As I reflect on the year that was 2014, I am reminded that (1) it was actually a pretty amazing year [with one exception]; and (2) we did a lot more than I could recall prior to sitting down and writing this.
The following is a just a brief insight into the year that was 2014 for me (and Chris); our 2014 Year in Review.
First the sad part of the year: April 28 was a sad day for both of us, as we said goodbye to our sweet dog, Colby. We had two amazing dogs and both will forever be in our hearts.
While Chris and I had both been to New York individually, we had never traveled together, and we corrected this in January. I was heading to a conference and we decided to take a couple of days to explore the city that never sleeps. While there were many highlights of our trip, watching Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot was high on the list, along with our visit to the Intrepid Museum and the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The trip was also full of snow and cold, and both Chris and I agreed it was the coldest we have been ever.
March came and went, and we realized that it is a full month of celebrations. Chris and I celebrated fifteen years together (and our first wedding anniversary), our sixth anniversary as Big Brothers to Trey and Chris’s birthday. March also saw our first Scavenger Hunt organized with Trey for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
April arrived and we journeyed off to Los Angeles to collect my mother, sister and aunt for a road trip back to Frisco. Our itinerary included Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Sante Fe, and Amarillo (Texas). We even managed to drive along part of the old Route 66 along the way. It was a great trip, and even though I nearly killed my mother by hurrying her up to walk up the hills at the Grand Canyon.
May seemed to be our music month with us attending the Suburbia Music Festival in Plano. This was a great event, and introduced me to a number of new artists, especially Alabama Shakes. We also go to experience a David Guetta music experience during the festival. We enjoy it so much that we have been waiting for the 2015 tickets to go on sale (sadly, the festival will not be held this year).
June through August were our major travel months. I joined Chris on his travels to Europe which coincided with my birthday. After a few days catching up with our friends Fruitbat and Dave, we spent a few days in Paris (where I got to dine for my birthday), and then head to Canterbury (where Chris was attending a conference). I got to explore a lot of the area with Fruitbat as he chauffeured me around in Britannia (his home on wheels).
We were back home for the month of July and then off on our trip of the year, a Mediterranean Cruise. What a trip! We flew to Barcelona and then sailed for 10-days to Malta, Sicily, Rome, Florence, Naples, Ibiza, Monte Carlo and then back to Barcelona. We spent a few days after the cruise in Barcelona to explore the city, and both of us fell in love with the friendly people, amazing food, phenomenal coffee and all the sites. We documented our trip through Facebook, but will have to created a travel page sharing our highlights from the trip (I’ll add this to my goals for early 2015). We had a great time with our friends Nick and Greg, Burt and Tim, and Michael and Ryan.
As our year started to wind down, we had a few notable happenings. Qantas started to fly their A380 direct to and from Dallas/Fort Worth, which we watched land for it’s inaugural flight. In early October, we headed to New Orleans to celebrate our friend, Aakash’s 21st birthday.
And then came Tong! In late October, we added a family member to our household, Tong. He is an exchange student from Thailand and will be with us until early June (when school is finished). While living with us, Tong has had a number of firsts including an A&M game, a trip to Austin, 1st Thanksgiving, 1st Christmas and 1st haircut. Tong is in 11th grade at Independence High School.
As we ended our year, the time had come for us to consider adding a new family member of the pooch variety. After checking out Operation Kindness website, we took a journey to meet a new pooch – who we didn’t adopt. Instead, sweet Sophie (Sophia) leapt into our hearts and she is now very much a part of our family. Even Max is coping with her being around (though I won’t go so far to say that he loves her … yet).
Plus, you got to meet David and Joe in London, your mum moved to a much better home closer to family, and didn’t we see Book of Mormon in the spring? For me personally, I got to travel to Singapore, Dubai, Seattle, San Fran and Savannah, earned Exec Plat status on American through Feb 2016 and crossed my first million miles (lifetime Gold). Great year all around and now we have to set 2015 up to be an even better year!