2019 Year in Review

Whew!

2019 was a busy one.  Here’s a recap:

January:  Went to Ojo Caliente Spa with a group of friends.

February:  Howie died.  ☹ 

March:  I took my 100^th Pure Barre class!  My sister-in-law and niece came for a visit.  We had a great time!

April:  We celebrated our 9 year anniversary and had dinner at a restaurant with a beautiful view:

May:  Hubs had to go to D.C. for work, and I tagged along for a few days.  We saw all the things. 

June:  My sister came and we went to all the bookstores and also the convention. 

July:  I got promoted.

August:  I started my ‘get healthy’ journey.

September:  We traveled to Denver and went to a football game and a concert.  We also had our circuit assembly and my husband went to D.C. again for work. 

October:  Balloon Fiesta.  And my brother came to visit!  We had a lot of fun.

November:  We spent November preparing for December.  We found out that hubs was matched with a service dog.  He also went to Boston for work.  I did Black Friday shopping again!

December:  December was all about the new puppy.  Hubs was in San Francisco for 2 weeks.  I flew out for a few days.  We saw Hamilton!  We drove home, stopping in Las Vegas on the way. 

Other things to note: 

*I lost 38 pounds.

*I read 94 books.  I didn’t hit my reading goal (100 books), but I came close!

*I started hiking and hope to do WAY more of it in 2020!

*I saw a couple movies in the theater:  Avengers Endgame, Downton Abbey.  I may have seen a couple more, but those are the two I remember.

*I don’t put pictures of other people up on this blog any more.  That’s why you won’t see many ‘people’ pics.  Just FYI.

Visitors (5): 

Uncle Bob

My sister-in-law and my niece

My sister

My brother

New family members (2):

1 great niece

1 nephew’s wife (niece-in-law?)

New pets (1):

Xy Xy

Places traveled (I track all the places we go.  It helps to look back on when I’m having a bad day or feeling sorry for myself for some petty reason.  Traveling is my therapy):

Espanola/Taos, NM (Ojo Caliente)

Washington D.C.

Denver, CO

Centennial, CO

Englewood, CO

Placitas, NM

Jemez Springs, NM

San Francisco, CA

Sausalito, CA

Penngrove, CA

Petaluma, CA

Santa Rosa, CA

Las Vegas, NV

We got to add quite a few more red pins to our travel map!

My Brother

This just shows how incredibly behind I am about blogging about the 'big' stuff.

My brother came to visit in October!  Just him, no kids.  We wanted him to have a little getaway where he could relax, catch up on some sleep, and spend some time in the great outdoors.

The weather was pretty nice.  We did some hiking!  Our first hike was Sandia Man Cave.  It was an easy hike leading to an actual cave (we didn't go in).  But the hike was really pretty:

The next day we drove about an hour and a half north and hiked to Jemez Springs.  It was chilly and even snowed.  But it was a short hike and totally worth it.

The next day was our hardest hike.  It was just my brother and I.  We hiked 6 miles at 10,000 feet.  I had to stop a few times to catch my breath.  It was so pretty though, especially at the crest.

Our final day we spent at home.  We ate burritos, watched football and movies and just relaxed.  It was so nice to spend some one-on-one time with him.  It was a great few days and I hope we can make it a yearly tradition!

Family Visit

Time to play Catch-Up!

In April, my sister-in-law and my niece came to visit.  I won’t ever post pictures of my nieces and nephews here because this is the internet, so my pictures may be pretty generic.  I’m okay with that. 

We had a BLAST.  We went to a Family Fun Center (and won loads of tickets), my husband and niece went hiking while my sister-in-law and I went to Barre.  We did a spa day and got manicures, pedicures and then did mud/peel masks on our faces.  We had cupcakes (and rated them 1 to 10 by taste), s’mores, and bonfires.  And White Russians!  And we did a LOT of coloring.  It is so relaxing and therapeutic to sit and talk (and drink ha ha) while coloring with markers. 

The time went so fast and I was sad to see them go.  :(  But I’m glad we had such an amazing time.   

Ojo Caliente

Back in the beginning of November, some friends and I decided to do an 8-week fitness challenge.  In those 8 weeks, we were all required to exercise 45 minutes at least 3 times a week.  We had to keep accountable by sending a picture of what we did.  And at the end of the 8 weeks, we rewarded ourselves by going to Ojo Caliente Spa in Taos in January. 

It was so cool!  It was cold outside, but the thermal pools were hot.  It's a very woo-woo place (you must whisper) and each pool has specific minerals in it that are supposed to do something restorative to your body.

It was sooooo relaxing.  We soaked in all of the pools.  We ate and drank.  We sat by the fire.  It was just a wonderful way to celebrate the completion of our fitness challenge.

And the good news is we started another fitness challenge!  We're still deciding what our reward will be when we finish.

2018 Year in Review

I'm so late on this!  It's already February!  But better late than never I guess?

