The theme of 2018 for our family has been “change.” We had one big change after another all year long and they’re still coming at us hard. While it’s been overwhelming at times, we’ve weathered the changes just fine and have had such a special year. This is also the year we really felt like we were a real deal family now that we have two kids.

The year started out with the loathsome first trimester of my pregnancy with Hannah in combination with the arrival of our au pair, who didn’t end up working out. During this time Alex was interviewing for a new job, a process that is grueling to say the least. I had almost daily migraines because I was so stressed out about our undesirable childcare situation.

To be honest, I don’t remember much about the first portion of 2018, other than the challenges that went along with it.

The sun came out for us, both literally and figuratively, when we took a much needed family-of-three vacation to Arizona. It was undeniably a highlight of the year. We loved taking Ben swimming and watching the pure joy on his face when he’d jump in the pool over and over and over. He ate a 1/2 pound hot dog all on his own and shared a {virgin} strawberry daquiri with me. Just after we returned from Arizona, Alex started his new job and we switched au pairs.

Throughout the winter and spring Ben continued to go to his co-op preschool, which we all loved. We made wonderful friends from the preschool and I felt a comforting sense of community. It’s always nice to bump into friends from the co-op around town or at the park.

We spent the winter designing our mountain house in Leavenworth and broke ground ahead of schedule in April. The process has overall been wonderful. We are so pleased with our builder and the trades who have been building the house. We’ve taken as many trips out to the Lodge as we possibly can this year.

Ben turned two at the end of May and we invited his grandparents out to Leavenworth. It was fun to stay next door to our house and get to see the framing start to take shape.

Toddlerhood was another theme of our 2018. Alex and I have taken the positivity approach in parenting our toddler. While it is unbelievably challenging at times it is SO much fun. We love two! We are so enamored every day by the things that come out of our two-year old’s mouth, the associations he makes, how quickly he figures things out and his unbelievable vocabulary and ability to have a conversation. Raising a child from birth is undeniably the most magnificent learning opportunity.

The start of summer was also a bit of a blur for me. I was super pregnant and rather uncomfortable {as I was for most of the pregnancy} and trying to wrap up all of my work before the baby arrived.

As a birthday gift, Ben received some outdoor toys for our backyard and we loved watching him play independently outside at home, which was new for us. Every time he played outside in our postage stamp backyard in Seattle we’d envision him running and playing on our 3-acre property out in the mountains.

Soon after Ben’s second birthday we embarked on the unexpectedly long journey that is potty training. The latest rage with potty training books tells you that miraculously, even if you have a boy, he’ll magically be potty trained in three days with eight easy steps! So not the case! Why does everyone rave about this!? {They all have girls, that is why.} We’re very close to calling Ben potty trained during the day, but it’s been a life altering work in progress for the last seven months.

We managed to make several trips out to The Lodge over the summer, including one camping trip. My brother and his girlfriend came out to the Pacific Northwest/British Columbia and ended up meeting us out at Lake Wenatchee State Park to come camping with us. I have delightful memories from this two-night trip turned one-night; however it was extremely challenging going camping with a very active two-year old and being pregnant. While it was so, so wonderful I’m not in a hurry to do it again.

Hannah arrived just two weeks after our camping trip. It had been an extraordinarily busy week – I helped put on my organization’s annual golf tournament on Thursday, then Alex and I had an exhausting all afternoon affair at The Lodge with our electrician, and Saturday I spent nesting, thankfully, before my water broke that night while Alex was at a bachelor party.

Truly from the moment she was born she brought a calming sense to our family. Alex and I were overjoyed to meet our baby girl. It felt like Ben grew up overnight when Hannah was born. He had been promoted to big brother and knew just what to do. Some of my favorite moments from the year are the sweet sibling moments that I often witness. Ben and Hannah adore each other. While Ben occasionally gets jealous of Hannah’s attention he innately knows not to take it out on her. Instead, he’ll ask us to put Hannah down so he can have our attention instead. Lately, five months in, Ben is darn near the only person who can make Hannah giggle. She is already looking up to her big brother.

My maternity leave was a blessing in so many ways. My time with Hannah was so precious. I loved our daily walks and getting out and showing off my sweet baby girl. Hannah has been a dream of a baby and we are smitten.

All four of Ben and Hannah’s grandparents came out to meet their first granddaughter during my maternity leave.

