January

We rang in the New Year at home, watching the fireworks at Navy Pier from our living room. I introduced my 101 in 1001 list (which I love so much more than New Years Resolutions). I reviewed the books I read in 2010, and TH shared some excellent tips for buying a laptop. My Dialect Vlog was surprisingly popular (and yes, I still say v-log when I say it in my head). I introduced the first round of That Weight Loss Challenge, and right afterward linked to one of my favorite desserts ever. Sometimes my post don’t coordinate very well.

February

Europe recaps I, II, and III went up. Continuing my trend of taking several months to recap our big trips. T1 turned 8 months, and somewhow I managed to post about his 9th month during February as well (I was falling behind). My work was featured on the front page of Style Me Pretty! I wrote about the LDS Church’s stance on birth control and really enjoyed commenting back and forth with you. I mused on being Shiny, Happy, Hip. I ran a mile without stopping! I missed my CSA during the winter, and my post led me to a great Spring CSA in the Chicago area. Chicago looked beautiful after a big storm that everyone was talking about. Sometimes, I think it’s good to be a little hungry. I should go back to that. My Great-Grandma Spence passed away, and I flew home to Washington for her funeral.

March

Europe IV, V, VI, and VII went up. T1 started walking and making lots of messes. Many more of those followed. I got worked up over nothing when it came to feeding T1. I lost enough weight fit back into some of my old clothes! According to my readership survey, most of you are female, married, Christian, and interestingly, identify as a Democrat. I felt frustrated by those who buy into the party line.

April

I finished up my Europe posts with parts VIII and IX. I revealed that TH doesn’t wear a wedding band, and shared my thoughts on the Book of Mormon Musical.  I took some pictures that showed how different I looked with the weight I lost so far that year. IN one month I managed to post T1 at 10 months, 12 months (I skipped 11 completely), shared my thoughts with T1 on the first year of motherhood, and celebrated T1 Day. I turned 26, and my 26th birthday was a bit of a fail. 27 will be a good one. We ended the month with a really fancy Easter dinner, something we plan to do every year from now on.

May

As the weather warmed up, I started running outside. Now I hate running on the treadmill. Highlight posts for this month include Another Day in the Life post, Mormons and Caffeine, my C25K experience, My Favorite Baby Gear, and a post (that I personally love) on prayer. We reached the halfway point for TWLC. T1 was mischievous (is mischievous).

June

I covered what I call the That Wife Weight Loss Plan, felt frustrated with my poor eating choices while travelling and living away from home, and tried to explain how we went from a processed-foods meat-heavy household to a localganic mostly-vegetarian one (and how my husband made the transition with me!). I asked for help with figuring out the etiquette for posting recipes on my blog, and came up with these rules for myself (which I honestly wish more bloggers would adopt). I gave you a tour of our apartment, wrote a 14 month update for T1, and listed my favorite iPhone apps. I think the highlight of this month for me was my time in Utah, though my trip to Boise was pretty fantastic as well.

July

In July I posted a lot, because I was living with my parents going on all sorts of adventures and wanted to document them all. Sunday Day in the Life, Royal City Community Days, a few pictures of my hometown, baby boy in the bath, the 4th of July program I grew up attending, T1 playing dress-up at grandma’s house, we toured a windmill farm, and visiting my dad’s potato, pea, and carrot seed fields. TH had a big birthday, and so my parents gave us a baby-free day in Seattle as a gift. I listed out the cost of having a baby for us, showed my weight loss progress thus far, and had fun dirtying up my camera sensor using the Freelensing technique. In the middle of all of this I managed to write a few LDS-based posts as well, including one on the LDS leadership hierarchy and our understanding of what an angel is.

August

August marked the end of That Weight Loss Challenge, and I showed you the difference between my stretch marks now and immediately after having a baby. I fell in love with Pinterest and tried to explain how it works, asked for your suggestions regarding what I should put in a church busybag for T1, and gave you a tour of my dad’s business. I went to Boston, and realized something big: We are hermits and we love it! T1 turned 16 months and I wrote an 18 months post to celebrate this (I don’t think this makes sense either in retrospect). I was able to zip up the dress I wore for our engagement shoot, became obsessed with the sock bun, and tried to convince everyone (unsuccessfully) to make Miety.

September

Most of my posts for September are filler because we spent this time in Europe, and I don’t have anything to link to because I haven’t written those recaps yet. Ooops. I did share a few images from our trip, including some panoramas I made, as well as a failed attempt at a composite image of TH and I. I developed a new method for packing clothes for a long trip which I plan on employing for future trips as well. I did write a few posts on serious topics that got great feedback, including one on Native Americans and another on how to reach out to someone who is sick or going through a hard time. I decided to launch the Hyde Park Cooking Club, which looked like it would fail at first, but has been growing steadily and has become something I really look forward to.

October

I launched TWLC2 and was lucky enough to score a seating at Next with TH and another couple from church. We loved it and I want to go back every rotation! (If only we could afford it.) We watched General Conference and celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Some things about this time with T1 were great, he turned 18 months and started going to nursery. Some were more difficult, like how aggressive he was with his little friends (which he has happily moved past by now) and getting a diagnosis of speech delays. I finally shared the TWLC finale results with you (those girls are so inspiring!) and created a Pinterest board for sharing favorite recipes. For Halloween, That Husband was away for a conference, so T1 and I dressed up in matching costumes as a deer and a mountain man. I decided to go back to BYU and graduate!

November

I showed you my grandmparent’s ranch, a place that means so much to me. I attended the Power of Moms Retreat and started doing a better job setting boundaries in my life. I revamped my About page  and created a Mormon.org profile, two things on my 101 in 1001 list. I discovered two recipes I really love, Pear and Butternut Squash and Applesauce. The two highlights of November were definitely my sister’s visit (and our getaway as a couple to Dallas!) and the first Thanksgiving we hosted.

December

T1 somehow got cuter and cuter. I updated you on T1′s therapy and our decision to fire the developmental therapist, and shared our favorite learning activities to do together. I posted some photos from 6 months previous, including our summer family reunion, a farm tour, another farm tour, and apple picking in Indiana shortly before Halloween. I showed you what LDS general conference weekend is like for us, via a DITL post. I shared the text from our Christmas card. Favorite posts from this month included a discussion on Santa and Marriage/Mormonism/Sex.  We ended the year with 3 weeks in Washington with my parents, enjoying the time with family and the chance to share our darling son with the people who love him so much.

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