Oh my. 2013 certainly was a long year. As I was looking at pictures from the beginning of the year I couldn’t believe that they were taken less than a year ago. This was taken on January 1st 2013, and so many things – the place we live, the tree, the furniture – are different now.
This was a year of big changes both for me and for people close to me. A lot of really wonderful and fun things happened this year but, for whatever reason, this year seemed like a bit of a slog. I don’t know why it is (ummmmm, probably all of the changes,) I have just felt more overwhelmed that was probably necessary.
January started off with some cold bike commutes…
But I didn’t have to suffer through them for long because January also brought Disney trip #1, my birthday/anniversary trip from Gist.
The beginning of February continued my epic vacation, with the annual SPA trip up to Maine with Nancy.
Birthday poutine at Duckfat
February also brought our only real snowstorm of the winter: Nemo.
In March, we started house-hunting…
We put in an offer on the sixth house we saw, and the long wait began…
We spent Easter with Gist’s parents at Foxwoods. We visited the museum and spent the rest of the time either in the pool or in our room, doing some much-needed relaxing.
In April, I participated in 30 Days of Biking for the second time. I didn’t bike every day (packing and a big work event got in the way) but I biked every day that I could, and I participated in Lowell’s first Tweed Ride. It was great fun!
April 30th was a big day, I voted…
…and we closed on our house!
May was hot, and we were busy getting used to being homeowners.
I was finally able to get the reel mower of all my dreams 🙂
I had been to the Home Depot maybe nine times in my live prior to May, now we’re there at least once a week.
Simon and Rudy LOVE having a yard!
We had a lot of houseguests in our box-filled and un-furnished home, and the end of May brought a visit from far-flung family members.
Super-classy accommodations!
And, to top it all off, May brought my darling Godson into the world!
June began with my sister Lauren’s lovely wedding.
June continued with May’s heat and humidity, and with houseguests in our box-filled and un-furnished home.
The end of June brought a much-needed week away at the Cape with some of my favorite people!
Adorable Godson’s first week at the beach!
July was… also hot and humid. We came up with a couple of creative cooling solutions…
We also managed to unpack and paint our living room!
In August, we had our last set of houseguests to visit our un-furnished home…
Yay! Furniture!
Gist and I also saw Josh Ritter at the Lowell Summer Music Series. It was a great show!
In September, we painted the master bedroom and the smallest bedroom, and we turned the master bedroom into a family room, and the smallest bedroom into our bedroom. (Our third bedroom remains a guestroom that needs to be painted in 2014.)
We also took trip #2 to Disney World, and our first stay in the amazing Kidani Village.
Following our September trip, October continued in a relaxing and fun way. We went apple picking…
We saw the amazing show of John Singer Sargent watercolors at the MFA…
I knit for the first time since February…
And there was a spectacular Rhinebeck weekend!
I got to attend my first homecoming.
Doing my alma mater proud right there!
Our first Halloween in our house was a super-fun, we had a lot of trick-or-treaters!
In November, we painted the kitchen!
I cannot adequately express how much I disliked this color.
MUCH better!
Our plan was to head to Connecticut for Thanksgiving but after we woke up to this…
We made the best of the situation and cooked a turkey dinner at home.
December has been nice and snowy. I got a new pair of studded tires for Henrietta.
We decorated a new, smaller tree…
…complete with custom-made Simon and Rudy ornaments thanks to Mill City Glassworks!
A snowy December meant that I got a lot of snowshoeing and shoveling time in…
…And I got to hold the lesson of my favorite float close to my heart!
One day in December, I was shoveling a six-inch snowfall in the morning, but in the afternoon I was in sunny Florida for Disney trip #3, Christmas Edition!
The fun and bright lights didn’t end with our return to chilly Massachusetts, we also got to visit Zoo Lights for the first time this year – it’s something we’ve wanted to do since we moved to Lowell!
2013 was definitely a busy year! I am looking forward to spending New Year’s Eve in the way that I hope to spend 2014 – relaxed and at home with Gist and the pups 😉 I have one resolution for 2014, which fits into the calm theme, I want to learn more about and drink more tea.
Thank you for reading, I hope that 2014 brings you everything you wish for!
Art is the Handmaid of Human Good 