I ended up spending several weeks of my maternity leave sorting through the profiles of hundreds of au pairs from around the world. Just four days before Hannah was born, Stacey, our au pair at the time, told us that she was, in fact, not going to stay on with our family another year. She had gone back and forth on extending her time with us for a while so it didn’t come as a complete shock. Stacey finished out her contract with us and went back to England in late November. Finding a new au pair was a time consuming, competitive and overwhelming process and in the end, we decided to contract with Stacey’s cousin, Anna, as our next au pair. She just arrived from England at the end of December.

In the midst of my maternity leave, Ben started Spanish immersion preschool at a spot near our house. We were delighted to be able to have him immersed in Spanish language from the early age of two. Unfortunately the school didn’t end up working out for us. I quickly scrambled and pulled together a backup plan.

In early October Ben started preschool for the second time – his Monday through Thursday is split between the same co-op he was at the previous school year and a different preschool. He was instantly comfortable and fell right back into his groove at the co-op with his old teacher.

Alex and I have loved the emotion coaching he has received, the music classes that enrich his school day and the time he’s spending away from his family as he’s getting closer and closer to kindergarten. He is developing so rapidly and comes home with new vocabulary and has really started to talk about and regulate his feelings.

Throughout the course of the summer and fall Alex and I made numerous trips out to The Lodge to make decisions or see the progress of our house. Occasionally we brought both kids with us and made a day out of it. We have so many wonderful memories from some of those day trips and we are all the more excited for our house to be finished just after the new year.

One of the on-going themes of our year has been a challenge with childcare. This was exacerbated during the holiday season as we said good bye to our second au pair, Stacey, and had a three-week lapse before Anna, our brand new au pair arrived a couple days ago. I got to play “stay-at-home-mom” for a few weeks and enjoyed a lot of quality time with the kiddos.

The holiday season this year was extra special with our little ones. Ben seemed to mostly understand the concept of Santa. Our Christmas holiday was spent in the snowy mountains surrounded by Alex’s family. We made so many new memories this season.

We are closing out 2018 together as a family of four plus our new au pair, Anna. Alex and I are giddy with anticipation and can hardly wait to move into our mountain house. We have no idea how it will change our lives this year and forever – we just know it will. Cheers to bidding adieu to a busy, chaotic and mementos 2018 and welcoming 2019 – a year I hope brings so much time with family and friends and making new memories and traditions.

Looking back…

2017

2016

2015

2014 

Another year down…. 2016 has left a really big mark in my life. It has been the year with the most significant ups and downs and it will likely be one of the most momentous years of my entire life. This was the year we became parents, after all!

Our 2016 began with the announcement of my pregnancy! We were elated to share the news with our friends and family.

Shortly after we announced the pregnancy I started to feel mostly human again, after having spent my first trimester nauseous and averse to foods. It was so exciting for me once I was finally showing – it’s so strange being pregnant. You’re going through this massive life event and yet it’s no big deal for anyone else.

 

Early in January we took a spontaneous trip to Leavenworth, an adorable town in the mountains, and stayed at the Sleeping Lady for a weekend away together. We tried cross country skiing, drank lots of hot chocolate and relaxed.

We took a ski trip in February with Alex’s parents to Deer Valley, Utah. It’s always nice picking up and meeting somewhere fun with Alex’s parents, and we’re particularly fond of Utah, plus there are some posh perks of going to Deer Valley!

Being able to spend time in the mountains is something that is extremely important to Alex and me, and it was really special to still be able to do that last winter. I loved skiing while I was pregnant. I was extra cautious, but it was something that made me feel normal.

One of the many highlights from my 2016 was when my dad came out to visit – we drove up to Whistler for our own little ski trip, just the two of us.

While my dad and I were in Whistler, Alex and our friend Patrick were on the other side of British Columbia on a cat ski trip. They had an incredible time together!

In our spare time last winter and spring we were busy preparing for the arrival of our baby. We did a lot of home projects, mainly organizing and rearranging, and a ton of online shopping and researching. We wanted to have the nursery mostly put together by the end of April when several family members were planning on coming out for my baby shower.

Initially we debated whether or not we’d find out the gender of our baby in advance of his/her arrival. Eventually Alex convinced me to find out and we were very surprised, but thrilled, to learn via ultrasound that we were having a boy! Seemingly everyone expected we were having a girl.

My BFF Sarah came out for a weekend visit in March. We both found out that we were pregnant on the same day and ended up having due dates a day apart! During her trip we went to a prenatal yoga class, did some shopping and chatted a ton about baby stuff, naturally.

