and so this is christmas • 12.24.08
hello and merry christmas from the breland family; currently consisting of charles, lillis and a stuffed elephant named “big al.” it has been an amazing year. since the last dec 25, lillis and i got to spend 3 days in nyc together
we went to texas for a week after the engagement
and then i got to go to southeast asia for 2 1/2 weeks
and nyc with brad a week after that.
we each did our bachelor/bachelorette weekends in key largo
and then we had a wonderful wedding here
and got to go to st lucia for our honeymoon
and chicago the next weekend. all fabulous stuff.
the year was not without difficulty, however. volleyball was MUCH more demanding this year. counting the out of town tournaments (which had me in indianapolis, minneapolis, birmingham, and huntsville, and chattanooga) i spent in excess of 400 hours with my team between jan 1 and the end of may. throw in small group on mondays, pre-marital counseling, and a few other things, and lillis and i got to just “spend time” together maybe twice every 10 days. it was a little overwhelming (at one point, i had a trip 11 out of 13 weekends in a row), but we persevered.
in may, our schedules lightened up and we buckled down with our pre-engagement counseling (which was a wonderful growth experience for us) and on july 5th (after i had dragged her a mile back into the blue ridge woods and got her shoes muddy and subjected her to attack by yellow flies) she said “YES!”
i subsequently left the country and we tried to plan a wedding over skype with me in asia. she started a new job the day before i returned and i found out that i would be out of a job at choicepoint with the merger about a week later. SOOOO, after 8 weeks of EXTREME stress with us planning a wedding, lil having to move her belongings TWICE, studying for the series 65 (which was certainly a shadow on lil for the past 3 months), brad and i shooting our first wedding and me looking for work; i landed at OfficeArrow. since the return from the honeymoon, we’ve been focused on work, getting ready for the holidays and getting lillis past the exam (WHICH SHE PASSED ON MONDAY!!!!). now, we’re just ready for ’09 and beginning to figure out what “normal” married life looks like. i know, those who have been married for a while say “there’s no such thing,” but i can’t think of any scenario where this year isn’t a more relaxed one than last….if nothing else, at least i shouldn’t have to plan any more weddings.
thank you all for the gifts that you have been to both of us (and i am especially appreciative of how many of you have embraced and encouraged lillis) and we wish you every happiness in the coming year. we are blessed to have so many wonderful friends who care so deeply for us. and again, without further adieu, the christmas card.
