NYE and 2023: A Year in Review

 For NYE, we had our traditional cheese fondue.  Luke and I went jogging together in the morning and Kara and I went for a walk that night. Some of us played Ticket to Ride. I got thwarted one too many times and was a pretty sore loser. Thomas beat Anna by a slim margin, I believe just 2 trains. Thomas, Luke and Kara stayed up to welcome in the New Year. They watched Madagascar and the ball drop in NYC. I went to sleep, but woke up at midnight with the sound of fireworks all around and was able to wish them a happy new year. I felt a little bad not staying up, but I was tired.

Now, it is 550am on the first day of 2024.  Happy New Year! The house is quiet and I am ready for the reflection that this yearly post requires. Once I hit "publish" this post will be the first in my 14th year of writing! It was more fun to write when the kids were small and every day felt like an adventure. Our lives are very different now than they were in 2011. I don't even know if it is being dramatic to say the world is very different, but after COVID and Trump that is how it feels. When I started writing, we had 3 kids 3 and under, had just gotten out of the military and I was starting my new life as a stay-at-home-mom. Now it is 4 kids 16 and under and I am 6 years into my career as a civilian (Thomas is 12). Who know what the next 13 years will bring? I wonder if there will still be a blog in 2036 when it is probably just Thomas and I living at home?

I just wasted 20 minutes writing that short paragraph, in part because I went and read my very first post. Time to be a little less introspective and a little more productive.

We only had one vacation in 2023, which is unusual for us, but was fiscally required after another year with major investments in the house. This year it was a new pool screen and water heater. We have put a lot of money into home repairs/upgrades since living here. Hopefully 2024 will break that trend (fingers crossed!). Speaking of which, we have now been in Florida almost 5 years! If I remember, I will do a 5-year anniversary post in May.

Our one trip was to DC and Williamsburg, our 16th birthday gift to Jack and Anna. It was a great trip that we talk about often. It was a little sad to be tourists at places that we frequented as locals, but it was still great to spend time in the area. We did not do any cruises, although at one point we were booked to do two, three if you count the anniversary one Thomas and I did not take. I think Anna has probably forgotten that we also cancelled a Spring Break cruise, so hopefully this post doesn't make her too annoyed (the girls are two of my few readers). 

Other major happenings included Kara starting high school and Thomas having surgery.

I debated not doing the individual summaries this year, but I am going to give it a try, although I am skipping the three words:

Anna: As mentioned Anna is now 16. She is a sophomore in high school and doing really well. She started the year with great skating ambition and was able to participate in two competitions. Unfortunately, her coach left the local rink and the distance became too much for us, so she hung up her skates. It has been a few months of no skating, which I know is still hard on her. Hopefully, she at least enjoyed the time it freed in her schedule and our Wednesday night Disney adventures. She is doing well in school, but is hard on herself. Sometimes, it is justifiable (like when she doesn't turn things in on time) but other times I think she compares herself to Jack or Kara, which isn't fair to anyone. By all empirical data, she is a talented, gifted student. She is often helpful and has an amazing sense of humor. She is also introverted and is often reluctant to try new things. But, she has gotten better at advocating for herself and even at doing small things that were previously challenging (like asking for a drink refill at restaurants). 

Kara: Kara is 14 and in 9th grade. She ended 8th grade with theater being a big part of her life and social identity, but hasn't participated much in high school. She made the transition to high school fairly easily and has a lot of friends. She can be impatient and snarky at times. She really enjoys music and the highlight of her year was getting to see her favorite artist, Lana Del Rey, in concert. She is adventurous and does not like being at home. She has started almost every day of break with a "do we have any plans today?" Along those same lines, when school is in session, she texts almost every day with the same question, "what's for dinner?" She has started an exercise routine and has found that she enjoys running. She wants to be a vegetarian. She doesn't want to get married or have kids, but does want to have a dog one day. She is a good student and gets straight As. 

Jack: It has been a good year for Jack. He is also 16 and a high school sophomore. He enjoys school and learning in general. He had straight As for Freshman year and is on track to do the same this year. He still loves history and old music, like Elvis. He can be a little impatient with his siblings, especially Kara, but he is working on it. He has enjoyed band more this year and is very social. When he was little (before elementary school) he was incredibly friendly and outgoing. Then, he became quieter and much more introverted. Now, he is back to be social and friendly. He is very helpful and regularly does things around the house without us asking. He is polite and gentlemanly (opening doors, carrying things, etc.). 

Luke: Luke is in 4th grade. He is very smart and was again chosen for Battle of the Books. He still loves baseball and had a good year as a member of the Leones and then the Vipers (mostly same kids and coaches, different name). We sometimes struggle to get him away from electronics, he especially loves Rocket League. He can be very hard on himself and struggles with resiliency, although he has made improvements, at least at school, this year. He gets along well with his classmates and teachers. He is a homebody, unless the activity involves playing sports. It is hard to believe that he will start his final year of elementary school this year! 

Thomas and I: We celebrated 20 years of marriage in 2023, I am sad that we had to cancel our cruise. However, I love Thomas and am happy for the years behind and the years ahead, regardless of how we celebrate. Thomas still doesn't like his job, but he does like working mostly from home and I think he likes it a little more than he did when we first got here. He is mostly recovered from his arm surgery. Unfortunately, the surgery didn't seem to fix all the problems with his arm that we had hoped it would address. He enjoys baseball (counting down the days until Spring Training begins) and being the pitching coach for Luke's team. For me, not much is new. This year has been my most challenging in a while. Work has been stressful and the transitions with my Dad have been difficult. Since I write this blog from my perspective, I think all of that is well-covered.  

What everyone enjoyed most this year:

Jack: DC, particularly the Capitol building

Anna: the DC trip

Luke: the DC trip, especially the day at Busch Gardens

Kara: Lana Del Rey concert

Thomas: seeing Mount Vernon again and riding GOTG for the first time

Kori: the day at Busch Gardens and the day we went to Epcot and all rode GOTG together and ate around the world.

Now, the year ahead. 2024 will have at least two vacations. We have our traditional Spring Break cruise and a 13-night epic trip that includes three days in Seattle, two in Vancouver, and an Alaskan cruise! Only Thomas has been to any of those places, so we are all super excited; although Anna would have preferred Europe, Hawaii or even California. It will be our longest vacation ever, and has required a lot of planning, but I think it is mostly sorted out; we have our hotels, cruise, excursions, and flights booked. We still need to figure out exactly what we are doing in Seattle and Vancouver, but I think we have the general idea and there can (maybe) be some room for spontaneity. 

What everyone is looking forward to this year is our trip to Alaska. Luke also said his birthday and hitting double digits. 

My wish for 2024 is the same as every year. I hope we end with good health and happy memories!

PS-it is now 7:44. This is the hardest to write post every year and definitely takes the longest, even with no pictures. But, I am sure I will be happy I did it when I reread it next January.