I celebrated my 30th birthday at the end of March, followed by our 5th wedding anniversary in mid-April. Somewhere in there Alex and I splurged on an overnight in Woodinville at Willows Lodge with dinner at the famous Herbfarm. The meal was divine and we had such a lovely time together.

April was really busy for us. Alex high-tailed it off to southern Mexico to visit our friends Justin and Tania, who lived in San Cristobal, a large city in the mountainous state of Chiapas. It was a trip with highs and lows – Alex loved the beauty of the region but came to appreciate some of the modern amenities he is used to in the US.

While Alex was in Mexico I flew east to Minnesota to visit family and friends. Two of my best girl friends from Minnesota were pregnant and due within weeks (or days!) of me. It was so fun seeing them!

My aunt hosted a baby shower for me out here in Seattle. We had several family members come in from the Midwest to attend it. The shower was very beautiful, tasteful and I really enjoyed introducing some of my friends from out here to my Midwest family.

Since so many people were visiting we planned a bunch of outings that weekend. It was fun showing off our beautiful city!

The following weekend my friend, Cate, hosted another baby shower for me. The shower was a mountain theme, which was perfect, and we had a lovely time!

The week in between my baby showers I found out, via a routine prenatal appointment and later confirmed by ultrasound, that I had IUGR {Intrauterine Growth Restriction} and something was causing my baby to not grow properly. The weeks that followed are now a blur, but that was the start of the roller coaster ride.

Ultimately, I spent the next month in and out of doctor’s appointments and then the hospital, finally being hospitalized for 3 weeks until I delivered. The time in the hospital was both really difficult, but also I look back with some fond memories.

Our son Benjamin Ames Allen was born at 11:21 a.m. on Tuesday May 31st, weighing in at 3 pounds 3 ounces. He arrived nearly 7 weeks early but we were ready to meet our kiddo!

The first month of Ben’s life was spent in the NICU, while he learned how to eat from a bottle, as well as put on some weight. That month was unbelievably trying, but was filled with memories of kangaroo care and getting to know our son.

He’s a little trooper and after 26 days he was able to come home!

Our summer at home was filled with walks around the neighborhood, brunch at Vendemmia, a random trip to Yakima wine country, visits from family and lots of time together. Alex was able to have 10 weeks of paternity leave, so once Ben came home through Labor Day, we were together as a family.

One of our first “projects” over the summer was Ben’s newborn photo session. He was SO tiny!!

We wrapped up our summer with an extended visit by Alex’s parents, and both of our siblings.

Ben’s first “getaway” was mid-August when we went to Lake Chelan for a few days with Alex’s parents. It was really fun getting out of Seattle and taking Ben to a new place. We learned quickly just how much gear goes along with a baby!

September arrived and so did the reality of both of us going back to work. We hired a terrific nanny who made the transition so much easier, and by the end of the month we were in a new groove. It took much longer than I expected to get used to life as a working mom.

At the end of September we took our annual Leavenworth Octoberfest trip with our friends the Buffingtons and the Millers and their kids. There were four babies under one!

Throughout the fall we spent our Wednesday nights at our PEPS {Program for Early Parent Support} group. This is our group of parents with very similar age babies. It is facilitated by a volunteer parent who has a little more experience than we do, but it fosters connection among parents in the area and provides some learning opportunities, as well. I really enjoyed meeting the other parents and hope to continue some of our relationships.

Most of the fall was spent getting into a groove and adjusting to our new life as working parents. A few weeks in we got into a pretty good routine, but it is certainly a flexible one, as our day-to-day changes pretty regularly.

We spent Thanksgiving in Illinois, visiting Alex’s extended family. This meant Ben took his first airplane ride!

The holidays came and went. We hosted our third annual holiday party and celebrated Ben’s first Christmas at home by going up to the mountains and playing in the snow, as well as hanging out at home by the fire.

This kid and our life keep getting more and more fun by the day. It is so cool to look back on 2016 with such fondness, even though we had some significant challenges. Amidst the ups and downs, we’re grateful for so much in this life.

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

One of the absolute best parts of this blog is writing our year-end or seasonal recaps. I forget about a lot of the things we do during the year and it’s so fun to look back through our photos or posts from the year and refresh my memory. Overall, 2015 has been a really positive year, but really one that was more constant and had fewer “big” highlights than the last few years. Let’s start from the top!

