A Year in Review and starting our next chapter!

Well, it has taken me some to wrap up this blog (but who is counting!) I like to think of this as a year in review and a good opportunity to reflect on how this next chapter is getting off to such a wonderful start. When we got back stateside, we were really excited about finally seeing our house and getting settled in. 

We have been making this our home little by little, taking one small project at a time. There were obviously somethings that we didn't expect and some nice surprises as well. However, all in all we are making some big changes in the future and can't wait to see how it all turns out! 

After walking into the house, our next step was to get new set of wheels :) 

We found success at the Jeep/Chrysler dealership and were able to hit the road right away.

After making the some of the biggest purchases in one's life, we knew it was time to slow down and just enjoy being back with family and friends. The summer flew by SOOO fast with us getting back to work and visiting everyone. They say time flies by when you are having fun and it is definitely true.

Having been on the move so much the year before, it was only a matter of time before we got the travel itch again! Lucky for us we were able to swing a weekend in Miami off the back of work trips in September.

We had a good time hanging out and checking out the infamous Miami... of the more travelled paths and some not so much. 

We went to Miami Marlins game. It was interesting being inside but overall good fun!

We also did a food tour of Little Havana. We tried some of the classics like empanadas, cuban sandwiches and the classic mojitos. I discovered a new found love for crystal hot sauce! 

And of course that did surpress the travel itch for too long :) We headed off for a Christmas trip up to NYC with Phyllis and David. NYC is beautiful at Christmas time with all the lights and trees. 

 

I love this picture in front of the NY Stock Exchange and huge Christmas tree. 

We did quite a bit of walking that first day seeing all the big sights. 

After all that walking, we found a cute little place to stop and have a snack! Places like this make me really miss London, but it is good to know they are some just as good and much closer.

We stayed in Brooklyn to try and see a different side of NYC. For Phyllis' birthday, we did a food tour of Brooklyn that focused on pizza, cause who doesn't like pizza?!? We stopped at 3 different pizza places and also stopped at some other pretty cool places. I love this angle under the Brooklyn bridge of the four of us. 

We also went out to Coney Island, saw the scoreboard from the last Nathan's hot dog eating contest and walked along the boardwalk. Everyone had a good time on the tour and promptly took a snooze on the way back to the flat haha

The day after the tour, Phyllis and David, Jeff and I were on our own to wonder the Big Apple. It was a little rainy, but nothing we weren't used to... so we took a stroll through Central Park, saw some sights,  took afternoon tea, had a few pints and went to see a play that night. 

Overall it was a great trip (even though it we had some of the worst flight delays ever)! We love traveling and it is even better when we get to do it with friends and family :) 

After a busy Christmas and short holiday break, we have learned from experience it is best to go ahead and plan the next trip to have something to look forward to! We jumped on it and planned a trip in early April to Chattanooga to see Dan and Esther.  

It was sooo good to see them both! We had beautiful weather and they showed us the insider scoop of the city. We did a little bike ride across the bridge on our way to a brewery tour in downtown. Got to play some Jenga and do a fun tour and taste testing. 

They also took us to Rock City which was pretty cool! We did some gem mining and had some great views looking out over seven different states. 

Jeff got to play with the camera settings some :)

After a good visit, we started our journey back to Raleigh with the next stop in Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains. 

We had perfect weather the first day we were there and did a hike up to see some waterfalls. Nothing can escape getting away from it all and just being and enjoying nature!

We had a good time making fun of all the crazy and silly things in Gatlinburg itself, like this model of the worlds fattest man! The best way to describe it is "it's the myrtle beach of the mountains" haha

And just like at the beach, there are dinner and theatre shows :) 

We went to the classic Dixie Stampede and Jeff got pulled down to help with the water bucket relay race. He fundamental in the teams success and even has a gold medal to prove it! 

We made one more stop on the way back to Raleigh... some of my old stomping ground Asheville!

We had a good visit to Biltmore with the flowers in full bloom.

Our little puppy Parson is no longer a puppy :( 

He saw his first snow!

We have had so much fun with him, bringing more joy than we could have imaged.... And he is getting an early promotion to big brother starting in October! 

These parents to be can't wait to welcome our little girl to the family 

and start the next chapter in our lives!