2008

I can't believe that another year has come and gone. I can remember being a kid & my granddad telling me to enjoy being a kid because it will go by quickly. At the time it seemed to go by very slow, but it seems that it has gone by quicker & quicker each year.

2008 was a good year for our family. My little girl Callie was born in December of 2007, but has really "grown up" this year. She went from just laying in my arms, to crawling & now WALKING. Went from making goo goo sounds to now saying Da Da. My 4 kiddos are the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't know how I got this lucky to have such a wonderful wife & 4 great kids.

The job is going good @ Sam's Club & I really enjoy it here in Iowa. The downsides are that our church is so small. I am used to going to a church with a congretation of 400+ members. We have 150 here. I just wish we could make some close friends here. I feel like all I do is work. Another downside is that it is SOOO dadgum cold here. Back in Oklahoma we seemed to of had 3 months of cold weather. Here it is 5-6 months of just bitter cold. I don't like the cold!

Another thing is there isn't any really good place to eat here. Sure we have Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden & Red Robin. But, I want more! No good BBQ Place at all. I am used to TexMex Mexican food. Here it is all authentic. The best place is Azteca which is actually not bad. I just am used to more places to eat. We need a mom & pop hamburger joint like Johnnies or Ron's. We need Taco Bueno, Arris' Pizza, Hideaway pizza or Coney Island!

Some good things about living here are I love my job, I love the spring, summer & fall. I love the fact that we are so close to so many different places we have never been to. We have been to the Malls of America in Minnesota, Been to Chicago to shop & watch the Cubs, Been to Milwaukee to watch the Brewers & to Wisconsin Dells water parks & also had the chance to go to New York for vacation to shop & watch the Yankees!

Another great thing about 2008 is that we FINALLY purchased a home. We moved out of Oklahoma City in 200 & haven't owned a home since. We have moved & moved & never felt comfortable enough to buy a home. I love our house. I will love it even MORE when we get it all updated & cleaned out. 4 bedrooms, 2 living room areas, a full size basement ( aka Todd's Sports Museum ) perfect size for my perfect family.

Other than the collapse of both 2007 & 2008 Dallas Cowboys everything else was great. The Sooners are playing for the National Title on January 8th!

I also was able to reconnect with friends from long ago through facebook. Great thing to be a part of.

Let's hope that 2009 is just a good!

Until Later,

XX