January started off at a laid back pace. We really didn't think our year could be too bad when it started off so easy and happy. The Ducks went to the Rose Bowl (and unfortunately lost, but still a great achievement), and I donated my hair to Locks Of Love for the second time in my life. That pretty much covers it. Easy enough.
April was full of more family time as I was still on my leave of absence and in Illinois helping out with my Dad. I got to spend Easter with my family as well as a whole bunch of my aunts and cousins from Iowa, visited with my best girl friends Tiffany, Jenny, and Kari, as well as some old friends Jenn and Kathy Handel, and went to the zoo with Jason, Sara, and Jackson. We also participated in the MS Walk, although since I was not in town, Spencer walked in Las Vegas and I walked in Plainfield and we talked on the phone so we were walking "together". At the end of the month I headed back home to Las Vegas and had a "birthday re-do" and an "Easter re-do" with Spencer to make up for the times we missed together while I was away.
May was thankfully very relaxed. We only had two major events. We went to see Star Wars Live in concert (which was my birthday gift to Spencer) and we also saw Cirque du Soleil's newest show, Viva Elvis! Both were lots of fun. Our nephew Nathan also graduated high school. YAY!
June was an absolute rollercoaster. It started off with a visit to Eugene to surprise Spencer's Mom and be there to celebrate her graduating her class of 8 years from the Eugene Waldorf School. Then a couple weeks later, she actually came to visit us in Las Vegas. During her visit I learned that my Dad's health had worsened and I felt a strong need to take a last minute trip to Plainfield to spend Father's Day with him. Not a week after returning home, while at work I got a phone call that his time was short, so Spencer and I hopped on the next plane back. We spent some quality time with him, tried to make him as comfortable as possible, participated in the Relay For Life in Plainfield in his honor, and on June 28th his suffering ended and he was finally at peace. It was absolutely the hardest thing I have ever had to go through in my life so far.
July was a really long month. After Dad's funeral, we celebrated him as a family with a cookout and fireworks as well as a Cubs game. After all the Loutsch's headed back to Iowa, we celebrated Sara's birthday and then Spencer headed back to Las Vegas. I stayed in Plainfield for a while to help Mom get settled. We did a lot of cleaning and organizing, took Parker and Mason to the zoo, and had a relaxing day out with my cousin Kristi. Just a few days after I headed back to Las Vegas, Mom came for a visit.
August was JUST what the doctor ordered. LAID BACK. We had a wonderful and really fun trip to Yellowstone National Park for the 2nd ever Kelsey Family Reunion. What a beautiful place to be with Spencer's family! After that Spencer and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and went on a gondola ride and had a lovely dinner. It was a great celebration.
September was just as laid back and uneventful as August. We started off the month with a trip to LeMars, Iowa to celebrate with all the Loutsch's for my cousin Jeremy's wedding. It was such a great time to be there with all of our family!
October surprisingly brought an abnormal amount of rain and thunderstorms to Las Vegas which we thoroughly enjoyed! We participated in the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk with Team Starbucks and I saw Cher in concert with my good friend Khara. We celebrated Halloween by going to L.A. to watch the Ducks play at USC and be touristy in Hollywood. It was a blast and much needed after discovering that our hopeful move to Oregon was going to be put on hold once again. Despite the ups and downs with our job search, it was a really fun month!
November brought me to my 20th viewing of my favorite show in Las Vegas, Love, with Spencer and our friend Khara. Perhaps most importantly, I was afforded the opportunity by my wonderful husband to quit my dreadful job at Starbucks! We also had our very first vegetarian Thanksgiving (everything but the turkey) and it was delicious!
December is always our favorite month. We celebrated a so far undefeated Ducks season by seeing "O" and going to the Bellagio Conservatory to see their Christmas decorations. We had our own early Christmas in Las Vegas and then we had a wonderful 10 days in Eugene celebrating the holiday with the O'Neill's.
So overall, 2010 wasn't a complete wash. We were able to salvage some parts of it to make the best of it. But it was rough and in some cases that is an understatement. As I look back at the 2009 version of this blog, I realized that we looked ahead to 2010 with all kinds of dreams and plans and hopes and one of the many lessons we learned this year is that "when man plans, God laughs." We also learned the value of family and good friends and that when times get hard they are all you have and we are so thankful for that. So as we kick 2010 out the door tonight, in some cases with a big fat middle finger and a kick to the head, we learn our lesson and look to 2011 more simply...to new beginnings. Happy New Year!
