Well, I have definitely fallen off the blog-wagon. But, I've decided to hop back on. I've been, for the most part, just not taking time to update things, plus, I've been debating the purpose of continuing posting. However, I have decided to continue with some coaxing from my friend Carrie, for those of you that enjoy reading it, and mostly for myself.
I've been hoping to eventually compile these posts in some way, to keep as a scrapbook of memories. Well I now know I can create a book out of them, so here I am back at it.
Over the next few posts, I'm going to be back tracking through the summer of '09 and then will plunge into 2010! Here we go....
On March 31st Jeff was laid off from AVL. This gave him more time to work on the race car he drives (his friend Jamie owns it) and on our landscaping project we had begun in the fall of '08 (re-doing the tile lines to prevent the basement from leaking and making it into a walk-out), but now had a lot less money to work with. As a result we altered the landscaping/basement plan. We planned to create a walk-out basement, instead we opted for regress windows. We still cut down the slope of the yard quite a bit so the windows will be above ground, but we didn't have to underpin the foundation, etc. as we would with a walk-out.
Jeff enjoyed his time off, he joked that he was retired and maintained his "we'll figure it out" positive attitude. I, however, was more stressed and frustrated by the lack of jobs he applied for, and of course, mostly of not knowing what the future would bring. Well, our prayers were answered, we lucked out and his retirement was fairly short lived. AVL had stated they'd hire back when business picked up, of course there was no guarantee of this, but in the back of both of our minds we were optimistic that this would be the case. Thankfully it was. Jeff was hired back the end of July. First as an independent contractor, then in September he was back as a full time employee. Jeff's position changed and now works with their DRIVE program, a program that tests vehicle dynamics, etc. - New things to learn, which Jeff enjoys. As of January 2010 he is on a project with GM and now has to commute up to Milford everyday, but we won't complain. Just having a job here in Michigan is a blessing, there are still many unemployed people in the area.
We still didn't get the landscaping project finished, but would never be done if Jeff had been working full time. It took a lot longer than I expected, although I should learn by now that it always does. We have our retaining walls up (except for the top caps), re-seeded 2/3s of our 1 acre yard and landscaped the front of the house. We'll slowly finish landscaping the remainder of the house next summer, and more than likely move around some of the stuff I planted this fall, I already want to change it up. Below are a few pictures of the process, however, I see we didn't take any pictures once it was mostly complete with the retaining walls, grass, and some plants. You'll just have to wait in suspense for the spring (Word of advise, bring your magnifying glass to see our super small bushes, etc. - I was cheap.) Here are a few pictures of the process:
Below is our only photo that shows some of the plants we planted. We planted over 125 bulbs, so I'm excited to see what comes up in the spring.
Opening her gifts from Santa, she was excited to get her computer:
Quick snapshot in our outfit the week before Halloween. 
Playing in the leaves with Grandma S.
Below: Jeff M. and Alec
Below: A very tired girl celebrating her 2nd birthday!
Below: Jeff's 40th Birthday celebration. 
Below: Alec and his new super fast remote control truck. Him and Jeff enjoyed playing with it in the sand.
Below: Our precious cutie!
After the weekend, Jeff, Julia and I met up with an old college friend of mine, Mandy. We spent a night at a waterpark hotel with her husband and two boys. We all had a blast. It was great to see them again.
Below: Jeff with Julia near the kiddie slides. Julia went down a couple times, but got scared the 2nd time and that was the end of that. Months later she's still asking to go to the waterpark though. 
Below: A burnout (warming up the tires).
Below: Oops, too much traction. A nice show for everyone except Shawna. I didn't appeciate this accidental wheel stand - as Julia would say this was "to scary for me!" 
Below: Our beautiful ride! At least it has air, a big fridge, bathroom, and comfortable beds.