January

Well the year started off on a bad note when I had my first emergency room visit EVER.  I was in the worst pain I’ve ever had in my life.  I will never forget sitting in a wheelchair, tears streaming down my face, holding the giant cup of CT contrast I had to drink wondering how on earth I was going to manage it without throwing up or passing out.  They got things figured out with the tests and sent me on my way with pain pills.

We also got a king size bed.  Normally this isn’t something I would include in a ‘year in review’ post, but getting this king size bed has been life changing.  I can’t even believe the space we have and I’m sleeping a lot better now.

February

Surgery!  To fix the above mentioned issues.  My uterus was trying to self-destruct (hence the horrible pain).  I wish I were exaggerating, but this is exactly how my surgeon described it to me.  They took out just about everything they could (but left some important things too).  It went well.  I stayed one night in the hospital.  I was home recovering for 4 weeks.  Everything went smoothly and I feel SO MUCH BETTER.    

The addition started on our house (my mother-in-law’s kitchen).  About a week into it, they discovered a major plumbing problem.  Which they fixed.  And then the addition resumed.

March

March was all about surgery recovery, organizing, and just life.

April

We had our 8^th anniversary.  We went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory and kept it pretty low key because we left for Iceland the next week.  That was our gift to each other. 

We also had our French Memorial.

May

Iceland!  We went for a week.  It was unbelievable.  I still just can’t stop thinking about it.  And I want to go back so bad!  In fact, a 2^nd trip has been discussed (in 2020).  We shall see!  I’ve traveled to other countries, but none of them have had the same effect on me that Iceland has had.  I wish I could describe it without sounding like a loon.  It’s just IN me now.  I look back at my pictures and I just get this feeling of longing and sadness that I’m not there.  I drink a cup of my precious Arctic Thyme tea that I got there (arctic thyme is a plant only grown in Iceland) and I take a whiff of it and I am immediately transported back.  Our little cabin.  The crazy weather.  The crazy landscapes.  The smell (it’s good).  The fresh air.  The fresh water EVERYWHERE.  The people.  The music.  The slower pace.  The peacefulness.  The remoteness (it felt like we were the only ones on the island).  I loved everything about it.  It was just a pretty perfect trip.  I think Belgium comes in 2^nd as far as the ‘feeling’ of a country.  We’ve discussed another trip to Belgium at some point too.  With Belgium I think we were just so surprised by how much we loved it.  It’s a tiny little country, but boy does it pack a punch.  Okay I’m getting off track.

June

June was our Regional Convention, which meant the visit of my seeeeester!  It was lovely.

July

In July, our ductless heating and cooling was installed.  It was a huge relief to get that done.  My house was in shambles and had tubes and wires and HOLES in the ceilings for about a week.  I never knew what or who I would be coming home too.  But the love I have for these ductless units now….amazing. 

My nephew came to visit as well.  We had a nice time!  We didn’t do anything too touristy, except a hike that I thought was going to kill me (Tent Rocks).  Spoiler alert…it didn’t kill me.  Ha ha. 

We also had some painting done in July.  The addition was slowly wrapping up (I won’t even go into that because I’ve been trying to block it from my memory).

August

In August we had a couple stay with us for a week for PS School.  It was nice to have them and they were easy guests.

We also had concrete work done.  We had a path poured out front, a patio for my mother-in-law poured out back, and the concrete leveled out on the West side of our house.

September

In September my parents came to visit.  We went to a lot of bookstores.  It was so much fun!  We had a nice visit with them.

We also made the bittersweet decision to switch back to English from French.  We miss our French family, but moving to English was a great move for us.  We love our new congregation. 

October

Nothing out of the ordinary in October…just incredibly busy at work.  Balloon Fiesta.  Also, my husband tore up the carpet in the man cave.  There was linoleum that looked like wood underneath.  We’re leaving it alone for now.

November

In November hubby went to Chicago with my nephew for a couple of Blackhawks games.  While they were gone, we had our new piece of fencing installed…the FINAL part of the addition project.

Also…Black Friday!

December

I traveled to Nebraska in December for my niece’s baby shower.  It was so much fun.  I got to see all of my family and go to help out with the shower.  And it was cold, but not SUPER cold.

Uncle Bob also came for an impromptu visit (funeral).

It was a stressful year (surgery, the addition, and our house being tore up, etc) but it was also a great year because we got a LOT accomplished.  The addition is complete.  Our heating/cooling is complete.  We visited a country that I still just can’t believe exists because it is so amazing.  I got to see a lot of family and we had lots of visitors.  All in all, a really good year.

Travel:  Colorado, Iceland, Nebraska

Visitors:  7 (my sister, my nephew, my parents, a couple here for PSS, and Uncle Bob)

Autumn Bucket List

It's finally Fall!  I LOVE fall.  It is definitely my favorite season.  I love the changing weather, the changing leaves, the football, the pumpkin stuff, the clothes (sweaters!  Boots!).  I feel like I missed it last year though.  We moved mid-July and the first six months after our move were just a blur.  So this year I made a list of 10 things I want to do this fall.  Some of them are practical, some of them are just fun.

