A year of firsts...

This is a picture of us the morning we left Carrollton, January 25, 2010.

We left Carrollton for a long time, for the first time.
We met some amazing people for the first time, who we will always have our hearts tied to.
We saw snow that was more than 2 inches deep and lasted for more than 2 days for the first time.
(It was in fact 2 feet deep and lasted for the better part of 5 weeks!)
We were without a car for the first time.
We were without a TV for the first time.
We came to Europe as a family for the first time.
I blogged for the first time.
We stepped foot on Serbian soil for the first time.
We got long term visas in a foreign country for the first time.
We enrolled our children in foreign schools for the first time.
We began living life on about a 10% level of understanding for the first time.
(I am happy to say that we are now tottering between a 42% and 59% understanding level.)
We live in an apartment building for the first time.
We have ridden cabs, sleeper trains and city busses for the first time.
We have ridden in ambulances for the first time.
We saw the church where Jill and Grozio got married for the first time.
We have sent 2 of our 3 kids on international trips without us for the first time.
We have eaten meat from a tube for the first time.
We have seen Roman ruins for the first time.
We buy fresh bread from a bakery daily for the first time.
We have made friends who speak no English for the first time.
We buy fresh produce from the market for the first time.
We celebrated birthdays and holidays away from family for the first time.
We saw the Black Sea for the first time.
We've been mistaken for Russians for the first time.
We have said things like:
     "I don't know why they hate for me to pull out a thousand when I go to the store."
     "That graffiti was really cool."
     "Tomorrow is second Christmas, so don't be alarmed by the sounds of things exploding outside...it's just the fireworks."
     "Yes, I did make the sausage from scratch."
    "Yes, that was my family that you saw on the news."
              ....for the first time.
As well as things like:
     "Ućim Srpski jezik.  To je težak."  (I am learning Serbian.  It is hard.)
     "Ja sam iz Amerike, živim u Novom Sadu, i imam troje dece."  (I am from America, I live in Novi Sad, and I have three kids.)
     "Štetali smo na park"  (We did damage in the park...I meant to say we walked in the park...I was only one little letter off.)
     "Volimo naš zivot ovde."  (We love our life here.)
              ...for the first time.

We have, for the first time, learned what it means to miss what you had while, at the same time treasuring where you are, what you are learning and who you are becoming.