Hello 2014! I am happy to see you! 2013 was not my favorite year, so I’m not too sad to see it go. While we had a lot of really incredible experiences and learned a lot, 2013 was a bit of a sad year for the Allens.
Neither Alex or I have ever been much of a New Years resolution setter. We don’t really have any specific goals, per se, but I’ve identified some hopes and things that we’re looking forward to in the new year and thought I’d share them.
*We are counting down the days to our 4-week trip to Europe this year {…which we need to get planned!}
*Several family members have trips planned to come visit us over the next few months
*My fingers are crossed that we will “finish” decorating our house this year – at least our bedroom, office and guest bedroom
*This year we will be focusing on saving money and planning for our upcoming expenses and our future
*We have four weddings to attend this summer that we are very much looking forward to
*Alex just joined a new gym and has some fitness goals, while I am planning on starting Pilates shortly
*I always look forward to trying new foods and learning more about cooking – if only I could keep up with Pinterest!
I am really looking forward to 2014. I think it’s going to be a great year!
2013 has been a year of joy, anticipation, tears, exploration, loss, new friendships, travel, happiness, a newfound love of wine, laughter, dreams for the future and enjoyment. We said some goodbyes and introduced ourselves to new people, new experiences and new jobs. We learned a lot about life, loss and love this year. I think our perspectives have changed a bit and we have become more empathetic and able to stop and smell the roses.
Ringing in 2013
The year started on a down and kept right on going. January begun with the unexpected death of our 6 month old puppy, Aspen. Two days later my beloved paternal grandmother passed away, and later that day I was laid off. These setbacks put us in a funk for a little while but knowing that we still had each other, our family and friends and so much else, we came out of our slump with a new attitude on life.
I’m so thankful for the time we had with this sweet girl!One of my favorite photos of me and Mor Mor (2003).
Winter is our favorite season. Some of our winter 2013 highlights include skiing quite a bit of powder at Crystal, along with an unusual number of sunny ski days, an impromptu trip to Portland, a fantastic trip to Whistler for Carrie and Patrick’s bachelorette/bachelor party in February, my dad’s ski trip in Washington, Sarah’s trip to Seattle and finding out that we were going to get a new puppy.
Alex and Patrick in Whistler – the power of the mustache gave us an unexpected powder day
The weather in Seattle this past spring was wonderful and made it easy for Alex to sign up and train for a 200 mile bike ride to Portland and for me to get into running.
First 5K!
Just a few months after getting laid off, I accepted a part-time position as the program director for a Seattle-based non-profit tutoring organization and began working again on April 1st, the day after my 27th birthday.
Enjoying a cup of birthday coffee in the sunshine on our front porch
We celebrated our anniversary in April with a trip to Maui! It was a much needed week of rest, relaxation, sunshine and frozen drinks.
Ahhh
May marked the month that we got our new puppy, Jackson, and Sammy and Amy came out to see us.
Such a cuddle bug from day one!
Summer was mostly spent chasing our blonde furball around the backyard with the goal of keeping him as tired as humanly possible. My mom came out for a visit in mid-June to see Jackson and help me do some landscaping.
Showing a little interest in tennis balls/playing fetch.
After training for several months, Alex successfully completed his 200 mile bike ride to Portland in July, only then to find out that he was expected to work what seemed like every waking second of every day until Thanksgiving.
STP Bike Race
Even so, we did get to enjoy several wonderful weekends away this summer. Our trip to Mount Hood marked the start of our summer travels when we spent a weekend camping with Ali, Tyler and Vivian. I traveled back to Minnesota for Sarah’s bachelorette party in early August, and then we went on another camping trip in mid-August with the Millers and the Buffingtons up in the North Cascades.
Mount Hood in the background
As summer came to a close we said goodbye to another one of our furry friends. Oliver tragically passed away in my arms after being hit by a car in front of our house. That day still haunts me but it’s comforting to think of all the memories I have of my spastic baby cat.
I will miss this ball of energy!
Once Labor Day arrived time seemed to not exist. We were so busy I don’t really know how we functioned for about 6 or 7 weeks. Alex’s parents came to visit us over Labor Day weekend and we took a quick trip to the Yakima Valley to do some wine tasting. The next weekend my dad came to see us and we did some local sight-seeing and went for a hike in the mountains. The following weekend was Carrie and Patrick’s wedding in Yakima. Two weeks later, Sarah and Mike tied the knot in northern Minnesota, and then we attended Kari and Mike’s botanical wedding in Illinois the next weekend. After we caught our breath from the wedding craze we had an eventful weekend trip to Leavenworth, Washington for Octoberfest.