1.  Read a mystery/thriller.  This should be easy.  I have many to choose from on my shelves.

2.  Buy new sweaters.  I NEED some new sweaters.  I want to get at least two.

3.  Make pumpkin bread.  I'm not talking about from scratch or anything (ha ha ha ha!).  But Trader Joe's has a really good box mix of pumpkin bread.  It's a treat.

4.  Get some mini pumpkins/gourds.  I also get these at Trader Joe's.  I'll put them in our bowl on our table in the sunroom (where we eat most of our meals).  It's just a little festive.

5.  Make lots of chili and soup.  Of course.

6.  Get some fall candles.  I've done this already!  I picked these two up at Home Goods:

7.  Put together a puzzle.  I haven't done a puzzle since after my surgery, because I find them a bit addictive and hard to stop working on.  However, as I was strolling the aisles of Target, this one spotted my eye:

It's called 'Canals in Bruges'.  And....hello!  We were there 3 years ago!  In a boat!  In the canals of Bruges!

And then, while strolling the aisles of Barnes and Noble, I spotted this one:

It's charming.  So maybe I'll get both of them done, we'll see.

8.  Read a book in my home library.  I don't mean read a book FROM my library, I mean read a book IN my library.  Like, actually sit down on the chair in there and read.  And maybe turn on my faux fireplace.

9.  Take fall photos of our house and surroundings.  We live 2 blocks from a golf course with actual trees that actually change colors in the fall.  I want to take more pictures of the tress there and also on our street and *maybe* in our yard, although they turn REALLY quickly and sometimes I miss it.

10.  Knit a scarf.  I'm thinking this is something I can do while watching football.  Or listening to an audiobook (which is more likely).

And that's it!  I hope to actually NOTICE fall this year now that we're a bit more settled.

Random

*Costco has started selling SKYR!!!!!  It’s not widely found in the United States.  We have found it at Sprouts and Whole Foods, but it is way expensive.  We LOVED it when we were in Iceland and it was one of the few grocery items that was affordable.  We get 2 cases of it each time we are at Costco.  It’s 4 Weight Watchers points for one container.  15 grams of protein.  There are other products out there (Siggy’s, etc.) that claim to be Skyr, but they’re not.  This one is the only one available in the US that contains Icelandic Heriloom Skyr Cultures (from Iceland’s oldest farmer-owned dairy).  It was a happy, happy day when we discovered it.  It’s the little things in life, you know?

*I’ve pretty much given up TV.  I watch maybe 1 hour on the weekends.  That’s it.  And sometimes not even that.  And when I do watch, it's usually something I've watched before like Parks and Rec or Downton Abbey.  And you know what?  I don’t miss it.  I’ve been READING LIKE CRAZY.

 

*We went back to English.  We talked and prayed about it for months now and felt it was the right decision for our family.  I am relieved, but I am also heartbroken about leaving our French family.  We truly are a family.  And it’s going to be hard to find that again.  But at the same time, English has already given us a huge spiritual boost.  And our new congregation has lovingly welcomed us.

*This hairbrush has changed my life.  Well, not really, ha ha.  But again…it’s the little things.  I LOVE it.  It’s the Conair Ceramic Porcupine Cushion Brush.  My hair takes less than a minute to brush out as opposed to 10 minutes ripping through it with a wide-toothed comb.  I don’t know why I waited so long to switch to a brush.  I got it at Target….I think it was $9?

 

*Monsoon season is still going strong.  This is the heaviest monsoon I’ve seen since I’ve lived here.  My mother-in-law says the same thing and she’s lived here 20+ years.  It’s been raining almost every night.  I love it!  The dog…not so much.  The picture below is from abqjournal.com.  It is a very accurate portrayal of monsoon season.  This is looking East (the Sandia mountains are right behind the rain) and the Rio Grande is where all the green trees are in the middle.  We live on the East side (so basically, right where the rain is dumping).  Anyways...the sun will be out, then all of the sudden one part of town will look VERY ominous and there will be an isolated monsoon that dumps a crapload of rain for a good 15-20 minutes.  Streets flood, traffic comes to a stop.  And then the next day, there are traffic crews out cleaning up the rocks.  Because there isn't a lot of grass here, there are rocks in it's place.  And when there's a tremendous amount of rain, the rocks get washed into the street. 

I just have to give a shout-out to my washer and dryer.  Ha ha.  I do at LEAST one load of laundry per day, sometimes more (gym clothes, work clothes, meeting clothes, towels, bedding, etc.).  They are LG Front Loaders.  I love them!!!!

I'm working from home today.  He is not making it difficult AT ALL: