2009 Year in Review
It’s time to kick back and reflect on 2009. This is a good exercise and I suggestion you do it for yourself. 2009 flew by – looking back like this may help you realize that we all accomplished a lot in this quick year.
January
I reached the 1-year mark for living and working in Birmingham. I really lucked up in finding an affordable apartment that was very close to Julie’s house...but I'm glad to be outta there! I can’t believe that I’m beginning my third year of life in Birmingham. I never thought I’d live here.It's not so bad as long as you can put up with the bad drivers. In all seriousness, Birmingham has a lot to offer for those few occasions of free time.
I reached the 1-year mark for living and working in Birmingham. I really lucked up in finding an affordable apartment that was very close to Julie’s house...but I'm glad to be outta there! I can’t believe that I’m beginning my third year of life in Birmingham. I never thought I’d live here.It's not so bad as long as you can put up with the bad drivers. In all seriousness, Birmingham has a lot to offer for those few occasions of free time.
FebruaryJulie and I traveled south to attend a wedding party in Mobile and for her to attend a shower in Atmore. Julie’s dad, brother, my dad and I all toured the new hotel and casino near Atmore. I.jpg)
enjoyed being back in Atmore and wish I could have gotten to see more of my old friends. To this day, I’ve only been back to Atmore twice since moving away in January of 2008. I’ll be going back a lot more when/if the Poarch Band of Creek Indians build a golf course on their hotel/casino site. By the way, I was very impressed with the hotel and thought that the casino and restaurants would compete very well against the establishments in Biloxi.
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enjoyed being back in Atmore and wish I could have gotten to see more of my old friends. To this day, I’ve only been back to Atmore twice since moving away in January of 2008. I’ll be going back a lot more when/if the Poarch Band of Creek Indians build a golf course on their hotel/casino site. By the way, I was very impressed with the hotel and thought that the casino and restaurants would compete very well against the establishments in Biloxi. March
The highlight of March would definitely be visiting a few stops on the Kentucky Bour bon Trailwith Cousin Neil. I’ve got to give credit to Neil for his trip ideas. He spearheaded a rowdy trip to
Luckenbach, TX, back in 1998 and I was really glad that he wanted to spend some time with me before my wedding. We stayed with Camden friend Joe Harvell in Bowling Green, KY. Joe went with us to tour the Maker’s Mark and Wild Turkey distilleries. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum! Maker’s Mark was a smaller operation and allowed visitors to be very “hands-on”. Wild Turkey was a stainless steel behemoth with lots of closed doors. It was a very fun trip though!
The highlight of March would definitely be visiting a few stops on the Kentucky Bour bon Trailwith Cousin Neil. I’ve got to give credit to Neil for his trip ideas. He spearheaded a rowdy trip to
Luckenbach, TX, back in 1998 and I was really glad that he wanted to spend some time with me before my wedding. We stayed with Camden friend Joe Harvell in Bowling Green, KY. Joe went with us to tour the Maker’s Mark and Wild Turkey distilleries. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum! Maker’s Mark was a smaller operation and allowed visitors to be very “hands-on”. Wild Turkey was a stainless steel behemoth with lots of closed doors. It was a very fun trip though!AprilJulie and I got married on April 18th! Best day of my life! The whole weekend was great, actually. My parents threw a great rehearsal dinner and I got a lot of wise advice from Cousin
Jay and my fraternity brothers afterwards. My emotions were pretty high during the rehearsal dinner but I had calmed down a lot before the wedding. My groomsman Clint still calls me every now and then to let me know that our wedding was one of the best he’s seen. The reception was top notch too! It flew by though! Not to sound fruity but everything was just so...magical.
Jay and my fraternity brothers afterwards. My emotions were pretty high during the rehearsal dinner but I had calmed down a lot before the wedding. My groomsman Clint still calls me every now and then to let me know that our wedding was one of the best he’s seen. The reception was top notch too! It flew by though! Not to sound fruity but everything was just so...magical.Julie and I left the reception and stayed in Birmingham that night. We left for the Atlanta airport just a few hours later and headed to Bermuda. Oh sweet, sweet Bermuda. How I wish I was.jpg)
relaxing on your shores right now. What a week! First off, NO WORK! Secondly, lots of time at the pool! Thirdly, I got to add to my international golf experience! The best part was just spending time with my new wife. Our honeymoon week was a microcosm of 2009 – it zipped by in a blur. We’re definitely going back to Bermuda soon!
