Year in Review 2013

Here is what the year 2013 looked like for our family:

• Lots of house projects completed including a new (and very large) deck, all new windows upstairs, and a beautiful living room wood floor.
• Our first vacation as a family was to Decorah with a bonus stay-cation (kayaking and biking) for Michelle and Tony.
• Johanna had her big FIRST BIRTHDAY and moved up to the toddler room at school.  She learned how to walk, talk, and just generally have a good time.  It appears at daycare that she has made her first best friend, Sienna, who could be her doppelganger and enjoys running and giggling as much as Johanna.
• Michelle transitioned to her new job as a Business Analyst but not before going on some great work trips with friends to Austin, Denver, and San Diego.
• Tony tried several new beers from Michelle's trips, took trips to a Hawkeye game and a beer fest, and broke out his wood working skills by building two benches for our new deck.
• Fitbit miles logged were 951 miles for Michelle and 1497 miles for Tony.  So for Michelle, that's like walking from Dubuque to New York City (which is almost 400 more miles than last year).  And for Tony, that's like walking all the way to Las Vegas! 
• Guster is hiding less and even lets Johanna pet him when she isn't too excited.  But make no mistake about it, the master bed is HIS territory.
• And all of this was captured in approx. 4500 new pictures this year!

Overall, we are just happy to have a healthy, happy family with good jobs that afford us the ability to spend time with loved ones and invest in our home and our future together.
  
One of our goals for 2014 is to do as little house projects as possible!  We have a few touch-up projects planned, but that's about it. With Johanna getting a little older, we plan on taking her out and about more.  We have a new bike trailer to go with our new  bikes and she has already visited (and very much enjoyed) one local children's museum.  Michelle wants to lessen the gap between fitbit miles logged by her vs. Tony - another 400 mile increase sounds like a good goal!  Looking forward to being an even healthier and happier family in 2014.

( And interesting side note, once we finish touching up the exterior doors, did you know there is hardly a single item on the exterior of our house that is the same from when Michelle met Tony?  We have replaced the roof, siding, shutters, deck, windows, garage door, mailbox, address plaque, screen door, whew!  Is there anything left? )