goodbye 2013!

2013 was a year of change. I changed jobs...twice, I started a new workout, which completely changed my schedule (I now get up at 5am every work day), and we survived a remodel as we expanded our kitchen. It has been a bit nuts. However, we also had a great time too! We hiked to Machu Picchu, celebrated the launch of the Pike Place Fish cookbook and took a Southern road trip, so really it was a great year and I'm thankful that my family is starting 2014 healthy and happy.

Happy  New Year!

just for fun

Okay, I know it's Friday and not "throwback Thursday," but I was looking through an old external hard drive and found some pictures of when Anders and I were first together. I feel like Anders looks the same, but I had bangs! What was I thinking...And Maggie? She was so skinny. Ha.

This is literally the first day we met. We actually have a really great picture of us together at this moment, but this is the "oh crap the camera went off when we weren't ready" picture that I think is pretty funny.

New Year's Eve 2007. I wasn't even living in Seattle yet (I was in Denver).

Anders helped me move from Denver to Seattle, and this was a stop we made in Jackson Hole. We went hiking in the Teton Mts.

Our old pup, Jackson.

New Years a year later

Lake of the Ozarks 2008...we had just gotten engaged!

We had just finished Wii boxing. I don't know why he is pretending he is the champ when I clearly remember winning.

Kauai 2009

Maggie is such a young pup.

Thanks for taking a look back with me!

2012 in review

I'm really glad the Mayans were wrong because I'm pretty excited about 2013. It's going to be a great year, but, then again, every year is a great year in my opinion. We are starting off January with a trip to Peru, the guys' cookbook launches March 7th and we're (finger crossing) we can start on a small house remodel. It's going to be an exiting year.

Instead of doing a month by month look back at the 2012, I decided to pick 12 of my favorite moments from the year. Here they are:

1. Going to Mexico to see my favorite band, Widespread Panic, perform for four nights. This trip combined my three favorite things...travel, music and friends.

2. Visiting Key West, FL with Anders and my family. Vacationing with my family is the best, and Key West isn't too shabby either.

3. I turned 30 this year (!) and Anders took me to LA to celebrate. We travel a lot, but it's almost always with friends and family. It was nice to have to weekend with just us.

4. I made my first quilt!

5. Camping at Big Bottom with friends never gets old.

6. Anders and I both got bikes and bike adventures began.

7. We stayed in a yurt on Guemes Island.

8. Anders and I started hiking more and we trekked to the top of Rattlesnake Ridge.

9. Always up for trying something new, we attempted to indoor skydive. It's way harder than it looks.

10. Nothing beats your first ever String Cheese show.

11. My little bro got married! I was so happy I could come home for the wedding and see all my family.

12. And last, but not least, our trip to Italy and Greece was beyond epic. I'm still thinking about the pasta with anchovies I ate!

Happy New Year to you all!

we're three

Anders and I are celebrating our three (!) year anniversary today. Time flies when you're constantly traveling, eating, laughing, exploring and, oh yeah, having fun too.

Happy Anniversary, Love!

a year in review

New Year's Day is a holiday I can get behind. I love the idea of starting fresh, making new goals and reflecting on everything accomplished (or not accomplished) in the past 365 days. I feel so lucky to have a very full and happy life with Anders. So, here we go, the year of the Golden Rabbit (yup, I googled it) in review.

January

This fish market closed down for construction for the entire month of January, which means a lot of vacations for Anders and I! We crossed the border into Canada and spent the weekend with friends in Vancouver, BC. We also took a road trip from Decatur, IL all the way home to Seattle via Minneapolis, Bismark, Philipsburg, MT and Coeur d'Alene, ID. 

February

Anders got sinus surgery at the end of January and spent the first few weeks of February recovering! Luckily, it went smoothly, and he now breathes easier (Maggie was allowed on the couch for recovery purposes only). Also, we celebrated Valentine's Day with homemade sushi by Anders-san!

March

March was a busy month! We celebrated Anders' birthday where he got to meet one of his childhood idols, Sean Kemp! Plus, we had our annual snowshoeing adventure, and then we said said goodbye to cold and gloomy Seattle and off to Costa Rica we went.

April

With March being so busy, we settled in for a quiet April. We went to a few Mariners games, but we also did a lot of yard work. We re-grassed our entire backyard!

May

We went wine tasting with friends and then headed to Whistler, BC for a rainy weekend in the mountains. I also turned 29, but decidedly left that undocumented!

June

Our first camping trip of the season! We headed to our property at Big Bottom, and the boys built a new fire pit. We also started playing in a Pike Place market softball league.

July

Back to Big Bottom for the Fourth of July and, also, down to Oregon for my first ever Country Fair! We also celebrated our two year wedding anniversary.

August

Once again to Big Bottom this time for our buddy's 50th birthday party. It was a Dr. Seuss themed party!

September

We had to squeeze in as much as we could during these last few months of nice weather. We partied on an electric boat for Labor Day, went wine tasting (and attempted to build a human pyramid) and kicked off the Seahawk's football season!

October

What a great month! We ran in the Hell Run (and got a free cape!), Anders was on the Today show (EEP!), our good friends Jake and Dina got married, we celebrated the month with a pumpkin themed night, I started this blog and did one of my first posts about Halloween!

November

Off to Decatur, IL I went! I spent the Thanksgiving holiday at (my old) home with family while Anders ate his weight in mashed potatoes

December

Anders and I headed to the coast before his work schedule got crazy. We also celebrated the holiday by making festive treats and spending time with friends and family.

Phew! What a year. I'm sure there were some dentist appointments in there as well, but you get the idea! Can't wait to start making 2012 memories!

Happy New Year!