Monday, December 27, 2010

A look back on 2010

It's always good to look back on the year as we look forward to the next one. That, and we are trying to pick up some "blogging" momentum as we head out on our trip!

MUSICAL HOUSES
While Rebekah was in New York last Christmas Season, we decided to move out of our apartment and in with our dear friends Georgia Tech and Kristy! So, Rebekah came home to a bedroom that was just about completely filled by our king sized bed. :O) We lived there until the end of September when we moved even more of our stuff into storage, Rebekah moved to New York and Steven moved in with the Studleys.

TRAVEL PREPARATIONS
This underlying theme of this year was, of course, our decision to go traveling in 2011. This was a very difficult decision that entailed a great deal of prayer, seeking counsel, and more prayer. We obviously came to the decision to go and then started the very emotional and tedious process of making it all happen. Communicating with employers, reading travel websites, planning the course of the trip, purchasing Round the World Tickets (they are amazing!), securing places to stay, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! I wish we could say that we're done... :O)

BONVOYAGE TO LIVES WE LOVE!
As we prepared for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we were definitely stung by the realization of how much we would miss out on. Rebekah stepped out of her long held positions as dance teacher to her beloved students at Freddie Finn, Riverside Children's Theater, Dance Dynamics, and Sandals' Abundant Love Dance Program. Steven stepped down from his position as Pipeline Director and will miss the elementary students, their families, and the awesome team of volunteers that rock Pipeline week in and week out more than he can express.
Then there are our "favorite" things about living in Riverside... Dr. Madison (our chiropractor), Surf City Squeeze (best smoothies in the world!), Bann Thai, Backstreet, Nordstrom Cafe, and Miguel Jr... to name a few.
More than anything else, we will miss our dear friends and family! We look forward to seeing you upon our return! Be sure to follow along with us on this blog... it will be too difficult to summarize all of our experiences over our journey in a conversation.