2014 Reflections









2014 was a really fun and memorable year!  I read more, traveled more, ran more, blogged more, saved more money, stayed healthy, practiced yoga more consistently, managed stress more effectively, and spent quality time with friends.  I added another continent to my list of places traveled and we had an incredible honeymoon in Ecuador.  I competed in more races than ever before, including two half marathons and a really tough off-road triathlon.  I became involved in the Girls on the Run nonprofit organization and took on more leadership opportunities at work.  I watched several good friends marry the loves of their lives.  I got to know my niece, Rielle, and celebrated the birth of my cousin's son, Oliver.  I ran with my dad in his first 5K in Minnesota, paddle boarded with my mom in Virginia Beach, had sisters' weekend in Nashville, and spent an amazing weekend in Chicago with my brother.  I celebrated my first anniversary with my incredible husband, and we started the process of buying a home.  

 As I am halfway through taking down Christmas decorations (and about 75% of the way through eating leftover holiday cookies), I would also like to reflect on what a fun-filled, unique Christmas we had in 2014.  My siblings and I all flocked home to Minnesota for the holidays, where the three of us (along with our significant others) rented a house in Minneapolis for the week.  It was a whirlwind of friends, family, good food, and lots of wine.  "Christmas" consisted of opening gifts with Jaycob's family in Sherburn, celebrating Christmas Eve with his extended family at his grandfather's farm, having late-night welcome-home cocktails with my dad after arriving in Minneapolis, hosting Christmas brunch, celebrating Christmas afternoon with my dad's family and Christmas night with my mom's family, meeting Baby Oliver for the first time, watching Scrooged (my second-favorite Christmas movie of all time), supervising playtime between Kua and her two canine cousins, going for snowy runs around the lakes in Minneapolis, spending time with my BFF and my favorite 2-year-old, RJ, going to a Gopher basketball game, partying with my brother's childhood friends, listening to some really great live music downtown, having an incredible dinner for Jaycob's birthday, and consuming enough wine, champagne, and fancy cocktails to hold me over until Valentine's Day.  I kept up with my holiday running challenge, which included some frigid runs, hung-over runs, and a 3 a.m. jog at a rest stop on Christmas Eve.  I came home exhausted and delirious with sleep deprivation, but hoping to do it all over again next year.

 I can't wait to make 2015 as memorable as this past year!  I look forward to some really exciting weddings, welcoming more friends' babies into the world than I can even keep track of at this point, and progressing with the home buying process!  
Here are my resolutions for 2015...
  • Drink more water
  • Ride my bike to work more often
  • Learn to enjoy burpees
  • Floss more, and have zero cavities
  • Socialize more
  • Use my crockpot more frequently for dinners
  • Brush the dog's teeth more regularly
  • Help the cat lose 2 pounds
  • Eat more fruits and veges
  • Drink more milk
  • Take a daily vitamin
  • Experience a new hiking trail near Santa Fe
  • Go to church
  • Read more research articles for work
  • Get more involved in a Process Improvement project at work
  • Be more patient
  • Call my family more frequently
  • Run another half marathon
  • Master my yogi headstand
  • Write more book reviews
  • Get a new tattoo
  • Buy a house
  • Celebrate my 30th birthday in style



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pacific Northwest Bachelorette Party

Image
I just returned home from a memorable weekend in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, celebrating my sister, Katie, who is getting married in just a few short weeks.  Four years ago she, as my Maid of Honor, planned the most unforgettable and fun-filled bachelorette weekend for me:  San Francisco and Sonoma Bachelorette , and now it was my turn to do the same for her!  We gathered together a group of twelve women from Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Manchester, Santa Fe, Denver, and Seattle to celebrate the Bride to Be.  I wanted to have some organized, pre-planned group activities, but also plenty of down time for games, lounging, and drinking wine.  While we wanted most of the weekend to be spent at a cozy cabin overlooking the serene water of Puget Sound, we wanted one exciting night out on the town, and I think we achieved that balance.  Here's the breakdown of our weekend events: 1)  Night Out in Capitol Hill We arrived in Seattle on Thursday and checked into the
Read more

High Altitude Baking: Coffee Cake

Image
Happy January!  I have two weeks left of my maternity leave and I'm trying to make the most of it by spending lots of quality time with Baby Ady before she starts daycare.  It's going by so fast!  While I'm home I've been using my crock pot a lot, working on some yarn projects, taking long walks with Ady and Kua, reading, and doing some baking.  I have struggled with high altitude baking since moving to Santa Fe 5 1/2 years ago.  Cookies turn out okay, but I usually have to make some adjustments with cakes, and my breads are often mushy in the middle and crispy on the ends.  I can get by okay with a few of my favorite recipes that I have practiced multiple times, but it's often hit or miss.  For Christmas, my secret santa got me this amazing cook book, Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes, that explains the chemistry behind high altitude baking and gives suggestions for adjustments to make at various altitudes.  Ingenious!  The idea for the book ac
Read more

My Bachelorette Party: San Francisco and Sonoma

Image
I have the best Maid of Honor in the world!   Between grad school, work, and preparing to move into a new apartment, she miraculously found time to plan THE BEST bachelorette party ever (and 3 time zones away, I might add).  I had such a fabulous time being surrounded by (and loved and adored by!) all my best friends for four days. The weekend started at 4:30 a.m. Thursday when my Santa Fe friends and I drove to Albuquerque (a 50 mile trip made possible by Panera breakfast) to catch our early flight to the Bay Area.  After a 2 1/2 trip (complete with Bloody Maries, Tequilla Sunrises, Coffees with Baileys, gossip and a few bridal magazines) we landed in Oakland!  One of my dear bridesmaids from Chicago who had arrived a few days earlier picked us up and we headed into San Francisco.  We met up with the other gals, checked in early to our hotel (Parc 55 Wyndahm in Union Square) and set out to explore the city by foot.  Some locals recommended Mama's in North Beach fo
Read more