Welcome, 2012!

I don't know that anyone has ever been happier to welcome the new year than I am today. Actually, I think a whole lot of people were happy to say goodbye to 2011. No need to rehash it in this post (I think I mention the crappy year we had in every other post), but 2011 was kind of a bad year for us. Certainly there were many good things, but there were some overwhelmingly hard things too. We are so happy for 2012 to be here, that had I thought of it before just now, I would have created a banner for my porch to welcome the new year. This will have to do:

Welcome, 2012!

Taylor and I actually went to sleep before midnight last night. I've done that once before in my entire life---ironically, it was on our honeymoon 9 years ago. We were in California, and on the morning of the 31st I woke up with a nasty cold/flu and spent the day chugging Dayquil. Then over dinner we had our first-ever (and last-ever) encounter with alcohol (remember, Mormons don't drink) when we were accidentally served a half-coke, half-something. We drank the whole thing, with each sip trying to figure out what the questionable "half" was (it was supposed to be half-coke half-diet coke). Rootbeer? Orange soda? Dr. Pepper? We realized days later that it must have been rum. Anyway, there I was on my honeymoon, sick as a dog and accidentally buzzed; I went to bed around 10:00. Taylor watched the Times Square celebration on TV. He woke me up at midnight to wish me a happy new year. I glared at him, threatened "Touch me again and I'll throw up on you," and went back to sleep.

Every other year of my life we've celebrated in Lehi at my grandmother's house. At the stroke of midnight she'd hand us pots and pans and spoons, and we'd parade up and down her street annoying the neighbors. Some years we'd do fireworks. Last year in 2010 we were at a concert and got to Lehi at about ten to midnight. Grandma was exhausted and in a lot of pain from an injured spine and had already gone to bed. I was devastated that we missed her. I had found out that I was pregnant the day after Christmas, and as the (recorded from an earlier broadcast) New Year's ball dropped at Times Square I began to cramp and miscarry. Worst new year celebration ever. Grandma died less than two months later. How odd it was last night to ring in a new year without Grandma. I think that's why I was okay with going to bed last night without even watching a second of the Times Square broadcast. You can be certain I woke up with a smile on my face this morning. Welcome, 2012!