Over the holiday week I have been staying up WAY past my bedtime.  It’s not good for my brain.  Last night was no exception.  I was working away at part one of my year in review blog and it was getting late.  I was tired and knew I would be paying the price today as we headed back into school and early morning routines; part of the reason why I decided to make this a two-part blog.  (That and giving you a break from the gazillion pictures I have.)  To say I was a bit sluggish and slow this morning would be an understatement.  However, a cold brisk 2 mile run awoke my brain cells and I’ve been able to make it through the day with a smile on my face.  So while V is off somewhere not doing homework, I will take a few minutes to wrap up 2012 in pictures, many many pictures!

JULY

exploring Hofstra University’s campus

a visit to the Intrepid

our ever-growing Lola

lots of summer grilling

AMAZING cookies with a cold glass of milk

July was a great summer month, outside of the heat.  We got free passes from the library to visit the Intrepid, I met up with some college girlfriends in the city after many years passed, ate the most delicious home-made cookies ever at Levain Bakery (thank you Michelle and Elsa for introducing me to heaven in a cookie), got into food photography a bit, enjoyed grilling as much as possible, vacation bible school round 2 and explored a neighboring college (Hofstra).  Hofstra has a few pretty neat scavenger hunts for kids based on shapes or animals.  They give you a package with a map, some craft tools and send you on your way.  We chose animals and searched for lions, eagles and so much more (most were statues they had around campus).  It was a lot of fun and FREE!!

AUGUST

V and her (second) cousin Paul

some of the families triathlete’s : Alex, Bernard, Luc and the huzband

Besides the fact that the coolest person on earth had a birthday (me), what else would you want to know about August!  Really though, we took a short road trip out to Ohio to see my aunt Joyce, my cousin Jamie and her family, Bernard (husband), Alex, Luc and Paul (sons).  They all hail from California and we figured this might be the closest both of our families would be in quite a while so the three of us loaded up in the car and headed out.  Alex and Luc (picture above) competed in the National Junior Triathlon.  They both did so great and Alex placed second in his age group!  Besides that, not much else happened….except for two emergency room visits, a sonogram and CT scan all ending with the huzband having his appendix and a small part of his colon/small intestines removed!  WHAT!  You can read about it here (it’s in 3 parts).

SEPTEMBER

there was an adjustment period getting used to 6 hours of school & homework every day … for both of us

street fair in Little Italy

September was recovery time for the huzband.  His surgery took a lot out of him and it took some time to get back to 100%.  In other big events, little V started the big K : Kindergarten!  I am still in shock that she is in school full-time, morning to afternoon, has homework every day and is just growing up too fast!  It took both of us an adjustment period to all this new school stuff.  There was a time we would both get so frustrated during homework time.  We finally worked out the kinks and really when the best time to do homework is!  I think it was this month that we hosted a reunion for our old youth group we lead: X-perience.  It was great to see all the kids grown up!

Now that I think about it, I think we spent more time in NYC this year than we have in the past several years.  I am not really sure why.  I know I love the city and am always up for gallivanting through its streets.  Perhaps V has reached an age where she truly understands and enjoys the city.  When we tell her that’s where we are going, there is full-blown excitement.  There is also full-blown disappointment when she learns the huzband was in the city for work and she wasn’t with him!  By September the huzband is also in full-blown recruitment for the Team World Vision half marathon in March (YOU should totally run it!!)  So every Sunday he is at a different church sharing about TWV and recruiting runners.  So many of the churches are in NYC so we try to make it a point afterwards to hang out.  Several Sundays a picnic in Central Park followed church; one Lola even came with us!

OCTOBER

the birthday girl celebrated turning 90 by going for her first motorcycle ride EVER!!

little V with the woman she is named after, her great Grandma

all the siblings were together for Grandma’s 90th so we had a date night in the city

celebrating little V’s birthday with her classmates

somebody was very excited about their big girl bike

My favorite month has arrived.  Besides fall being in full swing with pumpkin deliciousness surrounding us, some of my favorite people celebrate their birthday this month starting with my grandmother.  This year was extra special as Grandma was turning 90 years old.  Family flew in from around the states to celebrate this wonderful woman.  We ended the month celebrating the big 5 for little V!!  It was a quite birthday with our family from Jersey coming out for dinner, cake and presents.  Also, for the first time, the huzband and I brought cupcakes and apple slices to little V’s classroom for her birthday!  I loved every moment of that day!

NOVEMBER

Long Beach a week after the hurricane : people were gutting their homes, entire homes sat on the streets

she is such a trooper

the snowstorm that followed the hurricane

we took V to see the balloons the night before the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade

October ended with a hurricane coming through the east coast and causing devastation all around us.  November began with the cancellation of the famous NYC Marathon, followed by a snow storm  Yes, you heard correct.  We had a hurricane and a snow storm within a week of each other. It was all kinds of crazy around here.  As far as the cancellation of the marathon, it was a sad day however, it was important to take care of the people who were most greatly effected by the hurricane.

All I really remember about November besides the crazy weather was trying to get back into training for a marathon.  I wasn’t going to be an almost marathoner and found a race 5 weeks later I could run (thanks in large part to Team World Vision covering my entrance fee).  It was hard to train those following 5 weeks.  Mentally I wasn’t fully there however I pushed through anyway.  The weekend after the cancelled marathon I ran my second 20 mile run in training; whose awesome!  November ended with my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving.  Though I have prepared Thanksgiving dinner before, this was the first time the Jersey family came to our home for Thanksgiving.  I loved hosting the family!!

DECEMBER

ready to take on 26.2 miles in Dallas

an official marathoner

pajama party at V’s school right before Christmas

Finally!!!  The last month of the year…I just gabbed and gabbed and gabbed.  Glad you made it this far!  December started off with a short weekend trip to Dallas to run my very first marathon.  You can read all about it here; it was amazing and horrible all at once.  V started swim classes this month (soccer ended mid November).  I got to help out at V’s school with their pajama party.  I cut over 260 teddy bears out of paper for a craft and made Christmas pancakes full of sprinkles for V’s classmates as well as other classes.  I loved every moment of it and am so thankful I could be there!!

So there you have it, a brief glimpse at 2012.  I am thankful for all the ups and downs, for the lessons learned, for my family and friends.  I look forward to all our family has ahead of us.  I hope your 2013 is full of hope, love and laughter as well!