See Ya Later 2018! Hello 2019!

As we begin to reflect on what happened in 2018, the memories may have been great, sad, or everything in between. For our family, I'd say it was a pretty good year.

Our year in review:

We rang in the new year with my parents watching the ball drop on TV! I was able to catch a pretty memorable video of the last few seconds of 2017.

Then as we got back to our lives together after the holidays with school and work, we decided to spend spring break in Ohio with Handsome Bear and his family. The kids got to meet his parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. Plus, we got to adventure to the Cincinnati Zoo.

As school came to a close, the kids flew off to Kansas for some time with their father's parents. My heart always hurts while they are gone for the six weeks, but it's the agreement that we've come to.  So I try to make the best of it while they are gone. What did I do? I took two classes and went on vacation with my extended family to the Outer Banks, NC.

While the kids were away, they both aged another year. So when they returned, I surprised them with room make-overs and presents!

The next free day we had, I acclimated them back to the East Coast with a trip to our favorite beach to get their sea legs back. A day of sand and surf just felt like second nature and I couldn't be more happier that day. I certainly plan to have more beach trips in 2019.

As summer began to wind down, my parents and I thought that one last weekend adventure was in need before school started back up. So off to the Blue Ridge Mountains we drove! We settled in a cute Air BnB, off the beaten path (really...it was dirt/gravel/slightly washed out roads) and back in the woods. We met with a co-worker and her family to explore the Luray Caverns for the first time and it was awe-inspiring.

Finished Fall off with a trip with Handsome Bear, back to the blue ridge mountains to see my cousin get married. It was an adventure for sure and an instance where Air BnB wasn't as impressive as we had experienced in the past.