Our 2015 kicked off with one of the most fun highlights of the whole year: our ski trip to Park City, Utah! We had so much fun exploring the food scene in Deer Valley and skiing Alta, Snowbird and Snowbasin. This was the only trip we took in 2015 that was just the two of us.

I ventured SO far out of my comfort zone later that month when I took a three-day backcountry ski clinic for women. It was terrifying, eye-opening, inspiring and confidence-boosting all at the same time.

One of the worst parts of 2015 was when our Henry cat went missing for 11 days. It is still heartbreaking to think about, but after spending that time in our neighbor’s garage, he has made a full recovery and continues to love on Jackson more and more.

I got a big promotion in the beginning of the year, so my work-life changed tremendously when I began working full-time in February.

Last winter’s “ski season” was completely pathetic. It was so disappointing. I skied 12 days last winter and I think Alex had 10 or 11. We typically average around 25-35 per ski season. It was an “El Nino” winter, which meant it was unusually warm and wet – too warm for snow. Our winter looked much different than usual… Thankfully we took a big trip to Mexico in mid-February so we could find something to do!

Our trip to Mexico included a week in Puerto Vallarta with my mom, while Alex was off in Guadalajara with some of his friends. He met me in PV and then we headed across Bandaras Bay to Yelapa to attend the wedding of our friends Nigel and Jolene at a remote accessible-by-boat-only destination in the jungle. After we returned home from Mexico we hired a private Spanish tutor to come to our house once a week and help us become more conversationally fluent in Spanish {one of both of our bucket list items!}. We plan to keep this up into 2016.

One of the silver linings of the ski season was another ski trip we had. This one was in Jackson Hole, where we met my dad. There wasn’t a whole lot of snow, but there was a ton of sun and really amazing food. We love Jackson!!

With the absence of a ski season in Washington, our March and April were super boring. The weather in Seattle was sensational, though {another silver lining}, so we spent a ton of time outside drinking wine and mourning the state of our backyard.

We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary in the Yakima Valley by doing a big overnight wine tour of the region. It was a really nice little getaway!

May marked the start of summer with the weather and our travel/wedding season. Alex attended a bachelor party in Montreal in mid-May with a bunch of his high school friends. We also celebrated Alex’s 29th birthday with a surprise party! My birthday was celebrated with a Thai cooking class that we took together.

While Alex went home to Illinois to celebrate his dad’s retirement in May, my dad, brother and aunt came out to attend my cousin Jon’s wedding. It was nice to show them around Olympic National Park and spend time together.

We flew back to Illinois again in June to attend the wedding of Alex’s cousin Josh during a sweltering heat wave.

And then we flew back to Illinois again in July to attend the wedding of Alex’s friend Adam.

And then we flew to Minnesota to attend the wedding of Alex’s friend Sammy.

Somewhere in there we squeezed in a weekend in Lake Chelan so that Alex could participate in a major bike ride, including some very steep climbs. Lake Chelan is absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait to go back again.

Nearby Lake Chelan is where we spent a separate weekend in late July – we went camping with the Millers and the Furtwanglers at Lake Wenatchee State Park. It was ungodly hot, so that made camping a little uncomfortable, but being right on the lake and having a canopy to cover part of our campsite provided a little solace.

The summer of 2015 was, I believe, the hottest on record for Seattle. Now I’m really not one to complain, but our 106 year-old house had zero insulation or shade, nor air conditioning, so having our interior temperature hold steady at 92 degrees got old pretty quickly. We got creative with the grill and made a lot of salads for lunch, but our wimpy Seattle blood isn’t used to the heat!

Some other highlights of the summer include finding out that our friends Mary and Ryan were going to have twin boys this fall…

Celebrating Alex’s big promotion!…

Getting several pre-cancerous moles removed…

Spending time with my college roommate Rachel…

Catching up with Alex’s family in Illinois….

And my family in Minnesota…

Oh, and my friends, too!

We took a really fun trip down to the Willamette Valley wine region in Oregon with my friend Sarah and her husband Mike. We sampled an enormous amount of wine and spent a day on the Oregon coast.

The summer came to a close with the Allens annual trip out to Seattle. We spent the long Labor Day weekend on San Juan Island with Alex’s parents.

In mid-September my mom came out to visit and watch me run my first half marathon!

Sometime in mid-summer we began the process of a major redecorating/renovation in our house. We revamped our bedroom, living room and dining room and completely remodeled our master bathroom. The process was much longer than we expected but our house has completely transformed and we are so proud and happy with how it turned out!

