Interactive Christmas Card!

Ben and I will be ringing (okay, we rang...), in the new year with some home made mashed potatoes, broiled flank steak and an ancho chile dip.

Don't worry, there will be champagne – that is if I can get Ben to stay up past ten.

We don't have a dog yet, or a baby, so I didn't think twice about sending out a Christmas card this year and immediately regretted the decision the second we received our first jolly greeting in the mail. So consider this an online, interactive Christmas greeting card in place of the one you didn't get from us – complete with photo illustrations – to look back on the last (inaugural) year in the Glass household(s).

Just days after my graduation mid-December, 2008, Ben and I celebrated our last holiday apart. He with his family in Ohio (all sick with the flu), and I with my family in East Tennessee. The countdown to our wedding had been on for months, but we were in double digits now – only ten days away as last year's ball dropped and the calendar page flipped to January. We started the year off in Louisville as our good friend's Tiffany and Josh got married, just a week before Ben and I.

We travelled back to Tennessee immediately to finish all the last minute details. Friends and family arrived, bows were tied and flowers arranged. We lost one tent...

But somehow were able to find another. We became Mister and Missus Glass in the barn on my aunt's property surrounded by our families.

A short drive up the hill and we were greeted by friends and good home-made soups where we danced and ate cake. The whole day was absolutely perfect!

A honeymoon in Hilton Head and then we set up our first apartment on campus in married housing at Union University while Ben began his last semester of undergraduate. A few weeks of job hunting resulted in one of the most enjoyable jobs I've ever had – I was one of four receptionists at a local day spa which employed twenty three fabulous women and one fantastic guy. I dealt with extremely content, relaxed and pampered individuals while surrounded with the most therapeutic sounds and aromas. Ben put up with lots of experimental recipes and did lots of dishes, usually welcoming me home from work with fresh baked cookies. I think we went through five of those huge tubs of cookie dough in the first three months of marriage. My twenty second birthday involved blindfolds and the James Bond theme music as I was kidnapped by Ben and Rose who drove me around and dropped me off in the middle of a kitchen surrounded by friends and good food.

Spring break rolled around and we got to visit Mama and Papa Glass in St. John for a week.

We had lots of fun dinners with friends, celebrating each time Ben heard back from a potential grad school. We had pizza for UNC and pasta for OSU. We visited The Ohio State University on the absolute coldest day of the year, and he was impressed, nonetheless. While he visited with scholars and poets, I self-toured what I now know to be the roughest parts of the city wondering what we were getting into. Ben accepted Ohio State's offer in March. We welcomed a new nephew into the family in May; Ben's older sister had her second baby boy, Casey.

We shoved the last box in the U-Haul just hours before Ben graduated, Magna Cum Laude – Ohio Bound.

After one fabulous Zopfi family cruise to Alaska which involved icebergs, orcas, humpbacks, black bears and a wedding...

....we headed cross continent for a quick visit to see Rufus in Florida.

And then we sold my car.... tragic.

Two weeks of apartment hunting in Columbus were followed by a month of job-hunting. Our welcome to Columbus was a bit rocky...

We moved in the weekend of the 4th of July, which meant everyone was on vacation, including the gas company. No hot water for a week. Ben's car windshield cracked and began leaking. The ceiling in the bathroom had quite the gash, which we were told doesn't leak and would be fixed soon. The first major rainstorm proved that the gash does indeed leak. Thankfully, it was positioned directly over the bath tub. Our 350lb washer broke... My computer crashed and I lost every photo memory of the afore mentioned year's activities. Please take a moment to imagine what kind of emotional breakdown that caused. My car began overheating on a regular basis... Little by little things came together and the new city began to grow on us.

Our lack of responsibilities allowed us to take a weekend in Tennessee where three of my dearest girlfriends met us to celebrate my brother-in-laws birthday– the event became affectionately known as Randy Rice's Birthday Extravaganza (crossing my fingers that this will be an annual event).

I landed a commissioned photo project through a nightlife online directory which required me to snap photos of 900+ restaurants and venues around Columbus. This occupied us for two weeks and conveniently, left us quite acquainted with the city. Ben began preparing for grad school and I trained as a part time barista at a local independent coffeehouse coming home absolutely wired for the first few days as I tried every drink on the menu. A quick trip to Nashville to celebrate the marriage of one of my dearest friends, Rose Rogers, then back to Ohio.

We celebrated Ben's first day of school with a fantastic meal and he dove head first into his course theme of the American Cowboy.

First day of school picture:

I stumbled upon an internship opportunity at a local commercial photography studio and was accepted for the twelve week position, learning a lot of the inner workings of such a big operation. Ben's maternal grandmother, 'Grandma Betty' was diagnosed with breast cancer just days before his birthday. We celebrated his 23rd year with his favorite take and bake pizza, and received updates about his grandmother who underwent a mastectomy just days after. I shot a beautiful friend's wedding in Alabama late October and decided to swing by the old homestead (Tennessee), on the way back to Ohio.

I was met by my strong, optimistic mother who told me of a lump in her right breast she had checked out just that week. The results were back the next day- a very rare type of tumor usually found in the thigh area, rarely malignant. Being just as unique as the woman it inhabited, the tumor was in fact malignant and in her breast, growing rapidly. Within two weeks, the surgery was scheduled and a mastectomy removed any suspicious cells.

Ben and I celebrated Thanksgiving with his family in Wilmington, Ohio. That same day, we got the good news that no further treatment was required for Mom, and Grandma Betty would take a daily, low dose chemotherapy pill, which should have very little side effects. Last Thanksgiving, we had a gingerbread house competition - this year we decorated shirts for the family Christmas card!

It felt like there was no time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Ben got great reviews from his students for his first quarter of teaching and I was offered a job at the commercial photo studio! We were able to spend a week in Tennessee for Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve at dad's place and celebrated Christmas Day with some dear friends, Shannon and Jason, who have been selflessly helping Mom out during her recovery. Conveniently for us, Shannon and Jason have a catering business, so I'll just let you imagine how good our Christmas dinner was.

Shannon taught us how to make banana's foster. Oh, she also makes the best margaritas you've ever tasted.

We spent two days with Ben's family and then settled back in our apartment for our first New Years together. Around 7p.m., New Year's Eve, we connected our television for the first time since May. Somehow, Ben was moved with enough compassion to stay awake until midnight with me. We slept in a bit and spent the entire first day of the year on the couch, entertained by Saturday Night Live sketches and our first ever Ohio State Football game -- they defeated the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl! This unprecedented lazy day lead to one conclusion: we need a bigger couch.

It's been snowing for six consecutive days now. Ben rides his bike to school all bundled up like the kid from A Christmas Story. Should he skid and fall off his bike, I expect him to just bounce right back up.
Yesterday, he went back to class and I started my new job at the commercial photo studio, Roharik Productions, as studio manager.

We have been married for 360 days. It's hard to believe that it's been a whole year, but I can honestly say that it's been one of the best. Despite all the changes and bumps along the way, God has been more than merciful and faithful, and Ben has been a constant comfort. Here's to hoping that we'll have a dog by next Christmas so we can send out a real card...

Happy New Year to you all!