top 5 awesome things about 2011

Happy New Year to you!

I hope that you have had a relaxing holiday season and are ready to kick off a happy and healthy 2012. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the amazing things that I am very thankful for in 2011. Here are my top 5:

5. Home Improvements Galore!

2011 was the year that we finally busted through… making the leap from doing just home maintenance projects (oh that we are verrrrry good at) to doing some real honest-to-goodness home upgrades and improvements. Things got rolling back in May, and because my camera broke, I never got around to posting finished pics. So here’s a sampling.

We refinished our downstairs hard wood floors in the dining room and living room.

The we installed a new ceiling fan in our living room. This required new wiring.

We also tackled re-painting the living room, painting the dining room, painting all the window sills in the house, and adding an accent wall color going up the stairs.

And we repainted the exterior and interior of our screened-in porch.

4. Traveling and Trips!

We were extremely fortunate in 2011 to return to Europe! I loved traveling in Europe for our honeymoon in 2009, and I have been eager to go back ever since. I was lucky enough to tag along on another one of Craig’s business trips to Munich, Germany in early February. We had a blast exploring the city.

I also went on a solo travel adventure, taking the train from Germany to Italy. It was my first time traveling alone outside the U.S. and it was the most incredible experience. You can read more in depth about my trip here and here and here.

In July we made our annual trek north to Maine to spend two weeks on Mooselookmeguntic Lake.

We vacationed on the lake with my parents, sisters, and their kiddos, staying in a large cabin that we’ve been renting for many years. We ate well and drank well. Craig and I lounged, read books, swam, biked, kayaked, hiked, and lounged some more.

And in September, Craig and I took a lovely trip to the ocean, just an hour away from where we live. I had been longing to dig my toes into the sand.

3. This Year’s Garden: Cultivating from Seed and Growing Organic, Heirloom Vegetables

This year I grew the vegetables and herbs in my garden from organic seed… with the exception of my tomatoes and celery. However, I choose all organic, heirloom tomatoes this year from a local nursery. It was so much fun to try out new varieties of plants.

This was the first year that I planted in somewhat tidy rows in my raised beds.

2. We Welcomed Lily to Our Family!

We finally got a cat in August! Lily has completely transformed our household, keeping us in stitches every day. She’s cuddly, funny, silly, fairly chatty, occasionally likes to playfully bite, and refuses to take a good picture. Aside from a particularly hard-to-get-rid-of bout of worms (she was found in the wild before she came home with us) and one icky urinary tract infection, life with Lily has been wonder-filled. You can read more about Lily’s story here.

And… now…

1.) Top Most Awesome Thing About 2011…

I’ve been pretty busy since the end of summer… working on a very special, very important project. Our daughter is due in May, and we are so delighted! And a bit daunted at times, but mostly holy-crap-over-the-moon excited.

Here’s to a new year, new adventures, and adding more goodness and abundance to the plenty!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 31st, 2011 at 11:58 pm and is filed under On the Subject of Parenthood, The Daily Balance, The Growing Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.