roller coasters were awesome even if there were only just a few. I finally talked dad into a water ride, but it broke right before we went on. He wasn't sad!
We also went out to eat, played some crazy windy miniature golf, went bowling, went to the zoo, played kubb, bbq'ed, played games, watched movies, etc. We had so much fun! I can't wait for them to come again, although we may have to do less big trips, lol.
First week of August Barry and I took a belated anniversary trip back to San Antonio. 13 years! We stayed on Randolph this time which was a lot quieter. First thing was to go eat at the restaurant at the top of the Tower of the Americas! Wow what a view! Food was okay, but it was EXPENSIVE! We were just going with the flow though since we had decided not to worry about the cost because this was our anniversary trip! Next day we went to Schlitterbahn Waterpark which was a ton of fun! Don't ever go there without water shoes. The cement was extremely painful until we both paid $13 a piece for shoes. We were going to do the waterpark two days until we found out that the Dallas Cowboys were in SA for training camp. So, we did that all day instead! So much fun and we got Jon Kitna's autograph! Next day, after Lulu's GIANT cinnamon roll for breakfast, we drove back so that Barry could get home for his softball game.
So, since then we have been busy with Barry's work. Have gone to a few festivals. A hot air balloon festival, Military Appreciation Day at a local college (free football game), Spouse's Day on Base, etc.
I have finished building two bookshelves all by myself! They aren't too bad, lol. I am currently looking for a job while we are waiting for insurance to help us out with seeing a specialist. Not completely given up on our dream of being parents.
Well, I do have pictures of all of the things I wrote about, but it would make an already long post that much longer! I will try to keep up with this more so that I don't have to fill in this much time ever again! :)