Me with Mary and the blushing bride.Bridesmaids at Sarah’s wedding
Meanwhile, along with the social craziness, both Alex and I were working double time at our jobs. I work in education, so the start of the school year is always a busy time for me, and Alex was finishing up his product cycle before the holiday season. It seemed like a great time to add in a small home renovation project – we had tile installed in the entry way of our back door to create a mudroom. Somehow we survived the craze and by Thanksgiving both of our jobs had tapered off to normalcy.
Our new mud room.
Enter the holiday season! We had a wonderful trip to Breckenridge for Thanksgiving, where we joined Donna, Stan, Alina and Alberto to catch up and ski together.
Skiing in Breckenridge
Just after we returned from our trip, Alex accepted and begun a new position with his company, and I accepted a job as a household manager for some neighbors. So far both of our new gigs are going well.
Had to throw in a cute picture of Henry sleeping in Jackson’s bed 🙂
The day before Alex and I flew back to Minnesota for Christmas my maternal grandmother passed away after a rough bout in the hospital. We had a nice time seeing my family and relaxing up at my cabin over Christmas. I extended my trip in order to spend extra time with my family and attend my grandmother’s funeral service.
At my college graduation in 2008.
After quite a year, Alex and I are really ready to say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014. We have so much to look forward to in the new year… stay tuned!
This year we braved the bitter cold and headed east to spend Christmas with my family in Minnesota.
Hearth at the cabin decorated for Christmas
Our trip began on Monday morning with a journey up to my family’s cabin on Lake Shamineau for a quick 24-hour stint. It was very, very cold for our first couple of days, but that didn’t stop us from shoveling off the skating rink that my dad had flooded the weekend prior and taking our new ice skates for a quick spin.
Ice skating with my dad
We warmed up in front of the fire that evening and made a traditional Swiss cheese fondue for dinner. I found out that my dad’s retro fondue pots were actually given to him by my grandparents – I had no idea how old they were.
Fondue night
The next morning we woke up and took one last toot around the ice rink before having breakfast and getting ready to head back to town. Our quick cabin trip had come to an end.
The lake looks a little different covered in snow!
Christmas Eve was spent at Kincaids restaurant in downtown St. Paul with my mom. Alex and I joined my mother for a steak dinner while looking out on a beautiful snowy evening. We made it back to Mahtomedi just in time to attend St. Andrew’s Christmas Eve music service, which my dad enjoys.
Skating time
On Christmas morning we had a little time with my dad before we set off for my mom’s house, 3 blocks up the road. Alex and I opened our stockings and had gooey cinnamon rolls with my mom, then helped her prepare lunch. My aunt Sarah came over for lunch and to exchange gifts. We had some nice conversations and a terrific lunch of prime rib, mashed potatoes, popovers, brussels sprouts and fruit salad. It was a very different Christmas because my grandmother was not present this year, and my brother was absent, as well, so it was a bit unique for our small family.
Sun set over Lake Shamineau
Later that evening we headed back to my dad’s house and enjoyed a sampling of Chateauneuf du pop and the steak fondue that we never got to up at the cabin. We sure got our fill of red meat in this week!
Christmas day dinner
After several days spent with my family we had some outings planned with some of my friends from high school on Thursday. We met Kelsey at Cafe Latte in St. Paul for lunch and coffee and then drove out to Cottage Grove to Kailey and Eric’s newish house to see a few more friends.
Bentley, my brother’s cat, curled up on the sofa at the cabin. It was nice to have a furry friend!
I had originally planned on leaving to head back to Seattle on Thursday night with Alex but extended my trip to attend my grandmother’s funeral service on Monday. We left the Rices on Thursday and headed straight to the airport to drop Alex off for his flight.
Brrrr!! Almost – 20 degrees outside.
Since Alex left I have spent my time dealing with tasks to prepare for my grandma’s funeral, shopping and just enjoying the extra time with my parents. I’m looking forward to a few extra days to catch up with friends and family before heading back to Seattle on Tuesday.
After a whirlwind of health issues over the last several weeks, my maternal grandmother Elizabeth took her last breath this morning. She certainly didn’t go without a fight. There were at least three times over the last few weeks that I was sure it was the end but she rallied around and pulled through, not quite ready to go yet. She has always been a tough bird – you’d have to be to go through some of the things she has been through.
circa 1987/88… parents, why is there a wine glass on my leg??
At 94, my grandma had lived a very long, complete life. A woman of determination, she managed to live independently in her home until just a few weeks ago. Into her early 90s she still drove her car, went to the grocery store, shoveled her own sidewalk and refused to wear a hearing aid {against everyone else’s request}. Astonishingly, the only medication she took until very recently was her eye drops. She had so many friends and experiences and had an extremely rich life.
