Operation Tally-Ho : 1 Couple, 1 Baby, 2 Dogs, and an RV

A Letter of Thanks

by Briana on December 30, 2010

What an AMAZING year!

Dear Father Time,

I want to take a moment and commend you for making such a wonderful year. I would also like to personally say “Thank you!” to the year 2010. As we count down and look back I am reminded what a truly wonderful year this has been.

First, I would like to thank 2010 for being a nice round and easy-to-remember year. It may seem odd (or possibly a bit OCD) but I really like strong numbers like 2010. (If you must know, I don’t peel oranges either –quirky? Yeah, I know.)

This year started out really wonderfully. In addition to turning 32 (a year I have looked forward to since I was Tween Bree), I got to spend the first quarter of this year planning our WEDDING DAY! (Another thing I have looked forward to since being Tween Bree). Matt and I spent many fun hours covering all of the details and the day was exactly perfect! *If you are reading this and helped to make April 21 the spectacular and unforgettable day that it was, then see below for Friends or Family.

2010, You are also the year that we purchased our first home. A 2003 (’04?) Winnebago Mini. We stripped her down, dressed her up and put our “stank” on her. Here we will live safely and comfortably until further notice. This home (though stilll unnamed) has already sheltered us from the elements and become a warm refuge for our whole family to nestle into and be together. I love our little home and I am very thankful to you, 2010, for providing her to us.

In addition to the purchase of our first home, 2010 was also the year that we began a very exciting and fantastic chapters in our lives. November 1, 2010 was the day we moved into the RV and marked the beginning of Operation Tally Ho! Though we will not leave San Diego until the beginning of 2011, our journey has begun. Thanks 2010!

I know I mentioned our wedding day already, and I don’t mean to dwell, but I also want to thank 2010 for gifting me my loving husband Matt. Matt is such a beautiful person inside and out. He is amazingly funny! I have never met a funnier person. He is generous and compassionate. And though he is sometimes a man of few words, what he does say is intelligent, witty and always very well put. 2010 will forever be the year that I vowed to be “forever yours, faithfully” to this spectacular man. Thank you 2010 for Matt and for creating our little family!

While on the subject of family I really would like express my gratitude for our 2 eternally loyal and very well behaved dogs (with the exception of the “incident” where a young and tiny human got a big black eye from a certain big black dog). I am thankful for Henery and Cali’s health, their personalities, and their companionship along our journey.

Not to forget our bigger families of course! My family continues to have Family Dinner each Sunday allowing us an opportunity to participate in each others lives and to watch everyone grow. I look forward to Family Dinner each week and am so thankful, not only to 2010 for allowing us 52 opportunities to see each other, but also to Dustin and Ralph who make it a point to firm up plans and to host each week. Thank you also for my Mom who continues to not only be one of my best friends, but also a supportive and encouraging Mommy! And, thanks for Derrick and Megan who show Matt and I how to have an adventurous life on the road.

I also want to thank you for allowing me to see and spend time with my little sister Vanessa and my father. I had not seen Vanessa since she was 3 and had not seen my dad in years. Thank you for the sweet time I had with them!

Of course, I can’t forget Matt’s parents and family. Whether it is Donna sharing tips on cooking, dining out with Bill and Pam, Thanksgiving at the Mullens, or Steve and Sylvia helping to do our laundry as we live in their parking lot, I am reminded how wonderful In-Laws truly are. I feel eternally blessed to have squeezed myself into Matt’s family.

Then there is our “Compound Family”. Though we may move off The Compound, we will always be your extra kiddo’s. Forever parking in the alley and re-attaching our umbilical cord and constantly promising/threatening to move back.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of our families, from siblings and parents to cousins and nieces. Aunts and Uncles to our Grandparents spread around the nation. We would not be able to live out our dreams if were not for the support of all of families. A huge THANKS! to 2010 for keeping each of them happy and healthy.

Father Time, that brings me to our friends. What friends we have! I cannot begin to thank them for all that they do. They pick up no matter when I call (only if it’s a double ring), they show up when needed, and they are supportive to no end. My friends open me up to new music, new phrases, and new opinions. They share inside jokes and rules with me. They call me out on my shit when needed and let some of it slide when needed. Our friends altered their lives for a Wednesday wedding in April and didn’t complain at all (well, almost not at all). They share their homes (and their driveways), their good books, their wine, their ears and their hearts at every turn. I love each of them dearly and want to thank you again, 2010, for each person I am lucky enough to call a friend.

This year also showed me what it was to lose. I lost someone very dear to me. I will forever have the memories and the knowledge that my Bompa is in a better place now. Bompa taught me a lot simply by living his life. I feel lucky 2010 that you gave me one more year with him. Thank you.

Father Time, that brings me to the final thing I want to thank you and 2010 for –this blog and the opportunity to record Operation Tally Ho. I also want to give a special thanks to the readers that take the time to read our blog. It feels really amazing to know that what I write is being read by people we have never met and people that love us dearly. It feels even better to know that sometimes our words can help another person out. We appreciate you, the Readers, and look forward to sharing our lives a bit more with you.

All in all 2010 you were a SPECTACULAR year! I couldn’t be more grateful to you. I know we will never meet again but I can’t wait to spending 365 glorious days with your sibling 2011. I look forward to what 2011 may show us: so many experiences, millions of new places and an entire year of travels. We will see new faces, make new friends, sit and visit with old friends, continue to learn to cook, create new memories and new inside jokes. 2011 may even show us our first born child… only time will tell. Tally Ho!