2012

I'm not the resolution type (because I'm terrible at following through and finishing what I start!), but in the spirit of a new year, I'm hoping to start blogging again, at least on an occasional basis. I've realized lately how much I like (and miss) having this kind of record of our lives, so I want to try and do a little bit more. So I'll begin with a review of 2012, the first year in which I wrote absolutely nothing on this blog since I began it in (just had to look back and check and oh my goodness that was a long time ago) 2005!

2012 was a pretty busy year for us. It's the first year in which we've had to consider buying a second car because having to schedule the one made things pretty difficult sometimes. Between our regular commitments (Greg's job [still working at the university], my volunteerism at the kids' school, swimming lessons, soccer games, ultimate frisbee, band and chorus) and the more irregular things (doctor's and dentist's appointments, birthday parties, races, concerts, field trips, adventure races, weddings, funerals) we found ourselves on the move quite a lot. I'm hoping to go into more details in some future posts, but I'll touch on some of the biggest events of the last year.

Shortly after the new year, my grandmother passed away -- my last remaining grandparent. Several months later, Greg's grandfather passed away as well -- the first of his grandparents. We feel lucky to have had loving grandparents, and we're grateful our children were able to know their great-grandparents. 

Luckily we had many more happy moments than sad during the year. We got to see my family quite a bit, what with several family meet-ups at my mom's house, a visit from my sister and her husband, and my third annual New England road trip with the kids. We also took two trips to Washington to see Greg's family -- once in July for his sister's wedding, and again at Christmas.

We tried to stay pretty active this year. Every year I feel as if we don't manage to get out hiking and camping as much as we'd like, but when I looked back at the year's photos I realized we did a pretty good job. Thanks to last year's warm winter, we were able to hike snow-free during January, February and March. We went camping in the Adirondacks twice during the summer with friends of ours, as well as doing plenty of summer hiking, and discovering some cool new places. Our biggest physical accomplishments this year include my second half-marathon, Greg's first 24-hour adventure race, and the kids' first 5k. In addition, Greg and I ran a fun Mud Run together, and I ran my first Boilermaker (a huge, very popular 15k near my hometown).

Some other fun we had this year: the kids and I got to meet James Howe (author of the Bunnicula books, among others) when he visited their school last spring; I took Greg to see a live Mythbusters show for his birthday; Greg got me an awesome new camera for my birthday; we spent a weekend at a cottage in the Finger Lakes with friends; Greg and I got to attend a fancy gala at the local science museum thanks to his job; Greg and I celebrated 3 years of marriage (and 12 years as a couple!); we took the kids on a weekend vacation to an indoor water park; the kids went white-water rafting for the first time; and Greg and I went to a concert for the first time in years (Shiny Toy Guns, a pop/rock/dance band). We also came close to being sued, but that's a long story for another time.

Hopefully I'll remember to update a bit more frequently than in recent years. I apologize for the lack of photos, but I wanted to put something up without spending too much time searching for pictures to accompany the post. I post photos regularly on my Flickr page, so you can keep up with us there if I'm too much of a slacker here.