open mouth, insert foot

Remember this post from a few weeks back?  The one about how I never believed my hometown would ever see snow on Christmas?  And that I would "seriously crap my pants" if it happened?

Well, if you hadn't been paying attention to the news lately, here's my self-shot 1-minute video to fill you in on the phenomenon that hadn't happened since 1882:

p.s. it doesn't officially take an inch to make it a white Christmas, I have since found out.

After experiencing it, well I wasn't all that impressed.  I mean, it's just snow.  I didn't find any "magic" in it.  It just complicated things since people freaked out about driving (meaning we had to move dinner up to early afternoon).  And nobody showed up for mass the next morning, even though there was nothing on the roads.  I still don't wanna sing a song about it or close my eyes and wish upon a star for it to happen again.  But, if anything, it gave me some small talk with my in-laws.  Whoopy doo.

However, I will note that I did not seriously or even un-seriously "crap my pants" as I claimed. Since I knew you were wondering.

litany of babies 2010

I'm an aunt again!  My niece was born on Dec. 29 while I was in Chicago with B and his family.  This year the stork has been working overtime, at least with my family, friends, and acquaintances (my inner and outer circles, meaning anyone I Facebook-stalk).  I've had a pregnancy prayers list on my fridge all year--well I actually had to make a few, since the list kept growing. 

I thought I'd give you a list of the first names chosen by these wonderful (mostly new) parents.  A handful were on the 2009 SSA top 10 list, but I'm curious to see what the outcome for this year will be.  The list is in chronological order of birth, with nicknames or middle names that they're being called in parentheses.

Liam • Autumn & Olivia • Jack • Oliver • Cecilia • Grace • Francis (Franky) • Sophia • Lorien • Aidan • Leah • Anthony • Adoration • Noah • Thomas III (Trey) • Haley • James • Kyle Andrew (Drew) • Jilliann • Lila • Sophia • Graham • Emma • Thomas • Liam &  Blake • Edwin Jr. (Anderson) • Chase • Constantine • Katherine (Katie) • Liam Jr. • Sophia • Emma

Me and my new niece Emma!

Yep, that's 34 babies.  That's kind of insane, but I'm 26 years old so it's definitely the season of life here.  I'm a stats-and-detail kinda person, so let's mess around with this a bit. 

• 19 boys, 15 girls.  Including two sets of twins.  
• Most common birthday was October 29 (also my mom's birthday) with 4 boys born on that date (includes one set of twins)
• The most popular months to be born in were April and August, with 6 babies for each month (and no twins for either)
• Most used names: THREE Sophias, THREE Liams, TWO Emmas, and TWO little boys named Thomas (alright, you caught me, I couldn't figure out how to pluralize that name...Thomases?)

Here's a BabyCenter article about their best predictions of this year's top names.  I also found their "movers and shakers" article interesting, as it showed which names are gaining and losing popularity nowadays.  But remember that the Social Security office holds the hard-and-fast data, so we'll have to wait a bit for that.  (Their site is addictive to mess around on as well as BabyCenter's.  And I'm not even pregnant!)

Now I'm off to start my 2011 list.  I already have a name to add who was born on 1/1/11, which is pretty much the greatest birth date ever.

I think I have a pretty representative sample going on.  Do you know any 2010 babies that share names with any of these?  

the past decade!

A Decade (2000-2010) -- okay, technically that's 11 years . . . but still.  I took this idea from Faith & Deployments.  Check her blog out; you won't regret it.

For each year, I will put an accomplishment  that I have made in the last decade.  Okay, I admit, some years have more than one!  (My birthday is right around the halfway mark, so the age I put is what I was at year's end.)  This is basically my life in a nutshell!

2000 (16 years old)- Got my driver's license and my first job (waitress at a diner...ugh)
2001 (17 years old)- Got early-accepted into the fabulous University of Georgia!
2002 (18 years old)- Graduated high school 4th in my class, cross-country road trip #1, started college, earned my Gold Award
2003 (19 years old)- Became an aunt!
2004 (20 years old)- Studied abroad in Verona, Italy; cross-country road trip #2
2005 (21 years old)- Visited Alaska
2006 (22 years old)- Graduated college, summa cum laude, with two degrees, moved to Jacksonville, FL
2007 (23 years old)- Finished my AmeriCorps year, cross country road trip #3, bought a car, and moved my butt up to Norfolk
2008 (24 years old)- Landed my first big-girl job, survived B's first deployment, got engaged
2009 (25 years old)- Got married!
2010 (26 years old)- THRIVED through a second deployment, traveled to Scotland, did my first Navy move

I've been extremely blessed in my life, so thank you to God for all the great opportunities and loving support from everyone around me.

What have you accomplished in 10 (or 11) years?