It's almost that time again... ya know, the end of an old year and the beginning of a new year. Ah, I love the word "new." I simply cannot wait to see and experience everything that I know this new year will bring. Obviously, I do not know what it will bring but the one thing I do know, is that it is going to be one heck of a ride! And, a fun one at that. This last year brought about many changes and Steven and I both know that this next year will bring about a lot more changes. As I do every year, I thought I would do a run down of our yearly "highlights."
January 2009
- Steven and I got married!
- Took our first vacation by ourselves
- I (Kimberly) experienced taking a cruise vacation for the 1st time... and now, I (we) am/are hooked!
- Moved into our first place... a cute little apartment by NC State
- I worked at a restaurant, Steven at a design corp.
- Celebrated 6 years of being together
February 2009
- Had our first Valentines Day married!
- Quit my job at the restaurant I was working at
- Discovered the meaning of a "stay at home wife" and fell in love with it. Hey, admit it... it's fun :-)
March 2009
- I started a new job at The Goddard School in Fuquay-Varina
- Steven and I began the fun adventure of driving to work together everyday :-)
- We started a fun date "tradition" of going letterboxing... so fun, google it.
April 2009
- We started taking mini vacations and the first one was to see the North Carolina Battleship at the beach
- Threw my mom a surprise birthday party!
- Took our first real long rode trip up to New Jersey to attend Steven's sweet grandmother's funeral. I got to meet a ton of family on Steven's side that I had never met...
May 2009
- Became Uncle Steven and Aunt Kimberly for the first time with the birth of Kara Smith! So exciting :-)
(and now, my sister's baby is due in May 2010...so we'll be aunts/uncles to another sweet baby)
- Had front row seats to see one of Steven's favorite bands, Skillet, in concert (early birthday present).
June 2009
- Had my family's annual reunion at Emerald Isle for a week - a much needed vacation!
- Went and saw Cape Lookout and then we all had the bright idea to walk 4 miles to the point.
- Steven left for Germany for 4 days for his interview with Pforzheim University
- Celebrated Steven's 23rd birthday at the beach... which is always fun
:-)
July 2009
- Steven got his acceptance letter for Pforzheim University
- We began putting most of our belongings on Craigslist
- Started looking/applying for housing in Germany (student housing)
- Started researching Pforzheim even more!!!!
August 2009
- Celebrated my (Kimberly) 23rd birthday
- Never heard back from student housing so we started looking for other housing
- I quit my job
- Steven ended his job
- Spent 2 weeks packing up our apartment until 3 am most days
- Sold our cars
- Began eating enormous amounts of food that wouldn't be available in Germany, haha
- Moved to Pforzheim, Germany on August 27th
- Lived with Silke and Dirk for about 4 days (Thank you guys again!)
September 2009
- Moved into our first apartment in Germany
- Saw my first castle!!!!
** There are so many highlights of this month that I won't list anymore or else you'd have paragraphs upon paragraphs to read, haha **
October 2009
- Steven started his graduate program
- I stay(ed) at home for the first time ever!
- Started attending IBC - International Baptist Church of Stuttgart
- I began taking beginner German classes, which were really like advance classes, go figure.
- We finally met and started having some friends!
November 2009
- My German language classes ended
- Had our first Thanksgiving as a married couple... it was so fun and so sweet
December 2009
- Experienced our first snow in Germany
- Went frequently to the Christmas Market in Pforzheim
- Had 2 fires in our apartment building (not our apartment... we never cause fires, gosh)
- Traveled 21 hours home to North Carolina to see our friends and family for Christmas!
Now, I know that the months September and on don't look too impressive. But, let me tell ya, we had so many new and different things we were trying that I can't remember half of them. All I know, is that in 8 months my life went from being "normal" to being beyond interesting! In the last year, we have experienced marriage and moving to a new country where we knew no one and nothing! Talk about a lot of change...
I cannot wait to see what this new year brings and to be able to share it all with ya'll.
Happy New Year from the Bockmanns!!!
