Now that we are three days into 2010 it is hard to believe all that happened in 2009.

The year started off great with Don and I competing in the fantasy football Superbowl in the UPA league. Don won the league; however I gave him a run for his money :) Don then came in second in our family fantasy league...we won't talk about where I ended up the year in this league.

In February I completed my first full year as a manager with A&O. At this time I finally started figuring out what my job entailed!

2009 then got a bit shaky in April when I got home from the managers conference in Memphis on the same day Don got laid off from his position of almost two years. He walked into work and was told to go home because he was to expensive to keep on payroll. Although the company was doing well two employees got to experience the Kentucky unemployment system.

May was fantastic with our first family vacation in Orlando! In case you have never met my parents they are HUGE Disney fans. With this love came the idea to get a timeshare in Orlando and have all the family vacation together each year. This has been the talk for a few years; however 2009 gave most of us the opportunity to go to Orlando. My brother in law was not able to go because he just started a new job that did not allow him to join us. While on vacation my dad and Don lost a pizza eating challenge, but provided plenty of entrainment for my mom, sister, and I. Don was however on the winning team of an Iron Chef competition at our resort where he made some amazing crab cakes!

In June Don made his award winning crab cakes as a surprise for our 4th anniversary. We then worked together to make a birthday cake for Ella. Her cake was a Nemo cake that blew bubbles! I would say a cake more than fit for a 4 year old!!!!

The rest of the summer was spent with family and friends at many Reds games. We got to watch a game from the Steamboat with one of Don's friends and another game from the FSN Ohio Champions Club with Don's brother and Tony from work. If you ever get the chance to get tickets to the FSN Champions Club do it! Food and soft drinks are included in the ticket price and the seats are really good! We also spent a hot July weekend at the Civil Rights Game while celebrating Jen's birthday. All in all we spent A LOT of time at baseball games this past summer :)

September marked a new school year in Cincinnati and another near perfect opening at UPA. It was about this time where Don was able to find a part time web programming position in Cincinnati that he really seems to like.

Throughout the fall/early winter we have been apart of the fantastic Bengals season! We choose to renew our season tickets even with Don's job loss because with the economy the Bengals did not charge the COA for the 2009 season; however if we did not renew the tickets we would still owe the two years outstanding on the COA. It was cheaper (and a lot more fun) to just buy the season tickets! Now the Bengals are in the playoffs and we get to be apart of their second appearance in the playoffs in the last 20 years!

These cold months gave our family a lot of time to move around the country! Don's brother Joe now officially lives in New Orleans where he officially moved into his apartment just before the new year even though he has been living in the Big Easy for a few months now. My parents moved back to Bluffton where they are very happy and live just down the street from my grandparents and their grand kids!

All in all the year has had its up and downs; however I am glad 2010 is here and can't wait to see what the new year brings.