2013 - In Review

I like to do the year in review because it gives me a chance to really reflect on the year. If you find it as boring as can be, I don't mind of you skip it.

1. What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
The majority of bread our family ate in 2013 was homemade. By me.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I never ran an entire 5K without stopping, but I did run/walk in a couple of 5K races. I also allowed myself to stop reading books I wasn't interested in, and I feel like I was a more present parent.

I probably will make some for next year. We'll see.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

I got two new nephews this year, and lots of my friends had babies.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Eric's great-aunt died. She was sort of a stand-in Grandma for that side of the family since her sister (Eric's grandma) died fairly young. Because of that we knew her better than any other great aunt or uncle.

5. What countries did you visit?
Not only did I not leave the country this calendar year, but I did hardly any traveling at all.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?

A fancy camera.

7. What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I guess December 3 since I had a near-accident on the icy highway, but truthfully I had to look up on Facebook to figure out exactly what day that incident occurred on.

8. What was your biggest personal achievement of the year?
I solved some fairly tough genealogy cases including some adoption cases that involved me having to figure out which parts of the adoption papers were accurate and which were not.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I don't know about this one. I certainly had several,  but none in particular stands out as the biggest.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I was sick a lot this year. And there was the incident with the horse.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My KitchenAid, hands down.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

I am on a new team at work, and I really like my supervisor. He is usually worth celebrating.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
John Boehner. Can't stand that man.

14. Where did most of your money go?
We had to buy two new-to-us cars this year. TWO.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

We were pretty excited when Eric got a new job.

16. What song will always remind you of 2013?
The Irish ballad version of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." I hadn't even heard the original until a few weeks ago.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) Happier
b) Same.
c) Poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Reading, hiking, exercising.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Staring at my phone or at a computer screen.

20. Did you fall in love in 2013?
I got a smart phone this year, and I really like it. Probably not love, though.

21. What was your favorite TV program?
We're really enjoying watching West Wing. I'm not sure what we'll do when we're out of episodes.

22. What was the best book you read?
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and its sequel Days of Blood and Starlight, by Laini Taylor.

23. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I don't really listen to much music. I did join my ward choir this year, though.

24. What did you want and get?

A KitchenAid mixer, right after complaining in last year's summary that it was something I wanted and didn't get.

25. What did you want and not get?
A fancy camera.

26. What was your favorite film of this year?
Lincoln, hands down. (It came out in 2012, but we didn't get around to seeing it until early 2013.)

27. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 29, and I worked. We went out for dinner and shopping that weekend.

28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having fewer arguments with a toddler.

29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
I wore more skinny jeans than not-skinny-jeans this year.

30. What kept you sane?Having a grown-up-job outside of my home a couple of days a week.

What Would Have Been

We didn't do a Christmas card this year, but this is the picture we would have used had we done one. Since we didn't do a Christmas card we also didn't write a Christmas letter. Actually, even in years when we've sent cards we haven't sent true letters, but we have sent little lists about our year. This year's would have said:

• Eric changed careers and is now a special education teacher at a local elementary school. He has 12 students, and he is loving his job.
• Sherry has been plugging away at work and at home and has not done anything particularly unusual, interesting, or otherwise noteworthy this year.
• Ike (3) loves dinosaurs, airplanes, and cars. He can talk your ear off.
• Felix (1) is cute and happy.

And then it would have said something about wishing you a merry Christmas and a wonderful 2014.

So just pretend that we squeezed the Christmas cards and accompanying year-end summary into our budget this year, and consider yourself a recipient of said card and letter.

Unfortunate Haircut

I got a haircut on Saturday. She took off about 4 inches, which is about what I wanted. It had been nearly a year since my last haircut, so I was glad to get rid of the many split ends. But at the end when she asked me if I wanted her to frame my face, I should have said "no." Or I should have specified that I wanted the shorter pieces to be not so short. What am I supposed to do with these bits of hair that are chin-length? If you see me wearing headbands a lot for the next while, this is why.

Ike is Three

Or 29. Depending on how he feels when you ask him.

Ike loves dinosaurs, books (especially books about dinosaurs, dragons, bears and other animals), blocks, army guys and animals. He enjoys singing and being sung to. Favorite songs at the moment include "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "the Cougar song" (which is really the BYU fight song), "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man," (which he now thinks is associated with Christmas because of our nativity set), and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

He is a moderately good helper, depending on his mood and the chore. He loves to help with laundry - bringing it to the washer, pushing wet clothes into the dryer, sorting his own clothes - but he's not as keen about putting away his toys or helping with the dishes. He loves to choose his own clothes, and usually will opt for a shirt with a picture on it. He'll opt for stripes occasionally, but only if his shirts with pictures are all dirty. He does not like having his hair washed or combed.

He has a major sweet tooth and spends his day begging for treats. I'm only exaggerating a little bit here.

His best friend is a girl who lives across the street, but he loves playing with all children. He always has fun at his sitter's house and asks pretty much every day if he is going there. Ike also loves going to nursery each week.

Sometimes he acts shy, but for the most part he is very outgoing and loves to talk to all sorts of people.

I'm always astounded by his memory. There are so many things that he pulls out of his head, and I'm blown away that he remembers that event or that person. He also has a really good sense of direction, which also blows my mind.

We love this little guy and are glad he's our boy.

Thanksgiving Break

Eric had a glorious 5 days off of school. I used one of them to let him stay home with the boys while I worked all day.

On Thanksgiving I ran (but mostly walked, let's be honest) the first annual Pilgrim 5k, where I dressed up as a Native American. I did not win the costume contest, but I would have had the only other person who dressed up as a Native American not been a little girl. Ike got to sit at a little kid table, where I'm 99% sure he consumed only M&M's, raisins and candy corn from his nut cup. Also, now that I think of it, he ate some olives. The day after Thanksgiving we decorated for Christmas, with all the glass bulbs hung sufficiently out of reach of our non-walking toddler. On Saturday we rode on a train (just TRAX, really).

 

We went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. Hooray for holidays!