It has taken me some time to actually reflect on everything that occurred in 2011. It was a year filled with blessings great and small. It was also a year filled with surprises, some good, some not so good. It was certainly a year filled with travel to a number of amazing places.
Remembering 2011:
January started off with Mr. Ken doing physical therapy for his broken ankle and his first round of Chemo ( beginning a series of six treatments every three weeks).
February kicked off with a memorable stay at the Ritz Carlton KL for my BIG (new) 30th birthday and a Chinese New Year Celebration. Following that up was a trip to Singapore and Perth where I fullfilled my life long dream of meeting a koala bear up close and personal!
March had us traveling in different directions ~ I flew off to London to meet Lauren, Sandra and Hazel. It was just an amazing trip catching up with friends from Ireland! It was long overdue and hopefully won't be as long again before we all meet up. Mr. Ken went to Italy, and...I can't even remember where all!
April had us back on a plane headed for Europe. This time we went to northern Italy and Switzerland. There were a few bumps in the road as Mr. Ken experienced some altitude sickness in the Alps which was caused by lower oxygen levels from the chemo. I had never been to either of these places before so overall it was a fantastic trip. We ended the trip in Singapore where Lauren met us. We showed her some of the sights of Singapore before heading home to KL. April was also the last of the six series of chemo...now we were to wait two long months for PET scan to see if it worked. Mr. Ken was very blessed to not have experienced many side effects and those were minimal, during the six treatments.
May was a visit to Melaka Malaysia for some local color. It was also a month Ken traveled extensively without me...to Korea, Houston, Singapore, ect...
June we had one of the best trips we've ever taken as we stayed in Margaret River for several days with friends prior to exploring Perth again. We also got the results of the PET scan which showed no new cancer, and actually tumor had shrunk considerably. It was the BEST news and the answer to many, many prayers.
July Mr. Ken started on maintenance chemo (maintenance being the KEY word!). He and I snuck off to Singapore for a week. The day we got back I tripped and broke my ankle along with severely dislocating it.
August and September were completely a blur to me as I struggled to walk, entered painful physical therapy and generally was not very happy being semi-confined! My constant companion during that time ~ the handsome, wonderful, dog-who-eats-anything, DES.
October we took a couple of long weekends to see some local spots, Cherating and Genting. Then we went to Langkawi. Quite possibly the best or one of the best vacations we have ever taken. We arrived home from Langkawi to be informed we would need to find a new house and move by end of December.
November was spent looking for a new house, finding the house, and then waiting patiently for the house to be ready. November also saw Lauren go back to Houston and us once again peacefully and blissfully just us! (Well, and Rogi and Des!)
December we took a quick trip to Singapore and Perth and celebrated Mr. Ken's birthday. Then we came back and said goodbye to the monkeys and hello to the fireworks... and we just couldn't be happier to start our new year here!
Heading into this new year we are grateful and blessed that our health is good, our new home is magnificent and I think we've enjoyed this past two weeks here at home more than we've ever enjoyed time at home since we left Houston! We are actually planning to stay home more and travel less this year! (That's what we keep saying anyway, we will see if the two gypsies can actually pull that off.)
Can't wait to see what 2012 brings!
Love, spajunkie
Danice,
Loved your year in review! I just love your post, they are always so enjoyable. You are truly a gifted and entertaining writer (blogger, and I so enjoy traveling vicariously through you.....so to speak :>)Wishing you and Ken a truly blessed New Year and keep the updates coming.
P.S. thought your pictures were fantastic.
Posted by: Kim Adams-Farrell | 01/03/2012 at 08:47 AM
Thank you Kim! I so appreciate that you read it! I love doing it, it is a great outlet! Hope your New Year is wonderfully blessed with good health and happiness!
Posted by: Danice | 01/03/2012 at 09:40 AM