Well, the Christmas tree is up with the decorations and lights are on. We're ready for a happy time together to this Christmas season, and to wind down the year. And what a year it has been! I won't bore you with all of the details - for that you can read the other 70+ blog posts that Catherine and I have published here.
Suffice it to say, we've been busy. I've had a wonderful time exploring the National Park System, with day trips and camping trips in the Olympic NP, Mt. Rainier NP, Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP, and Crater Lake NP, as well as the backcountry surrounding Mt. St. Helens. I've had so much fun exploring the wild places around here on foot and through my camera lens, alone and with my family. At work I've transitioned through a couple of jobs, as some of you are aware. I started out the year with a physical therapy student at the clinic I was running, which was both challenging and rewarding. In June I took over as the sole physical therapist providing care for every ROTC cadet nationwide, which brought me much closer to my athletic training roots. That was a long and busy 3 months, at the end of which I took a much needed vacation "out west" (as I like to say, though that would put me squarely in the Pacific Ocean from here!) to go see some of our most picturesque parks. Catherine and the kids were absolute champs, spending 3 cold (COLD in Yellowstone) nights in a tent at Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, and Glacier NP. Glacier was my favorite for sheer remote and rugged beauty. We spent Ian's birthday there, and he asked if we could go back for his birthday next year. YES! Once back to work, I started to do inpatient care, which is wildly different and way outside of my comfort zone from what I've done for the past 10 years. To finish out this year I am assuming the duties as Assistant Chief of Physical Therapy. Oh yeah, and I graduated from Temple University with my Doctor of Physical Therapy degree this May. To top everything off a couple of weeks ago I found out I was selected for promotion to Major, which is kind of a big deal. When I look back on the year, I see that I have been so richly blessed that it leaves me practically speechless. I pray for a happy and blessed Christmas with you and yours, and a wonderful and prosperous New Year! Marc
This year has flown by. I've been driving the kids all over our small part of WA state. We started out the year with swim lessons, cub scouts, and ballet, and now no swimming, but still ballet, cub scouts and a couple of other therapies. Thankfully both kids are comfortable swimming on their own in a pool now. Seems as if everyone else has already shared about our travels this year. Hmmm. So, what else did I do this year? I taught 2 cooking classes this past year at the local cooking school in Olympia. One was an English Tea class in the spring, and another was a Cuban Cuisine class at the end of summer. I also did some quick and easy recipe demos at the Taste of Christmas open house they do.
I also got together with a friend and did A LOT of canning as soon as school started. We did pickles, salsa, peaches, honey spiced peaches, chutney, pickled beets, jam, and ketchup. We also froze a big batch of roasted marinara sauce and applesauce. Since that worked out so well we combined efforts on a few homemade mixes for Christmas: Oatmeal Pancake Mix, Beer Bread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Hot Chocolate Mix. I also have enjoyed trying out numerous new recipes on the family this year. A couple of the keepers have been a Cooking Light recipe for a corn chowder with squash, and a crock pot recipe for pork chops with mustard sauce that I serve with quinoa. I've gotten away from posting to my cooking blog when my camera died, but I'm hoping to get back into it. It was fun sharing some of the new things I was trying with everyone. If you're interested my blog is: www.catalinamuse.blogspot.com.
One other big thing I started this fall was working on taking better care of myself. I have been doing pilates once a week (where we are working on the reformer and other challenging apparatuses), and water aerobics (once a week in the deep water, and trying to get there a second time each week for working in the shallower pool). I also have been starting to balance what I eat better. So far, I've lost 8 lbs. Hoping to get to 10 lbs by the end of the year, but not sure I'll make it. I'm happy I have a starting point to continue from next year. Hopefully I'll have a bigger weight loss to post about next year!
Hope you all have had a fabulous year and a very Happy Christmas! Catherine
I had a good year. I got to go to Disneyland and I had a lot of fun. My favorite part of Disneyland was the Star Wars Jedi Training Academy. In Miami I got to go over next door to Mrs. Johnson's house and we went swimming in her pool. And after we were done we got to have ice cream. We went to three National Parks and we each got a Ranger Badge. To earn ours in Yellowstone, we had to see Beehive Geyser while it was going off. We went to Mt. Rainier and I got a book. I am thankful that I got to have a fun time with my family. Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Ian
In the summer I went to lots of National Parks and I got lots of tokens. Last year I was in kindergarten. And when summer came, I graduated. Now I am in the first grade! In summer it was Ian's birthday and in January it was my birthday. And I am six and a half, on January seventh I will turn seven. In Disneyland there was a hotel and there was a giant pool and there were lots of rides. I met Tinkerbell and her sister, Periwinkle. My dance teacher is really fun! I am thankful for my family and that I got to meet Tinkerbell and I got to go to Disneyland. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and have lots of fun. Leah
Merry Christmas everybody! Marc, Catherine, Ian, and Leah
No comments:
Post a Comment