- Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.
- "Life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina and the colada." - Ellen DeGeneres
- Respect is like air. You don't really notice it until it's not there - and then it's all you notice. (Taken from a guidebook through a Crucial Conversations course at work)
Without further adieu, our 2017 in review -
January was a busy month! We celebrated a new year with new babies - a nephew, Liam, and my best friend, Aimee, became a mom to Bowie Jo! We took a trip to Dubuque for Saturday night hawkey and big daddy's and made sure to hit up Five Guys on the way home Sunday. I introduced Josh to Eric Church and we headed to Des Moines to see him in concert - it was AMAZING and we would love to see him again! We met up with Jenelle and Mike for dinner at the Iowa Taproom before the concert, and had lunch at Jethro's with Taylor before heading back home.
In February, we headed north to Minneapolis/St. Paul for a mid-week getaway to see the Blackhawks play the Wild. We stayed at a Hilton in downtown Minneapolis and had fun exploring downtown being just a half mile away from the Hen House Eatery, Hell's Kitchen, and my favorite building - the Foshay building. We visited the 30th floor Foshay Museum and Observation Deck, and later returned to check out the breathtaking views from the Prohibition Bar on the 27th floor. Doug & Gene, my Oregon uncles, were also in Minneapolis and surprised us at Tom Reid's before we headed to Xcel to see my Blackhawks. We had a few cold beverages and tried poutine for the first time. How they managed to know exactly where we were at on a PACKED 7th St. downtown St. Paul is beyond me - but it made my day! We also met up with Josh's family for a great dinner at the Freehouse and had a few drinks with Sara & Curt at the Parlour Bar. This was one of my favorite Minnesota trips [aren't they all?] because of the people we spent our time with.
We ventured west in March with a trip to Vegas - mainly to watch my dad bowl in his "last" national USBC tournament and eat $1.75 beer-soaked hot dogs [Josh chose to put Kahlua on his]. The weather was perfect and the company was even better. Our favorites included the resort's pool, Beer Park, the Piano Bar at Harrah's and Top Golf. DTM is skipping out on Syracuse this year, but I'm hoping for a Vegas reunion next year!
Josh continued to play softball & dek hockey while I continued to be his biggest fan. He switched from forward to goalie and while I like watching him play forward, chirping him when he's goalie is pretty fun too. I was glad to not have a heavy travel schedule for work last spring/summer.
We changed our annual Minnesota fishing trip from August to June and I think it was a good move. I caught the most fish [again], biggest crappie [15" which I did get mounted] and, as always, had the best time. We lucked out with perfect weather the first week in June and I'm already counting down the days until this year's trip! Josh got to captain a boat [he will be taking lessons from DTM this year] and caught the biggest fish [a 32" northern!] while out with our guide, Justin.
July kicked off with our annual camping/kayaking trip, and the John Deere Classic. We celebrated ONE YEAR in our home and are continuously working on things - hopefully starting the process of finishing our basement this year.
August 1, I officially started a new position as Student Programs HR Rep for John Deere Power Systems. While it was bittersweet to leave payroll and the transition was a little more difficult than I expected, I'm really enjoying what I'm doing and how I'm growing. I started at Deere as a Part-Time Student, so getting to attract, develop and retain these young adults who are where I was nine years ago is so gratifying. I love getting to be on campus at UNI and Wartburg for career fairs and mock interviews, and can't wait to experience my first group of summer interns.
We celebrated Josh's birthday in Des Moines with an iCubs game and lots of exploring West Glen and downtown DSM. A couple weeks later, Josh & I took a late-summer day trip to Decorah to visit Jane & Stan - we golfed, laughed, had a few beers, laughed, ate wings that were more like chicken strips, laughed, and checked out Toppling Goliath Brewery. We had our last pool day at Grandma Karen's on September 15th! The next day, on my mom's birthday, we hosted our first fish fry and loved having our family and friends over! Shout out to DTM for making the best fish with a little help from Shorelunch - and me, for catching a lot of the fish. ;)
I turned 30 in October and was beyond shocked to walk into Singlespeed - for what I thought was date night with two other couples - and instead find so many friends and family surrounded in the back of the tap room to surprise me and celebrate! It was the best night and I still don't know how Josh and Aimee pulled it off! The next night, we changed into Doc & Marty for a Halloween party bus. We won first place at Spicoli's and I don't know what we'll do to top that!
We decided to make one last trip north in 2017 the first weekend in December. The Blues were playing the Wild and I found seats right behind the Blues bench - they were amazing! We'd definitely do that again. Scottie Upshall photo bombed us and threw a big smile our way and Josh was in HEAVEN being that close to Jake Allen and Tarasenko. After the game, we met Sara & Curt at Burger Moe's for dinner and checked out the 7th Street Truck Park where Josh and Curt drank out of Stanley Cups and played Minnesota Tri-Wheel [or 'redneck roulette']. Josh took me to Rockefeller, aka downtown Waterloo, to see the tree. We spent some much needed time with family this month that we won't take for granted. We hosted Josh's family again for Christmas and had the best time - complete with OP pizza, a gift exchange, bubble hockey matches, taking turns getting ICED and a night out.
As I mentioned, we had our fair share of non-highlight-reel moments including an unexpected loss of a loved one, me shedding more tears and doubting myself more than maybe ever and having some tough situations prove that I need to rely more on God and that nothing is more important than family. I'm looking forward to what 2018 brings and I hope to declutter more than just the Christmas decorations and things in our closets and basement. Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful. Happy New Year!
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