Holding her grandson for the first time. 1990
I’m not completely sure how my grandma became Grandma “Tia” – her friends called her Tin {something to do with Tin Lizzie because her name was Elizabeth} and my brother couldn’t say “tin” when he was little, so I guess “tin” turned into “tia” eventually.
My 18th birthday with my grandma and John, who was named after my late grandfather.
I have so many wonderful memories of my “Grandma Tia” throughout my life. She has been very supportive, especially of my education, and I have always maintained regular contact with her. My grandma was sharp as a tack, witty, smart and very stubborn. She rocked the crossword puzzles and was always so with it. I hear she was also quite the bridge player. She was really involved with her church and her neighborhood.
Me with my mom and grandma in 2007
While I will miss my regular conversations with my grandma, I will cherish the years and years of memories I have of her and know that she is at peace.
One of my favorite parts of the day is when we take Jackson for his morning walk. We generally take Jackson for three walks a day, but the morning walks are the best. It’s so calm and quiet in our neighborhood at 6:30 a.m., but the best part is seeing the sunrise. When we start our walks it’s usually dark but by the time we round the corner that overlooks the mountains the sun is usually on its way up. The last three weeks have been unseasonably dry, which means the cloud cover hasn’t been blocking the sunrise.
Sunrise over Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountains with Mount Rainier.
If you’ve been to the ocean and seen the sunset there, you know how beautiful that can be. However, if you’ve never seen a sunrise or sunset in western Washington, you have no idea what you’re missing. The Puget Sound area is known for sunrises and sunsets and it is so special to get to see the show that the sky puts on during clear/partly cloudy mornings. Alex snapped this picture last week, and of course the picture he took on his phone barely comes close to the level of beauty we saw that morning.
Last weekend we went on a quest for the perfect Christmas tree. We set out to a local tree farm to cut down our tree this year, as we had done the only other time we had gotten a tree together.
Looking for our perfect tree.
The tree farm we went to ended up cutting down all of their fully grown trees already to sell as “pre-cut” trees {read: more expensive}. We opted to not get a 3-foot tall Christmas tree, so our tree hunt took us back to the parking lot to select the “perfect” pre-cut tree.
The trees were so tiny!
We found a great little tree and immediately set it up in our living room once we got home, only to find out that the tree was completely crooked! Oh well – you can really only tell if you’re looking at the bottom half from a distance.
Ready to take our tree home.
It has been 3 years since we have had a Christmas tree in our house and since then we have acquired a lot of new ornaments. My mother in-law has given us skiing ornaments for the last few years, so we’ve opted to have a skiing-themed Christmas tree. We have some sparkly silver snowflake and ball ornaments too. Here are a few of our favorite ornaments:
Apres Ski – a cute little ornament from VailSkier guyJackson Hole ornamentAdorable sled ornament that Carrie gave me a few years agoSanta in ski boots from VailThis one makes me think of our little Aspen dog.The big skis are our tree topper!The finished product
Our little house is all decorated for Christmas, too.
Christmas time!’tis the seasonOne of my favorite Etsy finds!
I spent the better half of Friday baking up a storm of Christmas cookies. I tried all new recipes this year {so, sorry friends if they don’t turn out!}, thanks to Pinterest, so it was fun to switch things up. This year I made peppermint bark cookies, melting moments, buckeye balls and ginger cookies. The ginger cookies did not turn out, but everything else seemed to taste pretty good to me.
The kitchen always turns into a disaster when I bake.The plate that we get to keep!
Christmas has really snuck up on me this year! I am finishing my Christmas shopping tonight, thankfully, but I have been feeling very ill prepared this year. I’m hoping that my holiday stamps arrive in tomorrow’s mail so that I can get my Christmas cards out by Tuesday – this will be a record for the latest I’ve ever sent them! Sorry friends and family… I am certainly enjoying the Christmas spirit and holiday cheer and looking forward to seeing my family for the holiday.
We’ve got some major changes taking place in our little lives right now! Exciting times for the Allens 🙂
Alex recently accepted a new position within his company that will move him to a new team and will relocate his office to the city of Seattle {in a really awesome neighborhood!} instead of a nearby suburb. He officially starts his new position on Monday but has been going in occasionally over the last two weeks to participate in some planning meetings and trainings. In his new role, he will still be developing software, just for a different team within the company. He is really looking forward to a change of pace and working in a smaller segment of his company.