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relaxing on your shores right now. What a week! First off, NO WORK! Secondly, lots of time at the pool! Thirdly, I got to add to my international golf experience! The best part was just spending time with my new wife. Our honeymoon week was a microcosm of 2009 – it zipped by in a blur. We’re definitely going back to Bermuda soon!MayJulie began getting used to having a male roommate in May. I spent some of my May weekends
getting familiar with the county dump since most of my bachelor belongings didn’t make the cut. I was just happy that Julie carved out a little closet space for me!
getting familiar with the county dump since most of my bachelor belongings didn’t make the cut. I was just happy that Julie carved out a little closet space for me!Julie actually got to meet the designer of her wedding dress. I thought that was so cool! Seriously!
Not long after our wedding, we traveled to Auburn for Cousin Katie and Eric Long’s wedding. Julie was the matron of honor. I had to flash my new ring several times at the reception to fend off dance requests.
Julie also turned one year older in May!
June
June was a pretty bland month. Nothing really sticks out to me. The US Open was delayed one day due to soggy conditions. My golf outings picked up in number. All apologies if I failed to recall a significant occasion we exeperienced with you in June.
June was a pretty bland month. Nothing really sticks out to me. The US Open was delayed one day due to soggy conditions. My golf outings picked up in number. All apologies if I failed to recall a significant occasion we exeperienced with you in June.
July
We spent Independence Day weekend at the Corman’s house in Destin with Clay and Emily
Branch and Sarah Harper Baggett. Bocephus (Clay) and I teed it up while the ladies sunned by the pool. The weekend was capped off with a great fireworks show.
We spent Independence Day weekend at the Corman’s house in Destin with Clay and Emily
Branch and Sarah Harper Baggett. Bocephus (Clay) and I teed it up while the ladies sunned by the pool. The weekend was capped off with a great fireworks show.AugustMy birthday was in August. We also went to St. Louis to see Mark and Kiley Talbot! St. Louis is
a cool town. We had such a good time with great friends and even got to go to a Cards game. Mark took me to play golf in Illinois, making it the third state I played in this year.
a cool town. We had such a good time with great friends and even got to go to a Cards game. Mark took me to play golf in Illinois, making it the third state I played in this year.SeptemberCollege football season kicked off. Julie and I attended Auburn’s games again Louisiana Tech and
West Virginia with her parents. Both were great games and gave us a glimpse of some good things to come. Looking back, I don’t know if Auburn could rally back against WVU in a rematch. The effort seen in that game was solid proof that this year’s team did not have the “quitter” attitude seen so often in 2008.
West Virginia with her parents. Both were great games and gave us a glimpse of some good things to come. Looking back, I don’t know if Auburn could rally back against WVU in a rematch. The effort seen in that game was solid proof that this year’s team did not have the “quitter” attitude seen so often in 2008.OctoberIt was Halloween before we knew it. I Tweeted that the most common costume seen at our
house was “plain-clothed Mexican child with a Wal Mart bag”. Julie fell ill and we opted to stay home for the trick-or-treaters rather than attending the Auburn/Ole Miss game. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the TV coverage!
house was “plain-clothed Mexican child with a Wal Mart bag”. Julie fell ill and we opted to stay home for the trick-or-treaters rather than attending the Auburn/Ole Miss game. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the TV coverage!November
Julie and I spent Thanksgiving with the Cormans in Auburn and kicked off our first holiday season as a married couple. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed a hearty feast with The Donaldsons (Julie’s maternal relatives in Auburn) and The Longs, our fellow newlyweds. We attended the Iron Bowl and watched the Tigers give a mighty effort. Spirits were surprisingly high after the game ended as Auburn fans shouted cheers while leaving the stadium.
Julie and I spent Thanksgiving with the Cormans in Auburn and kicked off our first holiday season as a married couple. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed a hearty feast with The Donaldsons (Julie’s maternal relatives in Auburn) and The Longs, our fellow newlyweds. We attended the Iron Bowl and watched the Tigers give a mighty effort. Spirits were surprisingly high after the game ended as Auburn fans shouted cheers while leaving the stadium.
December
December – probably the fastest of all the months. Three
consecutive weekends of traveling to visit family made the days fly by, but it was worth it! We’ll spend Christmas weekend with my family in Camden.
Julie and I will cool our jets and ring in 2010 by ourselves in Birmingham. I hope everyone has had a fantastic 2009 and have an even better 2010!
December – probably the fastest of all the months. Three
consecutive weekends of traveling to visit family made the days fly by, but it was worth it! We’ll spend Christmas weekend with my family in Camden.Julie and I will cool our jets and ring in 2010 by ourselves in Birmingham. I hope everyone has had a fantastic 2009 and have an even better 2010!
Nice recap. The missing highlight of June: going to see 'The Hangover' (twice), Alan. Tigers love pepper... they hate cinnamon.
ReplyDeleteI concur with Sarah Harper...nice recap. I do however think you picked a terrible picture of me to post! I will let it slide since I made the wedding picture and that one wasn't too bad. Glad we got to share a lot of the highlights of 2009 with you guys...looking forward to 2010! Happy New Year!!!
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