2013 was a busy year for us (apparently too busy to blog) and a fantastic year. We are barely getting our year review blog post up before January 2014 closes, but better late than never! Also blogging for your own pleasure and a small audience that is mostly our moms doesn’t really come with deadlines.
So much happened in 2013, that it is hard to break it all down. We will go with segments of life rather than chronological.
Professional
The Newbery committee at the press conference to announce the medal winning books. It’s like the Oscars for children’s lit.
In January of this year, Elizabeth finished up her Newbery committee journey by a lot of last minute re-reading and critiquing and meeting with her committee members to choose the winners. They lock the committee in a room and there’s a complicated ballot procedure and no one gets to leave until we have a medal winner. It’s like choosing a pope, but with less burning of things. The committee chose The One and Only Ivan as the 2013 Newbery medal winner and some really great honor books. Then in June, they re-convened for the Newbery banquet and a lot of really fancy meals with authors and publishers to celebrate. It was an amazing honor and experience to be on the most prestigious children’s literature award judging committee.
In December, Elizabeth accepted a position as the youth services coordinator for Anchorage Public Library. While this is a promotion (with a pay raise and a more family friendly Monday to Friday schedule), it was really hard to leave the Mountain View branch
Hiking Independence Mine in August 2013
library that she had helped open and worked for three years to build into a cornerstone of the community. However, this puts her back in youth services full time which is really where her heart is. It’s all told a dream position.
David finished his first full year as a professional engineer and took on more responsibilities at working, including a two week trip to Guam to work with the company’s new engineering office. Elizabeth would have preferred that two weeks not come right before the wedding, but professional growth is professional growth.
Home Life and Hobbies
David continued to do awesome at building things this year, including the raised bedded gardens and some shelves and things we haven’t shown you yet. Elizabeth dedicated the first half of the year to wedding DIY project (which someday we really will blog about) and recovering from the wedding and Newbery the second half. She did take a spinning class to learn to use her spinning wheel.
We were the frog prince and princess (homemade costumes) for Halloween.
There haven’t been many home improvements yet beyond combining two households, incorporating wedding gifts, and planning for the future. But oh those future plans, we can’t wait to show you! David continues to play soccer and hunt (though this was not his most successful year) while Elizabeth knits and cooks and we enjoy time with our friends and family.
Wedding
When there is still snow for your June wedding, real Alaskans put on their boots and go with it.
Obviously the wedding, our wedding, the best wedding ever took up most of our time and energy for the first half of the year. Elizabeth is working on sorting photos for a gallery on here and photo books for that. The fun started with Elizabeth’s bridal showers in May which her mother and sister were able to come up to Anchorage for. And then the actual wedding was on June 8, 2013. The day was exactly what we wanted, a joyous celebration with family and friends, a mix of traditional and relaxed, all our traditions and enough of our own touch to keep it personal.
Fishing in Homer, post-wedding family trip, June 2013. So Elizabeth only sorta brought in that King Salmon by herself. David helped.
We didn’t take a honeymoon (because who would leave Alaska in June?) so we are planning that for February. Instead we traveled with family to Homer (a cute Alaskan fishing town) and hung out, took a halibut fishing charter, and just enjoyed our time together. Elizabeth also caught her first King Salmon and my first Halibut! Elizabeth’s dad caught his first of both of those as well.
Personally
2013 continued to bring more babies into our social circle. Baby James joined Mal and John in April. And many other friends had babies too. Unfortunately the year also brought
In Oklahoma in August, on Elizabeth’s grandparents’ farm.
sorrow as Elizabeth lost both her grandmothers and the last of that generation in both our families was gone.
2014 Plans
Next year we hope to blog more (though I think we said that last year), build several things, various knitting/spinning projects, hunt a moose, and a lot more things. However our biggest plan is getting ready for and welcoming our little baby girl due around Elizabeth’s birthday – June 19, 2014!
We can’t wait to meet our little one! We’ve already started knitting and building things for her!