I'd been considering sending out a Christmas letter this year but in the hectic lead-up to the holidays, it just never got done. However, upon arriving home to a stack of Christmas cards, I decided to write one anyway!
Happy New Year!
We just returned from spending the holiday with my in-laws (a rather hectic affair involving two trips across the exciting state of Nebraska and two holiday dinners) to find a stack of Christmas cards waiting for us (an apparent side-effect of getting married is that lots of people now have our address). In the vein of "better late than never" we decided to attempt to send out cards. The upside is that cards are now on sale!
I hate starting our first ever Christmas letter with a cliché, but this year has flown by. Last Christmas we were telling our families about our engagement and now we're married!
It's been a year full of traveling, visits and family. We've continued to enjoy the plethora of vacations available in our own backyard in North Carolina, including: hot chocolate touring and yuppie watching in Asheville, a random midnight trip to the ocean, running our first half-marathon in the Outer Banks, camping and wine tasting in Yadkin Valley, and whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. We've also enjoyed introducing our visiting friends and family to the quirks of our new home (especially the sweet tea). Early in the year, my best friend Susan flew across the country to go dress shopping with me (and to meet our very pawsy kitty Stump). My mother flew in for Easter and got to witness the rare sight of both of us in the kitchen. In November, we played host to both sets of parents in a two-week window (next time we’ll remember to look at a calendar). Cody's parents came for a visit and to use their timeshare in the mountains (and spend a lot of time watching football...you can take the Nebraskan out of Nebraska...). The next week, my parents came in for Thanksgiving. Cody's mantra during their visit was "I don't want to know what's happening in my kitchen" as they were rattling around in his domain.
We also did some wandering farther afield. I flew to Minneapolis in May to shop for bridesmaid dresses with my henchwomen Meredith and Emily (wedding planning involves a lot of shopping) and had a lot of fun drinking and dancing at a piano bar on my recently sprained ankle. In June, I flew to Seattle to visit my friend Susan and spent most of the time being a happy guinea pig for her cupcake recipes.
The end of July, Cody decided to drag my cynical butt along to a big family reunion. It was almost scary being exposed to a family that actually gets along. The weekend included food, tubing in the river, pool and even a bounce house, which many adults ended up in along with the children.
In October, there was that wedding thing, which was quite a fun time. Apparently, the pre-wedding party in my parent's cabin was even wilder than the wedding reception itself and left several casualties unable to fully enjoy the next day’s festivities. We visited the Oregon Coast for our honeymoon, where we sampled the food, drinks and unique lodgings that the left coast had to offer. One of the highlights of the trip was a lighthouse bed and breakfast where guests were encouraged to walk up to the lighthouse at night and the spokes of light were visible going out to sea. Did I mention this place was supposedly haunted?
I've been an imaginary engineer in the tire industry for a year and a half, during which time my company has changed out almost every leadership position in my plant. I'm finding myself training some of the newbies...feels kind of like the blind leading the blind. I’ve recently picked up the new hobby/obsession of aerial silks, which involves spending lots of time upside down with my legs in the air (as my mother says, “good practice”). Cody's been in his manufacturing engineer position with a company that makes power line components and is slowly bringing them out of the dark ages (no pun intended). Our secondhand barn cats, Spook and Stump, have now fully acclimated to the southern climate and refuse to go outside when it's below freezing. Hopefully that doesn't happen to us!
Hope your holidays were wonderful!
Cody and Andi (and Stump and Spook)
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