December Wrap-Up

Happy New Year!  Before we get too far into 2015, I want to take a minute to look back at my year. 

That gif is really frustrating because Edna can't quite get on the chair.  Jump, Edna!  Anyway.  Let's start with December goals.

• Christmas travel.  We went down to the Keys for Christmas, and we had the best weather.  So great.
• NYE visitors.  Yay!
• Bottle the IPA.  Bottled, carbonated, drank.  Gotta love homebrew.  I also started some grapefruit wine on a whim - we found some cheap fruit.
• Bus stuff - interior sketchup and/or upholstery.  Whoops.  Got busy doing other things. 
• Eat better. Yes!  Mostly.  Spending a week on a road trip doesn't help, but other than that I stuck with the healthy and fresh.
• Start thinking about our next big trip.  My passport expired at the end of October, and my new one arrived early this month!  And fortuitously, my family started to talk about a trip in early 2016 so that might be our Big Trip.

That wraps up December, but 2014 as a whole needs some recognition too.

• Get more art in my life.  Charleston's French Quarter Art Walk is my new favorite event.  I'm tapping into my creative side a little more.  I could have done better, but I did achieve this goal.
• I want to learn the language of finance this year.  I knocked this one out of the park.  It probably deserves it's own post.  I've got goals, I know where my money is going, and Kyle is already talking about my future career as a financial advisor.  I'm excited.  Numbers have never been drab to me. 
• Get involved in a local charity and donate some time to helping people.  I didn't do this.  I can offer excuses (we bought a 40 year old vehicle, we moved twice, we did a lot of entertaining) but the truth is that if I was committed, I would have found the time.  I'm not going to beat myself up about it, but I am going to do better.

Alright.  Life goes on.  But before it does, here are my favorites from 2014.  We started the year off by forming Team Lake Effect and braving the cold.

Our efforts were rewarded - we won first place with our snow sculpture.

Soon after that, we took a trip down to Chicago to see the river turn green.

We ate this amazing pizza while we discussed our latest purchase - a vw bus.

Soon after that I took a job in South Carolina.

We went through a pretty rough patch this summer, but things always look better when you're at the beach.

We managed to scrape together a trip up to Michigan to see my grandma one last time.  It was really good to be able to see everyone again.  This was from...uh...a fun night with friends.

We had tons of visitors after we moved!  We celebrated an engagement with these two lovely people.

We moved again, this time from an apartment to a house.  With a garage.  And a yard.  And enough space for hobbies.

We also made some new friends with Full Moon Bus Club.  We went camping and joined them at a Christmas parade.

Finally, we ended the year on a high note with a trip south.

Kyle got to see a tug he outfitted in Maine when it was just being commissioned.

And at the moment, we've got more awesome visitors from Michigan.

Okay, bring on 2015!  Cada dia es mejor!