Our annual fall kick-off tends to be our trip to Leavenworth with three other couples: the Millers, Buffingtons and Hilliards. We had a great time this year, though it was a different trip, because all three of the other women were pregnant. Next year there will be five babies!

We took one final trip back to Illinois for the year for our final wedding of 2015: the wedding of my college roommate Julie.

One of the big highlights from the fall was finally “breaking ground” on our major bathroom renovation. It was a two-month process to gut the bathroom and put it back together. It was well worth the wait!

 

The biggest highlight of the fall {and probably the year} was finding out I was pregnant in early November! We are thrilled to be starting a family.

We spent Thanksgiving in Mexico with Alex’s family this year. It was a wonderful and relaxing week in Puerto Vallarta to celebrate Donna and Stan’s 35th anniversary.

Ski season went off with a bang this year and December proved to be a fantastic month for skiing!

As 2015 comes to a close and I reflect on all that’s happened, I am really focusing on the future. 2016 is going to be a huge year for Alex and me. We’re both turning 30 this year, and, of course, our life will dramatically change this summer with the birth of our first child. I am seeing the end of 2015 as the closing of our “young adult” chapter and 2016 as the beginning of our “building a family” chapter. I have no idea what this chapter will look like or how it will play out, but I have every expectation that it will be filled with life lessons, a lot of laughter and love and many, many challenges as we face parenthood and raise our family. With that, Happy New Year!

2014 has been a year to remember. I think it’s safe to say that it has been our busiest year ever, filled with trips, new experiences, strengthened friendships and a lot more sunshine than usual.

The year started with a crummy ski season and a reeeeaallyyy bad case of the flu. The 2013-2014 ski season marked the year we skied the least since we moved to Seattle. It was a shame, too, because we didn’t take any ski trips in 2014.

We had several visitors throughout the year: my dad came to ski with us twice, once bringing my brother; Bryan and Sarah visited us for a long weekend in January, as did my mom.

We finished off the winter with a little Leavenworth getaway with Alex’s parents. Somewhere in there we managed to take a little weekend trip to Crystal with the Buffingtons, Millers and Sally and Ian, only to ski in the rain.

 

Spring came early to Seattle and filled the city with an abundance of sunshine and glorious weather. We celebrated our third anniversary and spent a bit of time working on our yard, per usual, and trying our hand at some gardening.

Alex broke his wrist and several ribs in an unfortunate bike accident.

As a trial-run for our Europe trip we headed up to Vancouver, BC to be “International” tourists for a weekend in May.

 

I jetted off to DC and Annapolis for Alina’s bachelorette party. We also hired a dog trainer to help us be better puppy parents.

Once June hit it seemed like the fast forward button got pushed and time just raced right on by. We spent an incredible month tooting around Europe, stopping in Italy for Alina and Alberto’s wedding, then moving on through Switzerland, Spain, London and Amsterdam, before ending our major vacation in Minnesota for Cammy and Adam’s wedding.

The rest of the summer was just as busy and included a camping trip near Mount Rainier with our great friends, the Millers and the Buffingtons.

Alex went to Chicago for Bryan’s bachelor party, then we both went to Lake Geneva for Bryan and Sarah’s wedding the following weekend.

The next weekend we took a trip to Suncadia to celebrate Dave and Trish’s wedding, then we unofficially ended the summer with a Labor Day trip to Walla Walla with Alex’s parents.

Alex’s cousin, Bryan, came to visit for a quick weekend, as well as his friend Nick, who came for a weeklong trip. Thankfully I had the foresight to re-decorate our guest room, as our house turned into a hotel for about a month!

Fall marked a bit of a slow-down. We spent a weekend in Minnesota for my high school reunion, then celebrated ten years together with a staycation in Woodinville before we took our annual weekend trip to Leavenworth with several friends to celebrate Oktoberfest. The rest of fall meant relaxation for us.

The last month of the year has been a favorite, as we got into the holiday spirit by baking {56 dozen} cookies for our neighbors and family, planning and hosting our first annual holiday party, as well as our Christmas trip to Leavenworth.

Our pets were healthy, happy and fairly well-behaved this year. It was a great year for them too!

Finishing out the year in Utah by taking a ski trip just the two of us is the perfect cessation of 2014. We have SO much to look forward to in 2015… Bring it on!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We celebrated our anniversary in April with a trip to Maui! It was a much needed week of rest, relaxation, sunshine and frozen drinks.

May marked the month that we got our new puppy, Jackson, and Sammy and Amy came out to see us.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!