As I round out my vacation I’ve found myself with a few hours at home alone with the quiet. Instead of ticking away at my to-do list, I decided to open up my laptop for only the second time in about two weeks. This vacation has been a much-needed restart, but I’ll come back to that another time.
While I was on the ball enough to get Christmas Cards send out in a timely manner, I did not have the time or wherewithal to get a “Christmas Letter written, printed, folded and stuffed along with said card. That doesn’t mean that our year wasn’t worth reviewing.
The year started out as most new years do… January, February and March came and went with nothing major to report.
In April, I packed my bags and headed to Arizona for a long weekend with three of my best friends. We spent the weekend do absolutely nothing and it was one of the best weekends I have ever had. When I got home, another one of my best friends, my sister, moved back to Oregon. I has been so nice to have her back.
Rylee turned the big FIVE in May and we celebrated by throwing a rocking Angry Birds party. For Memorial Day weekend we packed up the Suburban and headed to Eastern Oregon to go camping with a group of friends, we had a great time despite the freezing overnight temperatures and are looking forward to this new tradition.
June brought the end of another school year for Andy and Rylee’s pre-school graduation. Andy headed to New York City to stand as Best Man while his best friend married an amazing woman.
July was a BIG month for our family. We packed our bags and headed to Hawaii for a week to see my sister get married…it was both the girls’ first plane ride and the first vacation for Andy and I since our Honeymoon. We jam packed as much as we could into that week while working around napping and feeding schedules. A couple of weeks after our return home, Reesie Bug turned one…that had to be one of the fastest years ever.
Overall, August was relatively quiet, but September more than made up for it. Andy started his (I think) tenth year of teaching and Rylee started Kindergarten! In October Rylee lost her first tooth and we discovered that Reese loves all things Halloween.
In November I challenged myself to post every single day of the month and did just that…right up until the very last day. November also brought a big decision for me…after 7 years with the same management team I accepted a job with another company and turned in my notice committing to staying through the end of the year.
With preparations for leaving Cosmos, preparations for Christmas and now preparations for a new job, we rounded out the year with a crazier than normal December. For the first time ever, I was able to take an extended amount of time off over the holiday and spend almost all of Christmas break at home with Andy and the girls. It has been so nice to relax, sleep in, sip hot coffee and tackle a lot of projects around the house. We will be kicking off 2014 with a very organized home.
We found out on Christmas morning that we will be welcoming a new member into the family in 2014! No, I’m not pregnant…my sister got engaged!
I may not have recorded all of the year’s major moments on the blog like I have in years past, but I think it’s safe to say that this year was one of our family’s best years yet!
I also think it’s safe to say that with a new job, turning 30 and a wedding in the family, 2014 will not disappoint.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve only got about 13 hours left of 2013 and a bunch of things left on my to-do list. I hope everyone has a very safe and happy new year’s eve.
From my family to yours, cheers to 2013 and here’s to an amazing 2014!