Last week I accepted a new part-time job that I will be adding to my existing part-time job. I began working as a household manager/personal assistant this week to a family in our neighborhood {a whopping 2 blocks away!}. My new role will be about 8 hours a week {2 hours, 4 days per week} and I’ll be basically just helping this family run their household by doing things like running errands, doing their grocery shopping, folding laundry, planning meals and preparing food for them. It’s a pretty awesome gig and I’m really excited about it!
With these new positions, Alex and I have been trying to work out our new schedule/routine. Since I will have a little bit of extra money coming in, I am hoping that we will both be able to find a good facility to exercise at. It would sure be great to get in a workout routine again. I have a feeling we will be setting our alarms a little bit earlier, though…
I am hoping that Alex will love his new role, team and commute, and so far I am really enjoying my new position, too!
This evening while Alex and I were eating dinner we somehow got on the subject of what we think our lives will be like in 5 years. That quickly turned into a discussion about how far we have come over the last 5 years. Let’s take a trip down memory lane!
Celebrating my 22nd birthday in Iowa.
5 years ago we were recent college graduates. Alex was 3 months into his career where he still works now, just in a different position. I was unemployed and my short stint as a temp had just ended.
Class of 2008!
We had left home in the Midwest the summer of 2008 and set out for bigger, better things.
Good bye party
While we fell in love with our new city, it took me almost 5 years to realize we’ll stay put here in Seattle.
Pike Place Market
We moved into an awesome condo that was located in downtown Seattle. Thank goodness our living arrangements have been upgraded a little bit!
Our living room 5 years ago.
We tried to fit in by going for hikes and exploring our new state – honestly, we had no idea what we were doing!
At least Alex had a backpack for our little Mount Rainier toot.
As a 22-year old, Alex went out a lot! I still didn’t know very many people at that point in living in Seattle, so I mostly stayed in or would grab a drink when I could find a friend.
This was a night out in college…
5 years ago, Alex and I spent Christmases apart, both going back to our respective hometowns for 2 weeks over the holidays.
Miss these girls!
5 years ago Alex was a beginner skier!
We looked a little different back then!
I had only skied in the mountains once and had embarrassing skis {straight, skinny skis!}, boots and ski gear.
Skinny skis and a large down jacket… not my best look!
5 years ago {this weekend} we took our first trip to Whistler. We had no idea what we were doing on our first mountain ski trip together, but we picked up my cousin and headed for British Columbia for some of the coldest, rockiest skiing I have ever done and hope to ever do.
Riding the Peak 2 Peak gondola in Whistler
It is amazing how far we have come over the last 5 years. We have both grown up so much and so many different facets of our lives have changed. I really can’t wait to see what the next 5 years bring!
I haven’t written a post about Jackson for a while, so here’s an update on our little pooch.
Sleepy puppy!
Jackson is 8 and a half months old now. He weighs around 65ish pounds – it’s gotten kind of tough to weigh him, so that doesn’t happen very often! I’m guessing he’ll max out at 75 pounds over the next few months. He’s a pretty big dog but you can tell he still has some evening out to do.
Hanging out in Vail
Since he turned 7 months, Jackson has been a gem for the most part. He still has nasty streaks, but generally speaking, he is acting like a mature dog. When he needs something to do he goes to his toy basket and grabs a toy to chew on. Then he lays down and chews on it until he falls asleep. Only when he’s feeling particularly mischievous will he venture to the laundry basket to select a specific sock or pair of underwear, or he will jump on the bed and hold Henry’s toys hostage until we give him some attention.
Naughty dog!
Around 7 months we randomly left Jackson out in the house when we went up to grab a glass of wine. He had free range in the house for a couple of hours and did awesome. This quickly progressed into allowing him more time to roam free in the house and now we’ve progressed to the point of him not ever being confined to a space in the house. He certainly has earned it and continues to show us that he deserves it. Hopefully we won’t regress here!
King of the snow pile
Jackson saw snow for the first time just days before he turned 8 months. It goes without saying that Jackson is a true member of the Allen clan given his sheer enjoyment of playing in the snow. He went crazy when we let him off his leash in Breckenridge – it was so fun watching him bound through snow drifts, launch himself off of piles of snow to chase a little snowball and to just experience something new for the first time.
Snow dog 🙂
We continue to enjoy our weekend trips to the dog park, though I think they will start to become second to taking Jackson skiing with us on our days off. Hopefully we’ll take Jackson to the snowy Cascades pretty soon so that he can explore the snow here, too.
A big thank you to Alina and Alberto for humoring me and taking some awesome photos of us while we were in snowy Breckenridge last week. I have been thinking for the last few months that Alex and I don’t have very many nice, recent photos of us, aside from our wedding pictures. We never did engagement photos so I wanted to do something like 2-year marriage photos, I guess. Here are a few faves!
