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2003 Christmas Letter
Posted on Dec 7, 2003 09:12 PM |
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It's been a busy year for us! We recently celebrated our three-year wedding anniversary on December 2. Is it even possible that three years have already gone by? Wow! Our third year of marriage has been full of new babies, friends getting married, buying our first home, and more. I can’t wait to see what year 
four brings
The year started off perfectly with the birth of my brother and sister-in-law’s first child, Sarah Bennett Goins, on January 4. Now we have two nieces, Charlotte and Sarah! Sarah is going to be walking soon, and then I think Mark and Glenda will really have their hands full! It’s hard to believe she will be a year old in just a few weeks! She’s growing up so fast!
After more than 8 months of searching for a house, Steve and I finally found one that we loved. It was love at first sight - I was sitting in the driveway waiting to go inside and look around with our realtor, and I fell in love with the house. It had everything we were looking for!
We moved in April and we both agree that home-ownership definitely agrees with us. Steve and I both really enjoy home-improvement projects. This year we’ve put a new porcelain tile floor in the master bathroom, built some bookshelves in a little alcove in the kitchen, and painted a few rooms. Our biggest project was extending the existing deck in the backyard. Steve started the plans for it almost as soon as we moved in … and mid-summer we were finally able to begin construction. My dad and grandfather helped us a lot on this project – but I think they enjoyed it even though it was a lot of 
hard work! We can’t wait to have our first BBQ next summer!
One of the things we loved about the house was the 3 acres it came with … but neither of us anticipated the amount of time it would require to maintain the extensive perennial garden that the previous owners had planted throughout the property. Thankfully my mom and grandmother came up several times and helped us determine how to care for all the different kinds of plants. (I think my grandmother knows the name of every single plant in the world!) We’ve both learned a lot about gardening over the past 9 months!! Thankfully, we’re enjoying a brief respite from yard-work during the winter months.
2003 has also been the year of the weddings. In April, we went to England for one of Steve’s friends weddings. It was great to be able to see Steve’s family (we hadn’t seen them since last year when we went over to Europe) and to be able to be a part of Dave and Clare’s wedding day! We were able to see Russ and Anne’s cottage that they are restoring –
I think its several hundred years old – it’s going to be beautiful when they’re finished. They’re even having a thatched roof put on it. I can’t wait to see it when its finished. Amazingly, we did manage to squeeze in a day trip to Windsor. We visited the own and toured Windsor Castle – it’s always amazing to see places in Europe! (America is such a young country -- whereas you can go to Europe and see the Roman Baths that were constructed over 2,000 years ago! Wow! It’s always an amazing cultural experience for me when we go over.) It was a whirlwind trip – we weren’t even there a week. I think we had barely gotten over jetlag and it was time to come home.
I’ve been a bridesmaid in two weddings this year – the dress collection just keeps growing. (Someone needs to throw a party where you can only come dressed in a bridesmaid dress. It’s a great theme. Bring on the taffeta, tulle, big bows and sequins!!) Lisa, one of my close friends from college, and Bryce were married in May in Knoxville. And in October, we traveled to Boston to be a part of another lifelong friend's wedding. I’ve known Wendy since junior-high school and it was great to be able to be a part of her wedding to long-time beau, Shawn. My parents traveled with us to Boston, and we spent a few days after the wedding in Hyannis and Martha’s Vineyard. It was wonderful to get away and spend a few days seeing the fall colors in New England.
I’m in my second year of working at First Baptist Church in downtown Nashville. I've somehow managed to acquire the responsibility of being the network administrator there ... which has made the past year quite interesting (and crazy busy!) It started in the spring with upgrading them from an old one-server Novell Network to a new two-server Windows 2003 Network. Since then, the network has just kept growing. We've added a brand new media center in the library, connected our recreation center to the network via a wireless connection, and added several other machines for various staff members. Currently, I'm watching over more than 40 machines and 2 servers! It's quite a bit of work -- but I am learning so much and that’s always a good thing! My web design company is also still keeping me busy and I'm enjoying getting to work with new clients all the time! It's a great creative outlet for me!
Steve is in his third year working at HCA (Healthcare Corporation of America). He's recently finished the huge Windows Migration project he was originally hired for and is now starting to work on another lengthy project. Steve’s also in the process of upgrading his Microsoft certifications. New Windows versions are great -- but every time a new server version comes out, you have to upgrade your certification for that version. He's working on the Windows 2003 certification right now and he's got a few more exams to go before he's finished. He’s always busy installing this or that on our home server for studying for his next test. His Kettering Town Football Club website is still alive and kicking and we recently started managing all the content with a database backend (that greatly simplifies updates and administration)!
If you’re ever in Nashville, give us a call and come visit us in our house in the woods! May God Bless you, your family and friends in the coming year,
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